August 16th-21st, 2016
Our first stop in Croatia was Zagreb. Our Airbnb host’s mother was absolutely adorable and got us settled in. We then spent the afternoon out and went to the Mirogoj Cemetery. I’ve never seen tombstones so elaborate and massive. Most were made of marble or granite. I found a pretty large crypt that was teal and yellow and I was obsessed with it. Bury me there plz.
We did some more walking around after because we really only got half a day in Zagreb.
The next morning we had another early bus (did we even sleep during this trip?) to visit Plitvice National Park. When I first heard about Croatia it was referred to as the “hidden gem of Europe.” PSA: it’s not so hidden anymore. The park was CRAWLING with tourists. Luckily, I had seen a pinterest post of a picture from higher up in the park so we went to find the spot and discovered paths that circled the park from a higher elevation so we could get away from the crowds. The views were also killer.
We spent a solid day in the park and just as we were heading out to wait for our bus, it started POURING rain. We killed some time in a restaurant getting a bite to eat but still had to wait under a bridge and I got soaked. It was a rather damp ride back to Zagreb. We were so tired when we got back we picked up a whole pizza and passed out the second we got home.
Our last stop in Croatia was Split!! At this point in the trip we were both pretty exhausted. We just wanted to take an easy couple of days at the beach. I was particularly crabby on the way into Split but Katie was the absolute best traveling partner. She managed to put up with my moodiness on travel days and it was a pleasure spending those two weeks with her (kcribb, u rock). We went down to one of the more popular beaches to soak up some sun.
The next day, we had it in our heads that we wanted to rent a scooter. We got a little red one and both practiced driving it down a street. I didn’t really feel comfortable driving it and I struggled with the weight of it. As we all could have predicted, Katie drove and I freeloaded on the back. With essentially no practice, Katie had to go out on the main roads and navigate around. It was rather impressive. Meanwhile I took some ~cute~ pics on her GoPro.
We found a relatively secluded beach a short drive away and sat out all day. Whenever we got too hot we’d jump in the water and talk then got back to sleeping on the beach.
We enjoyed the beach so much we returned the next day, without the scooter but with snacks. We literally brought half a watermelon with us plus chips, granola bars, and some blueberry Somersby.
