The Heather Jones Bucket List: New Thing #86 - Balkans Trip

June 19, 2015

Are we already leaving Slovenia? I feel like we JUST got here. Oh wait, we did. :( At least we got to sleep in a bit and have a leisurely morning to pack up and grab breakfast before our car service picked us up. Nikki and I are meeting Megan and Brenda in Zagreb, Croatia, in a few hours. After some research back home, I found a car service via goOpti.com that would take us the less than 2 hour drive across the border in to Croatia. I was super nervous about it, given our recent transportation snafu, and the slightly mixed reviews online. Most of what I had read had been good, but just like anything you read on the internet, there were also the bad reviews. But, this transfer was less than $20 per person, and I couldn't have found a train ride for that cheap. Not to mention train luck wasn't on our side.

Breakfast at our favorite bakery provided us with some more toaster streudel, as well as a ham/cheese/bacon bread thing that I wanted to get 15 of. Mmmm...pastries! We headed to the pick up point outlined in the confirmation email I had received, but due to some building construction, we walked right past it. We managed to find a table to eat our breakfast, but something wasn't sitting right with me. I just had this bad feeling that we weren't in the right spot. The confirmation email had been a bit confusing, giving us one hotel name, but a slightly different address. After some internal debates, we went in to the hotel to ask for proper directions, and found out we were indeed in the wrong spot. They directed us down the street to the exact spot we were picked up the day before for our trip with Barbara.

We didn't miss our pick up (thankfully), and our driver showed up shortly thereafter. He was very nice and professional, and we only had one other lady with us for the short drive. (Side note: he played a ton of American music in the car, and I realized that we heard a lot of American music wherever we went.) It took us less than two hours, he handled our border crossing (with our passports, of course), and we had the opportunity to relax and enjoy the scenery. Nikki and I then realized that while someone on the second train from Vienna had checked our boarding passes, no one had ever stamped our passports for Slovenia. Dang it, I really wanted that stamp!

I forget sometimes how close things are in Europe.

Border patrol!

Megan was flying in from Spain after a previously scheduled work trip, and she arrived at the Zagreb airport 15 or so minutes before us. Brenda, driving in from Sarajevo, arrived about 20 minutes later, and we all hugged it out for a solid 5 minutes. I miss these girls SO freaking much. Our time in Zagreb was very short-lived though, as we headed out west towards the coastline. Originally, we had planned on stopping at Plitvice (Pleet-veet-suh) National Park to see all the gorgeous waterfalls, but the on and off rain didn't bode well. According to B, if it's too wet, they will close the park because of how slippery the paths are.

Reunited, and it feels so good!

Croatian countryside.

Instead, we headed even further west to Krka (Ker-kuh) National Park where it was sunny, warm and fantastic. Brenda was a great chaffeur/tour guide (she's driven her fair share of guests around Croatia in the last year), and we eventually made our way up a windy road in the mountains (after a few road sign snafus...Croatian is hard.) It cost 110 Kuna (around $16) to get into the park and use the buses to take us down to the waterfalls and back. $16 well spent, I might add.

So happy.

I get to see her more often than B, but I still miss her face.

Crazy 80s bus upholstery.

"This is where my leg goes." :)

Simply gorgeous views!

Buffet?!

Oh hey!

Pretty ladies!

Crazy tree.

They won't let you do anything here!

We had no idea you could swim here. The sheer volume of speedos was staggering.

Love.

Um, I really need a tan.

Mah frands.

Because everyone wants a soccer playing penis magnet...

Yum!

This was an awesome walk through nature. The wooden paths nestled among the trees and gorgeous waterfalls made for numerous photostops. We stopped for some ice cream before leaving, and I finished my entire cone before Brenda even finished her first scoop of ice cream. Damn, that girl eats ice cream way too slowly! We had to wait awhile for the buses to come back and pick us up, but it was great to catch up with the girls and enjoy the great weather.

Next stop was Bibich (Bee-beech) Winery that Brenda had heard about, but didn't exactly know where it was. Karen, Brenda's GPS, took us through windy roads and down deserted streets in the Croatian countryside, until we had basically given up hope of finding it. On our way back to some kind of civilization, we managed to drive right past it, and luckily Brenda spotted the sign before we got too far away.

Found it!

Literally in the middle of nowhere.

The place was mostly deserted, and besides our wine guide, we had the entire place to ourselves. At this point, none of us had had much to eat, other than the meats and cheeses Brenda had been so kind to pack with her. We were looking forward to some tapas to go along with our wine tasting, but turns out the food is by reservation only. (The chef prepares a special meal for only those people.) I guess that means wine on an empty stomach. Woo!

Very cute inside.

Turns out, we weren't supposed to take any photos, so these are all I got before she caught us.

I did the Basic tasting.

Megan got a counterfeit photo of the courtyard.

The wine was super delicious (that could have just been the exhaustion/hunger talking), and our hostess Ivana poured us some ample samples to round out our tasting. It was definitely starting to go to my head. We each made a few purchases, though I only bought a few bottles of rakija (rakiya), which is a popular fruit brandy in the Balkans to be used as gifts. They were small bottles, and I was confident I could get them home without breaking them. I didn't think I could get the wine bottles through 2 more countries and 2 more flights without them breaking. (Not to mention that would diminish the room I had for other souvenirs.) It's too bad, because the wine is really good.

Love.

Since it was nearing dusk, we left to drive the remaining distance to Split, our Croatian destination for the rest of the weekend. (Brenda didn't really do much of the tasting, so she could drive. Just in case you were curious.) We did polish off the rest of the meats and cheeses Brenda brought, since dinner was still a few hours away.

Split!

Brenda has become quite the travel research guru and she found the most AMAZING place for us to stay. It was in a non-descript building that looked less than stellar from the outside, but the mother/son duo that rented it out were completely adorable. He was waiting for us when we arrived, and had moved a car and stood in their over-crowded parking lot, saving a spot specifically for us. He even helped carry our bags to the most beautiful room I've ever stayed in on one of these trips.

It was complete with a queen bed, full fold out couch, kitchenette, 3D TV, walk-in shower, and the mystical nightlight rock. He even left us with a local iPhone in case we needed anything, along with some intoxicating almonds that may or may not have been laced with crack (totally kidding). It likely could have been because we were just so hungry and marginally drunk, but they were delicious!

This pulled out to a queen bed.

This is way better than hostel living.

OMG. I'm in love with this shower!

Because everyone needs a urinal in their bathroom.

Gorgeous sinks!

The mystical Split rock. Contrary to popular belief, it does not give you special powers. It does, however, annoy the crap out of you when you're trying to sleep.

Rakija toast to pretty ladies and friendship.

Crack almonds.

Dinner was our #1 goal at this point, (before I got too hangry), so we quickly walked the 5 minute journey to the coast, and It. Was. Breathtaking. I absolutely loved Split. I know it's a bit expensive and touristy (but less so than Dubrovnik), but it was still wonderful. I love all the old narrow streets that you can get lost in, the live music pouring out of restaurants and squares, and the laid back vibe of everyone.

Street outside our apartment/room.

No. I don't care if you name your cafe "Comic", you still shouldn't use Comic Sans! (Stupid font...)

Brenda was a bit too short for the ATM.

Totes adorbs.

Love.

Quality selfie-photo-bomb.

Adorable.

Yessssss!

Hello gorgeous.

So happy right meow!

I like how Megan caught me taking a selfie. :(

We found a quieter restaurant off the beaten path, and found a patio for our first Croatian meal. I decided to try the fish, though Brenda warned me that it would come out with its head and bones still intact unless I specified otherwise. I did so, though it didn't really matter. The head might have been gone, but it still managed to be filled with tiny bones. I spent more time than I wanted destroying that fish trying to pick all the bones out (with little success), before I gave up and ate my caprese salad instead. Note to self: stay away from bony fish while I'm here.

Our restaurant was full of flower prints, similar to your grandma's living room.

At least the salad was good.

We spent the rest of the evening meandering down random streets, stopping to listen to some live music at Diocletian's Palace, before calling it a night. The beach awaits us tomorrow!