Cro-A-Ti-A Day 10

                                                                     Krka National Park

Yesterday Dan and I drove up through the mountains to Krka National Park.  Click on the link.  It's well worth your time.

We've had the opportunity to visit a number of America's stunningly beautiful national parks (see previous blog posts, including Thank You, Theodore Roosevelt), so were very much looking forward to going here.  It was a relatively short drive from Kastel Stari where we're staying and very scenic on the way up and over the mountains, including an incredible view of the Kastels area.

I'll let the photos do the blogging.

Welcome to Krka!  There are two main entrances into the park and we chose the first, not following the recommendation of everyone in our party who had already visited to take the second, where a ferry ride is required to get to the falls, which is what Krka is known for.  This is important information as our adventure begins.

We had been told that once you parked, you took a ferry to the falls.  Everyone loved the little ferry ride.  However, in our parking area, you were put on a bus and driven down to what we later learned was the path to the falls--not a ferry ride.  But we were hell bent on going on this ferry that everyone talked about, so we purchased a ticket from an angry English speaking Croatian, who crossed himself when Dan and I discussed which of the ferry trips we were going to take, and decided on a 2 hour trip.

Stradinski Buk is the falls area.

And here's our ferry.  There were much nicer boats parked at the dock and we anticipated that was what we would be going on, but no, we got what Dan called the African Queen.  The boat captain pulled up to the dock on his motorcycle, changed his shirt, and away we went. (He wasn't smoking but that would have been a nice touch because smoking is required in Croatia.  Also pedestrians do not have the right of way, in my opinion.  I don't know that either of these are facts.)

On the way to...

Visovac Island where the Franciscan Monastery of Our Lady of Mercy and the Church of Our Lady of Visovac have existed since 1445.  This ended up being a nice place to visit.  Roman ruins and artifacts were discovered on this island, which, remember, is only accessible by boat. Visovac Island is among the most important natural and cultural values of the Republic of Croatia. During its stormy history, Visovac was and has remained an island of peace and prayer, and the Franciscan monastery is a fortress of spirituality and faith, and one of the key foundation stones of the survival of the Croats and the preservation of the Croatian national identity. The monastery possesses a significant archaeological collection, a collection of historical church linens and dishes, and a rich library with many valuable books and incunabula. 

I do have a special affinity for St. Francis, given he is the patron saint of animals.  In the Christian tradition, churches of many denominations hold a blessing of the animals on his feast day.

The stop was brief and, on this 95 degree day, it was very nice to be on the water in the African Queen.

In the small world department, I noticed this on the door of the portable toilet.

We walked back up to where the bus had dropped us off.  By now, we realized that by taking the first rather than second entrance, we would not need a ferry to the falls, we could simply walk there.  The path was a nice wooden boardwalk that wound through woods lined by ponds and small waterfalls.  They were all beautiful in their own unique way and I could have taken hundreds of photos.

It also wasn't crowded, which we found surprising given our experience with the well loved and visited American National Parks.

This is a 400 year old mulberry tree that is in the running for the International Tree of the Year. (I mean, who knew?)  The sign says that the tree is gone and I have no idea why those woven octagons have been strung up on the trunk.

All along the trail, in the ponds, were these fish.  I thought they looked like trout and good guess!  According to The Google, they are!

Selfie at the beginning of the falls

Another selfie.  We've got a few photos for the Christmas card and letter from this trip.

So, no ferry to the falls but a lovely boat ride out to the monastery and church.  I should mention it was the only open church on this entire trip.  Surprisingly to me, all the other churches were locked up tight; should you be in need of sanctuary along the Dalmatian Coast, you'd be SOL. 

Yet another great day.  Back to the main house, where Marty cooked up pork loins on the grill, accompanied by garlicky noodles and grilled vegetables and, of course, washed down with Croatian wine that comes in 3 liter plastic bottles and sells for less than 5 euros.  Living like kings, queens, princes and princesses.

Tomorrow is our last day and the plan is breakfast somewhere on the waterfront (we have not been disappointed by the quality and price of food in any restaurant), then one last paddle in the Adriatic, look for more seaglass on the beach, maybe a drive up to the memorial cross which we still haven't done, dinner (giant amounts of chicken shawarma, turns out we all use this same recipe from the NYTimes.  Turns out purchasing the necessary spices in a Croatian grocery store is a fun challenge, particularly when your internet connection is spotty and you can't use Google translate when you pick up a likely jar of cumin to make sure that's what it really is.), pack, and a very early flight tomorrow, Split to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Minneapolis.  I've missed my family--I love being with my Bonus Grands but there were times when I really wished my grands could have been here as well.  Oh, and their parents, too.  We will all be together at Thanksgiving and we frequently talk about trying to herd all the cats into at least a long weekend somewhere during the summer.  Maybe 2025 will be the year it happens.

All love to My Friend Jeanie and Bill who have allowed us to horn in on these family trips.  Not infrequently do I look at them and their children, in-laws, grandchildren and wonder what gifts of love and faith have kept us together for close to 40 years.

I might blog during our layover in Amsterdam tomorrow but if I don't, thank you for reading and following along and hopefully enjoying.  Hvala ti i doviđenja (and I can actually say that, an accomplishment since the Croatian language has defied both my brain and tongue).