Beauty And The Headaches

Saturday, June 16

Wow, two days of beauty and headaches!  We didn’t have wi-fi at Plitvice, Croatia, where we stayed last night, so you get two days in one.  Hope it’s not too long!  On Thursday night we went on another Vaporetto down the Grand Canal to see Venice at night.  Beautiful! 

On Friday, we took the train from Venice to the next town and where we had rented a car.  We picked up the car and Randy knew that we needed some paperwork (an invitation) to enter Croatia, so he mentioned to the Hertz agent that we were going to Slovenia and Croatia and they gave us the paperwork.  There was highway construction going on (some things are the same everywhere) and they either canceled our exit or changed the name and we did not find it.  We ended up in Trieste where I asked for directions (of course), and we were directed to another town to get the motorway (the exit we needed to go back the other way was closed in Trieste).   So we did, and eventually found the right exit.  Even though we were running an hour late, we stopped at the Skokjam Caves (in Slovenia).  There was the beauty.  Wow--stalactites and stalagmites everywhere.  There was a silent cave and the water murmuring cave (where a river ran).  They were both beautiful.  There was an Asian tour group added on to our group.  Their interpreter told them some of the features and the tour guide did each spiel twice--once for the group of people we were in and once for the Asian group.  It was a spectacular tale of discoveries and floods dating from the late 1800s.  I don’t know if it is a cultural thing (it may be), but, in my experience, Asian tourists are just rude.  They push ahead, pushing you out of the way and don’t follow the rules.  The tour guide had the interpreter remind them several times that they are not allowed to take pictures in the cave (especially with flash!).  When we were at the Lascaux (?) caves in France, they had closed the original cave and created a duplicate for tourists because our breath was degrading the cave and the cave paintings.  I asked if tourists were degrading this cave and she said yes, but that is the price of tourism.  It made me feel badly.  So since the rules is no photos, I have no photos of the inside, just a few as we left the cave.  

Then we left the caves and got right onto the highway.  We were stopped at the border (though we had already been in Slovenia) and pulled over.  We showed our passports and our invitation to Croatia, but evidently we were supposed to have a vignette--a sticker that goes in the window.  Randy said that he remembered reading something about it, but it was lost in the planning and there are no signs in English telling us that we needed to get one at the gas station (to be honest, we hadn’t passed a gas station either).  Randy asked if we could buy one there, but the men said no, there was a fine and made Randy go with them (including men with guns)!  I was quite worried about what they were doing to him.   I told the man that we hadn’t passed any gas stations, but he said that yes we had--at least three when I told him we were at the caves.  They have a newer entrance to the caves which goes right to the highway, there are no gas stations, but he must not know about that.  I wondered if I should go help him, but decided to stay and protect my children (you never know!).  The whole thing was very third world.  Eventually Randy came back, they only charged us half the cost of the fine (150 euros instead of the 300) and told us to go get our sticker.  So we did.  That was the second headache (the first was trouble finding our exit and ending up in Trieste--Randy’s google maps he had downloaded were not any help).  

Then we headed to Croatia.  At the border, one person checked our passports and stamped them, then sent us to the next booth where the woman just looked at us.  Randy asked what documents she needed.  She was a smart aleck and just said, well, you’re entering a country, what documents do you think you need?  She could have just asked for our passports!  So she checked and stamped them and checked our invitation and sent us on our way.  We came to a few toll booths that (thank goodness) took Euros in addition to kuna (Croatian currency)--because we didn’t have any.  Then, we drove down small, twisty roads to find our place--zimmer (rooms).  It was a very large house (one of many in that area that cater to tourists).   There was no one at the desk, but we saw our reservation listed next to rooms 4 and 5, so we searched in the basket on the desk for our keys.  Then someone came to show us to our rooms.  We had an area with two bedrooms--4 and 5, and a bathroom.  Each of us had two small hand towels on our beds--color coordinated and rolled up.  I guess I was spoiled in Venice, where we had a new, shiny bathroom with a great shower head and piles of different-sized towels--everything from hand towels to bath sheets.  But, it’s only one night!  We said that we wanted the breakfast and found that there was a small restaurant across the street, so we ate a late dinner, then went back to our room to get ready for bed.  The restaurant would not take our credit cards, but could tell us the price in Euros and gave us change in kunas.  We left 10 kunas as a tip (that’s about a dollar fifty).    

In the morning, we headed to the Plitvicka Jezera national park.  Sorry, I don’t have the correct software to put all of the correct markings on the letters--deal with it (and I’m assuming that most people that read this can’t read Croatian anyway!).  We packed up and drove there, got the parking ticket, checked with the parking person to find when to pay (when we left).  Then, here’s the next headache, we stood in line, then just before we reached the window saw a sign that said that they only took Croatian money!  Well, we only had a few kuna left from the night before, not almost 400!  So we asked a worker if they had a cash machine--no, of course not.  Well, we only had a few hours to see the park.  He directed us down the road to a restaurant.  So we went there--it and the post office attached to it were both closed.  So with Randy continuing to swear, we went back to our lodgings to ask where we might find a cash machine.  After looking around, I found the cleaning woman, who directed me back to the restaurant.  When I told her that it was closed, she found the owner and using the cleaning woman as a sort-of interpreter (her English wasn’t much better than the owner’s), they changed my Euros for me.  Then, we I got out to the car after that painful transaction, Randy said that I probably needed more--so in I went again!  After another painful conversation and transaction, we were on our way.  We went to the other park gate (#2) and paid for our tickets, then noticed that they had a money exchange desk!  Aaaargh!!  

But after the headache, came the beauty.  The guide book said that the area was caused by a geologic accident.  There is a lake, that started to eat away at the calcium carbonate (limestone) and fell down to the next level of ground (causing a waterfall).  This continued to happen down the hillside.  What resulted were lakes with waterfalls everywhere!  Paths surround the area, buses to take you to the top area and boats to take you across the biggest lake are included in the park pass.  So, since we were short on time, we took the bus to the top and walked most of the way down.  Then we took the boat across the lake to another path with pretty views, then walked the rest of the way down.  The children loved it--especially Joshua and Shelby.  it was beautiful--the total opposite of Venice!!  The water was completely clear--you could see the fish and the plant life underneath--no cloudiness!  Amazing!  And the waterfalls were magnificent!  We then walked back up (way up--lots of stairs) to the parking area to pay for our parking and used our last kuna to buy three big sandwiches that are supposed to be a very common Croatian snack.  One was filled with cherry, one with chocolate, and one with cheese.  Those, combined with our leftover fruit and crackers, was lunch.  

We are now on our way through Slovenia to Bled.  Anneliese is hoping for a TV to watch the EuroCup tonight.