Day 36

I am currently in one of the most beautiful places in the world! This country and surprised and impressed me to an extent I almost cannot express. Unfortunately, I haven't really gotten a chance to try. Being on the road means going 90 miles an hour always.... the only way I keep going is by sleeping 10 to 12 hours a night.... and believe me, it's necessary. There are really no "off" moments when everything is a new experience. Even a 3 hour bus ride can be spent ooooh'ing and ahhhh'ing out the window. No complaints, though. I would have difficulty capturing the beauty of this place with words anyway. So, as always, I will resort to a semi=detailed account as to what I've been doing for the past few days, as best I can.
Caught the bus to Plitvicka Jezera National Park yesterday. It is 130 km from ANY city in Croatia.... which means in the middle of nowhere. We had the bus driver drop us off at an Autokamp, which is simply a campground with bungalo's, about 7 km away from the park. We wanted to stay there because it was practically the only affordable place. We all walked into the park and snatched up a few cute little bungalos with two beds in each and a cute little front porch. It looked so little from the outside, but inside was quite spacious, especially because the bathrooms were across the street. The place is just precious. The area is beautiful, hilly with lots of trees turning autumn reds, yellows, and oranges. Then there is the cute little restaurant serving some of the best calamari and stuffed trout I have had. There is also a cute little market on the campground. I think I like everything so much because, despite the camp theme, everything is so CLEAN.

We woke up this morning to a cute little kitten on our front porch. They seem to be everywhere and must be domesticated because they are not afraid of humans. We filled up on apple struddle pastries and chocolate milk and then decided to broach the subject of just HOW we were going to get 7 km away to the park. Someone suggested we hitch. So we did and it only took 5 minutes for a nice Croatian guy to pick us all up. I think he was disappointed that we only needed to go 7 km... the ride was over in 5 minutes.
We got to the park, bought our tickets, and entered into a fairy tale. I have no idea how this kind of beauty actually exists. The park consisted of a series of lakes that terraced up about eight different levels and all cascaded down into each other via a plethora of babbling brooks and brilliant waterfalls. I couldn't believe it! The water was a glowing green/blue and you could see all the way to the bottom no matter where you looked.
We ended up spending 6 hours in the park and found a ride back with some people we met there. We spent the evening drinking wine in the bungalo and sharing stories.
It was a beauiful day.