My parents arrived from their two or three-week adventure around Europe and I wanted to go on one last trip with them before they had to leave. We came up with three options and I'm so glad we all agreed to go on the trip I wanted to go on. I've been wanting to go to Croatia because I heard it was beautiful!
We flew into Milan and picked up our rental to get to Pula. On our way, we stopped at a restaurant where Alastair had eaten before. The food was so good, the views were amazing, and there was a trampoline where Emre could get his wiggles out. He's so good with traveling and being in a car, but he's still a kid and needs to have some fun as well! So it was perfect!
There was quite a ridiculous moment in Italy, looking for a grocery store. My dad was sitting in the front, so he was the navigator. They were trying to follow the directions, but they kept messing up. So an 8 minuted drive turned into a 20+ minute one. When we were almost there, about one right turn away, the tiny road was blocked by an ambulance. So ridiculous! Eventually, we made it and the grocery store was crap. I grabbed rolls, thinking that it looked good, but my thumb cracked into it and it was hollow. Lots of frustrations and it turned out to be so hilarious!
While we were there, we toured the Colosseum and walked around the city. Alastair took the drone out, Emre played at the park, while I got bit by mosquitos. I'm so ready for the cooler weather because my ankles need a rest from the blood-sucking mozzies!
We slept real good in the Airbnb that night, we were all so tired and it was a long day! Forgot to mention that I only slept 2.5 hours the night before because we went out for tapas the night before and we had to wake up early to get to the airport. 2.5 hours of sleep within 24 hours. No bueno!
The next morning, we toured the Colosseum and then made our way to Plitvice, a national park and the #1 place to see in Croatia.
We took a boat to get to the bigger falls and the ride there was lovely as well! I loved walking around and looking at all the waterfalls. The only thing that I didn't like was that some of the paths were right over the waterfalls. It would have been cool to see more, but it was covered.
After Plitvice, we crossed the border into Bosnia and Herzegovina. Probably the lamest part of the trip. Not because of going to the country, but the whole situation. We love crossing off countries on our country count, but it has to be worth it. We wanted to cross the border and eat dinner, but the town close by didn't really work out. Alastair walked into a few restaurants and they didn't accept cards or our Kuna. And my parents weren't feeling comfortable, for some reason. Feeling defeated, we went back to Croatia. I still count it and one day we'll go back!
The next day, we made our way to the capital of Croatia, Zagreb, to meet up with Maren. Alastair and Maren worked together in the CX lab when we lived in California. We met up for lunch at some amazing place with amazing food. Meat, potatoes, and mushrooms... yum! Emre fell asleep during lunch, so it was nice to have time to focus on friends!
We really liked Zagreb. We loved the buildings and walking around. Alastair even bought this really cool wooden spoon, that actually was confiscated and taken away at customs. A real bummer, but what can you do?!
After lunch, we hopped into the car to make our way to Bled, Slovenia. It was raining the whole time, but we made it safely! Our car was cheap and crappy, so I'm glad we didn't have anything bad happen while driving. Best part of the drive was when we turned to a radio station that played Moon River four times in a row. No exaggeration. Totally hilarious!
We only had half the day to enjoy the place, so we took full advantage of doing something fun while there. We rented a boat and paddled out to the island in the middle of the lake. Emre was so funny, he used the spoon to paddle and when we docked, he set the spoon with the ores. It was so cute! We walked around the lake, ate lunch, and chucked some acorns into the lake. Bled was beautiful, one of Alastair's favorite places. We drove all the way back to Milan and flew back home to Barcelona.
