My travel memory : Croatia (Zagreb, Plitvice Lakes, Dubrovnik)
Croatia
Mirko Cro Cop
I didn’t know much things about Croatia and I knew it was as a home country of Mirko Cro Cop, who had fought many kick-boxing matches in the K-1 promotion for long time in Japan. This essay was based on my trip in the summer of later 2010s.
Five senses
Croatia was totally different country from Japan. My five senses always taught me that thing during my travel. As for eyesight, the buildings were different and those in a city of Zagreb and old town of Dubrovnik were seemed Gothics and Baroque. As for hearing, language was different. Croatian spoke Croatian. As for touch, the weather was different. It was dry and not annoying even in summer. The humidity in the summer of Japan is terrible. As for taste and smell, food culture was different. It is interesting to note that the food culture of North Croatia and it of the South are different each other.
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital, but it is not as famous as Dubrovnik, the South tourist spot. I stayed in Zagreb as a transit point to Plitvice Lakes National Park. It was not a big city like Tokyo, so we looked around main sightseeing places in a half day on tram and foot. I like tram. The blue trams run through the town. It was not fast and run on the rails on streets so we slowly and closely enjoyed the town view from the window. The cheaper ticket than taxi was also nice.
Most places to see are accessible on foot from the central square, Trg bana Josipa Jelačića. One of the symbols of this city is Sv. Marka Crkva. The church is not so far from the central square. We dared to get on the cable car, Funicular, to go there.
Sv. Marka Crkva had cute and beautiful tile art on its roof.
I couldn’t help but write about the hotel I stayed, even though I am not particular about hotels. I was so attracted its interior decoration, which was Art deco style. The hotel name is Esplanade Zagreb. This hotel was built in front of Zagreb Central Station in 1925 to accommodate the passengers of the famous Orient Express. That could be why there were different time zone clocks on top of the wall inside the entrance. One of them showed Tokyo time. The history and retro decoration made me feel like I were a passenger of old.
Plitvice Lakes National Park
Plitvice Lakes National Park was my primary destination of this travel. The place had been on my bucket list since my colleague told me its magnificent scenery. The words of my colleague was definitely true because it became the best hiking in my life.
It took about 2 hours and 15 minutes to the park from Zagreb by bus. There were 2 entrances in the park and tourists could choose a course from several one-way courses. I chose C course which start at Entrance 1. The course surrounds both parts of lakes, lower lakes and upper lakes, and includes a ferry-ride. It takes 8000m distance and 4-6 hours.
Soon after ticket gate, I came to the deck on which I saw the strong water fall. At the same time, I recognized that this place was so special and there might be many further impressive spots.
The footpath was amazing. I always walked along the water of lakes, falls, and rivers. I always listened to the murmuring of water and songs of birds. It was summer but I didn’t feel too hot because I could walked under the shade of trees.
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is also known for its nickname, Pearl of the Adriatic. The old town of the city was surrounded by the high and heavy castle wall. Inside the wall, the town were crowded with historical orange-roof buildings. In every alley from the main street, there were many small cafes, bars, and restaurants. They set tables and chairs outside their shops. I thought the narrow alley was cooler even in summer because both-side walls of tall buildings made shade on the alley all day long.
I walked round the old town on the circular pedestrian route on the castle wall. The length was about 2km. It took 1.5 hours. On the wall, I saw the beautiful orange roofs against a background of the Adriatic ocean.
There was another way to enjoy the roofs. I got on the cable car and visited the top of Mount Srd. There was a nice outside cafe. I had a cup of iced coffee. The breeze from ocean and view of the pearl of the Adriatic facinated me very much. I forgot the passage of the time and just saw the landscape on the table for an hour.
The islands around Dubrovnik
Various ferries and tours to visit neighboring islands started at the eastern port of Old Town. One of those was the one-day tour to neighbor country such as Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro.
The nearest island from Old Town is Lokrum. It takes 15min by ferry. The ferry ticket was sold only for round-trip because of the legend. If you would stay overnight in the island, you would be cursed. In the island, there were many attractions, botanical gardens, historical building, castle ruins, the dead sea, and beaches (rocky). Peacocks walked freely.
I took one-day tour to visit three islands, Koločep Lopud, and Šipanska. To be honest, the islands seemed similar for me. However the beach in Lupad was amazing. The Beach Sunj was on the other side of the island from the port but it worth to visit. It was really comfortable beach. The beach was surrounded by a pine forest. There were not too many food stands and restaurants. The most impressive thing was shallow sandy beach prolonged so long distance. I could walk up to 50m from the beachside with keeping the water level under my waist.
