It was really rocky, and of course, we were the ones who didn't research our trip well enough and didn't have shoes, so we walked very gingerly... The water was a little chilly but clear, blue, and beautiful. I mostly stayed on the shore with Michael, he was mostly interested in playing with rocks and throwing them into the waves.
Robbie and little Robbie had no problem getting into the water.
I think part of Michael's disinterest in the water (besides the temperature and that rocks are the best things ever) was that he had some little scrapes on his knees that were irritated by the salt water. It was fine with me though, the rocks under the water were slippery and that way I didn't have to worry about one of us falling while we were carrying him.
They were ready to jump right in!
I got in a little bit, but it was kind of cold and I was having fun with Michael, but I'm determined to swim in all these oceans while we have the opportunity!
After we played in the water for a while and got hungry and cold, we went back to our room and changed for dinner. We didn't have an all-inclusive room, but there were restaurants all around the grounds of the resort and the food was really good--and cheap! I got a pasta dish that I could share easily with Michael.
It didn't really matter because I think he ate the whole basket of bread they brought us before the food. Poor kid was starving!
Robbie and little Robbie shared this seafood platter with polenta. It was so much food, but they finished the whole thing!
We spent the rest of the evening playing in more rocks, and relaxing on the beach while the sun went down.
There were little playgrounds all over the place too, and Michael is a big fan of playgrounds. We spent quite a bit of time climbing around this one. It was nice to stay in such a kid-friendly place and between the walking paths, the water, the rocks, the playgrounds, and the restaurants, we easily could have spent a few days here.
We went back to our room once it got dark outside and while I tried to put Michael to sleep (always kind of a lost cause on our trips. I don't know why I bother sometimes), Robbie and little Robbie went for a little walk outside. They were both pretty entertained by this dog shower.
The next morning we woke up early and hit the road for the main destination of the trip, Plitvice Lakes National Park. This is another UNESCO World Heritage site, and is a collection of 16 lakes that are connected to each other through tons of waterfalls. The water is a beautiful aqua blue color and so crystal clear it looks like you're looking through a window. There are rail-less, wooden walkways built just on top of the water. It's one of the most spectacular places I've been, both for the beauty of the lakes and waterfalls, and for the size of the park.We spent six hours hiking and probably only saw 2/3 of the park.
Being at the end of June, it was peak tourist season. We were also there on a Saturday so it was a little busy. There were many opportunities to break away from the crowds and walk on less-traveled paths so that's what we did when we could.
One of the first waterfalls you can see when you start to descend into the park is this one. A great introduction to the park!
Here you can see the amazing color of the water.
And the clarity:
The water looked so beautiful, I would have loved to swim in it! While I didn't see any signs prohibiting swimming, nobody else was which we usually take as a sign we probably shouldn't either.
The walkways were beautiful, and such a neat way to be able to be as close to the water as possible. They were pretty narrow and people were walking both directions on them. I wonder how often people fall in, especially when it's so crowded in the summers. I put our odds at about 50/50 that one of us would fall in by the end of the day. (Hey, that would have been a way to try out the swimming!)
This platform had a small waterfall rushing over it. It was loud, and just at the beginning of the park. I think we all got our shoes wet (except for Michael who was still safely tucked away in the baby backpack) and thankfully didn't make the rest of our day miserable.
This is the big waterfall, and the most crowded spot in the whole park. We had to kind of wait in line to be able to take pictures on the rocks. People were taking pictures everywhere and there was even a guy flying around a little drone helicopter with a camera on it.
We got our few pictures, then rather than pushing back through the crowds the way we came, opted to climb a bunch of stairs up to the top of the waterfall and hike in the trees up above the lakes.
I'm glad we did this--no only did we hardly see any other people up there, it was cooler, we got some really great pictures of the lakes from above, and it was safe enough to let Michael out to run around too.
Eventually we ended up back down at the lakes and walked quite a ways, probably a mile or so on a path along one of the lakes. It was a really nice walk. We saw several mice, some really loud frogs, and much to my dismay a few little snakes that swam away in the water, thus ending my desire to swim. It was a gorgeous walk and when we got to the other end of the lake there was a little cafeteria set up where we got some sandwiches, drinks, and ice cream and took a little break.
After that we took a boat across the lake and continued our walk. This part was really nice because it was a little less crowded and more wooded. It was cool and the waterfalls were shorter but still very impressive. It was also neat to see so clearly all the trees and branches that had fallen into the water.
After an hour or so of walking around here, we knew we were quickly losing our audience (both the 11 year old and the 1 year old) so we decided we better start heading back--it would take at least two hours to get back and it's much more pleasant without a baby crying!
Robbie spotted this sunken canoe near the entrance we though was cool.
Then we walked along the other side of the lake we had missed when we went up the stairs instead.
This was such an amazing place and we had a wonderful day. Both Michael and little Robbie did really well, even though we were there for such a long time. It's crazy for us to think that a year ago, we had no idea this place even existed and had given no thought at all to ever visiting Croatia. So much can change in a short period of time, and we're very thankful for the opportunity we have to go see and do such fun things while we're living in Europe. Plitvice Lakes National Park is really a treasure, and hopefully little Robbie and Michael (though pictures) will appreciate its beauty as much as we did.
The pics are fantastic! What a beautiful place.
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