The golden burial mask of Tutankhamun at the Great Egyptian Museum.
Our second day in Cairo was spent on the Giza Plateau, 15 miles southwest of Cairo, and the site of the brand new Grand Egyptian Museum, the Great Pyramids of Giza, and the Great Sphinx.
Ramses II greets guests as they enter the museum.
The museum took decades of planning and construction, and over $1 billion. My favorite museums, up to this point, have been The Louvre and the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, and the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. But now I must place the GEM in the top four. It is truly spectacular.
Gem.eg
The Grand Staircase.
You haven’t even entered the museum yet as you make your way up the grand staircase. It was designed on a scale befitting the pharaohs. The gods and goddesses line the stairs and guide you to the top.
At the top of the staircase, once inside, you are greeted with spectacles ranging from antiquity to present day high technology. There are ancient carvings, perfume bottles, and a room that depicts hieroglyphics in motion.
In this limestone carving King Thutmose II is presenting two nu pots filled with wine to a seated figure, perhaps the state god Amun-Re. The god is blessing the king with life and power as a reward.
One entire gallery is filled with the treasures removed from Tutankhamun’s tomb, discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter and his team. My sister and I had the privilege of viewing the traveling exhibit in Seattle in 1978. Now 48 years later we are able to experience even more of the treasures in their home country.
The gilded outer coffin.Tutankhamun’s mummy was originally buried within three nested coffins. This photo is the middle coffin.The inner coffin.
A hippo “bed”
Anubis, the god of funerary rites.
Ibex perfume jar.
This cartouche-shaped box has King Tutankhamun’s name spelt out on the lid, which means “Living image of Amun, ruler of Southern Heliopolis (Thebes)”.
You could spend days in the museum. We had four hours. The building next door houses the oldest wooden ship, 4000 years old, which beats out the Viking boats and the Vasa for oldest ship!
After touring the GEM and enjoying a gelato in one of the restaurants on site, we drove the short distance to the Great Pyramids of Giza.
The three largest pyramids consist of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the Great Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure.
We did the tourist thing of a very short camel ride for a photo op. The camels seemed to be in good shape and it was fun.
We drove to the base of the pyramids and you get to wander around for about 30 minutes. We did not go inside.
All the buses in the parking lot at the base of one of the pyramids.
Up close.
You have to try really hard, but you can get a pic with no other people in it.
It was a very short distance to the Great Sphinx, the body of a lion and the head of a man, which faces east. It is believed that the head is that of Pharaoh Khafre.
It was terribly crowded and there is really only one good viewing area. We fought our way through the crowd to get the picture, and then quickly retreated. It was a bit overwhelming and the end of the day. It looked like there was some ongoing construction, which is needed.
As we made our way back to the bus, we experienced the true Giza traffic jam.
Giza traffic jam.
It was on the bus headed back to our hotel when we first heard that our cruise was in jeopardy. We were told we would get more information later in the evening.
My sister and I have had our plans for a Nile River cruise in the works for several years. We postponed from March of last year due to the damage and clean up to my Florida home from Hurricane Helene in October 2024.
We rebooked for this March with high hopes. On Sunday we arrived in Cairo for three days of Cairo activities, followed by plans to board a Viking Nile River cruise starting March 4th.
Yesterday we were informed of Viking’s decision to cancel all Nile River cruises for the month of March due to Trump’s illegal war in Iran. We booked our flights separately, not through Viking, so they pretty much cut us loose here in Cairo. See you later, bye.
We have had, through Viking, two days of touring the main tourist sites of Cairo.
Roadside scene taken from the bus on the outskirts of Cairo.
We started our first day’s tour with a drive through Cairo, from our hotel to the Sakkara Step Pyramid and the necropolis. Cairo and the surrounding area is home to 25 million people, and 12 million cars. These cars do not necessarily stay within the traffic lanes or abide by the traffic lights and laws. I would not recommend renting a car. We were escorted through Cairo in a Viking motor coach.
Inside the Tomb of Kagemni in the Saqqara necropolis. These were nice because it was not underground.
We toured the Tomb of Kagemni in Saqqara, the most well-preserved tomb in Saqqara, dating from Egypt’s Old Kingdom, c. 2345 BCE. The artwork is truly incredible. Our guide, an Egyptologist, explained the meaning of the animals and symbols carved in the stone.
Carvings inside Kagemni’s tomb.
The detail in the carvings is impressive. There are many scenes of everyday activities.
I was not real keen on crawling into these narrow passageways to see some of the tombs, but I did it.
The narrow tunnels go deep into the ground. I found that part of it unpleasant.
The hieroglyphs underground.
Also at the Sakkara (Saqqara) site, we saw the Step Pyramid, the first and oldest pyramid.
Walking through the mummification temple at Saqqara.
The stepped Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, from the Third Dynasty of ancient Egypt, c. 2686 – 2613 BCE.
Moses the camel and his handler.
Moses.
We toured a carpet making school, gorgeous silk carpets (very expensive) and had lunch. There is no issue in finding vegetarian meals here with plenty of hummus, quinoa, lentils, falafel, etc.
After lunch we headed to the Citadel to tour the Mosque of Muhammad Ali.
The Mosque of Muhammad Ali, built between 1832 and 1857, in the Citadel of Cairo.
The ceiling of the mosque.
Back at our hotel at 4 pm, we had a quick nap, still adjusting to the new time zone, and then set out for an evening tour of the Khan el-Khalili market and dinner. We are here during Ramadan, so things really ramp up after sunset.
We followed our guide through the Khan el-Khalili market, passing several mosques, through throngs of Ramadan celebrants, dodging dogs and cats and eventually to our dinner location, a rooftop restaurant at a boutique hotel.
The Khan el-Khalili Market
The rooftop restaurant at Zeeyara.
The very tasty hummus. They also served a very good tomato soup.
We made our way back to the bus after dinner, stopping for a little shopping in the market. We saw many cats and dogs. Some of the cats were sleeping in the shops, and looked as though they were taken care of. Many looked a bit less cared for, and many looked pregnant. The most heartbreaking for me was a small kitten trying to cross the busy main market street. We also saw a lot of dogs, which mostly looked homeless, sleeping in all sorts of places, sometimes in packs, sometimes alone. During our trek back through the crowded streets we saw three dogs walking in the center of the street looking very casual and unconcerned.
Two cats sleeping in a shop.
Four dogs sleeping in a relatively quiet spot on the street.
Our talented driver maneuvered the large motor coach through the crowded narrow streets to deliver us back to our hotel safely. He got a round of applause.
The view through the bus window, departing the market. This is a large motor coach, and the streets were crowded and narrow. We were inches from diners and merchandise.
We ended our trip in the best of ways, with a fun final day messing around Murano and Venice with no solid plan. My only must see location was the Church of Santa Maria e San Donato. Because all three of us have already visited Venice and seen the major sites there, we headed over to Murano on a public water boat to see something new.
An old gate with a silhouette of a glass blower along the Fondamenta Daniele Manin.Murano’s canal along Fondamenta Dei Vetrai.
Our first stop was the Murano Glass Museum which walks you through the history of glass making. The displays cover over two thousand years of glass pieces. I learned a lot from the exhibits.
A jug made of blown crystal decorated with gold leaf and refunded enamels. Venice, beginning of XVI century.
Some of what we learned at the Murano Glass Museum:
The art of Venetian glass was a result of very close ties with the Middle East, with Syria in particular, whose sophisticated and elegant glass work was renowned in the Middle Ages. It was not until the middle of the fourteenth century that Venice became the unrivaled leader in the art of glass. A decisive factor in this turning point was the invention of clear glass by Angelo Barovier (1405-1460) from Murano.
There were many chandeliers.
C. 1900-1915. Fratelli Toso glass factory, one of the most esteemed Murano glass factories of the time. The Fratelli Toso glass factory began in 1854.
Crespo. Ermanno Toso, 1953.
After learning more about glass making than we could ever soak up in one museum visit, we walked the short distance to the Basilica. The narrow streets along the canal were refreshingly devoid of people.
The Basilica dei Santi Maria e Donato.
Basilica interior. The mosaic floor is inscribed with the date September 1141. It’s made of porphyry, serpentine, and other precious marbles and stones.
It was so amazing and beautiful it leaves you speechless, and all for 3.50 €!
The 12th century Byzantine mosaic pavement was the most beautiful floor I’ve ever seen, and worth the trip alone. The facing pairs of Griffins and Peacocks are symbols of immortality and sacredness.The Griffins.
The two-legged dragons represent vices, which the water of baptism washes away. Large bones behind the altar are said to be the bones of a dragon slain by Saint Donatus of Euroea.
Baptismal font, multicolored pieces of glass (Luciano Vistosi, Murano 1931-2010) on Roman marble from c. 200 AD.
I was a bit surprised by the colorful addition to the baptismal font. I had to go back and take a second look.
Eight circles containing eight six-petaled flowers, are associated with the transfiguration and the New Testament.
The lamb in the eagle’s talons represents the human soul, weak and troubled, being raised by the savior (the eagle here is a Christological symbol).
It’s staggering how much symbolism there is depicted here, as well as all the paintings and texts we’ve seen and read, and we’ve just scratched the surface. It is another deep dive into a rabbit hole to try to understand the meanings behind it. I could have spent half the day in the Basilica, but we continued our exploration, passing many shop windows with every type of glass for sale.
Lots of glass animals.
In a shop window.
Glass squid.
Many variations on glasses and goblets and perfume bottles.
Pigeons drink from a public fountain along Riva Longa.
My travel companion Augie had been given the name of a glass factory that came highly recommended. We knew nothing about it. We showed up and were given a tour of the facility, it’s glass ovens, showrooms, the entire operation.
This unassuming exterior that houses the glass factory of Massimiliano Schiavon Art Team. Massimilianoschiavon.comOne of the galleries.A chandelier.A showroom.The work behind the beautiful glass creations.Part of the “pearl” collection.
We were told they create about 300 pieces per year.
The pitcher I purchased from the glass shop.
After our Murano adventures we hopped on the No. 7 ferry and enjoyed a sunny open air boat ride to St. Mark’s Square.
Teresa and Augie on the ferry between Murano and Venice.
Me and my friend Augie.
Approaching a ferry dock near St Marks Square.
As many times as I’ve seen The Bridge of Sighs, I can’t help but snap a picture when I see it. There really is something magical about Venice.
We enjoyed just walking around with no real idea where we were going. We chose the lunch spot at random, and it turned out to be perfect. They served only traditional Venetian food. It was delicious.
Zappa di Pesce at the Tavernetta San Mauricio, Calle Zaguri 2619, Venezia.
Crossing the Grand Canal on our way to the Piazzale Roma.
Venetian style farmers market.
We walked from St Mark’s Square to the Piazzale Roma, where we caught a bus to the airport, and walked to our hotel. Our step count today was 17,000 and we spent 28 € on public transportation between ferries and the bus.
A Lipizzan stallion at the Lipica estate in Slovenia.
It is great to have a rental car, you can get to remote areas and set your own schedule. But it is always a good feeling to drop it off and be free of the stress of driving and navigating unfamiliar roads.
Our end goal today was dropping the rental car at the Marco Polo Airport in Venice, Italy. We discovered that not far off our route was The Lipica Stud Farm, the oldest and original stud farm of the celebrated Lipizzan horse.
Three mares head into their barn at the Lipica Estate.
We arrived just after the gates opened, and it was nearly empty of tourists. They have shows every Friday and Sunday, but Monday is a rest day. We wandered the estate, walking into barns, peering into stalls, and watching the trainers at work until the noon guided tour.
Exerciser working a horse.
There was plenty of activity, mostly exercisers and grooms, some stable hands, working horses and cleaning stalls. They have over 300 horses on the estate. Each trainer/exerciser is responsible for about ten horses. The estate sprawls over 750 acres, and is celebrating its 445th.
From the Lipica.org website:
1580. Archduke Charles II, third son of Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand I, signed the contract on the acquisition of the Lipica estate on 19 May 1580. Franc Jurko became the first manager of the Stud Farm
They bred the local Karst area mares with imported Spanish and Italian studs. They are proud of their heritage, and hold the original studbook for the Lipizzan horse. Our guide, Inez, listed the many awards won by the horses and riders from the estate.
The oldest stable on the grounds, and the historical core of Lipica. It’s an honor for the current acting stud horses to be housed in this stable. They have larger stalls and get the space for a year or two as they are being used for breeding.
The gestation is just over 11 months, and the foals are black when born. They are kept with their mothers for 8 months, nursing as much as 20 liters of milk per day for the first few months. They keep the mothers and babies together in a herd group for socialization and a natural environment. As they age they turn white. 1% of the Lipizzan breed keeps its color, either black or brown or grey, and the rest are white.
The interior of the original stable where the breeding stallions are kept.
They welcome about 30 new foals per year. This year their first foal was born on March 2nd and their last in June. We walked through the museum on the grounds and read this interesting story:
The Incredible Story of the Lipizzan horses brings a moving narrative about the rescue of these horses during World War II. In 1943, the Germans transported all 179 horses from Lipica Stud Farm. However, in April 1945, American General Patton executed a daring operation named “Cowboy”, which saved the horses from an uncertain fate. Together with the German veterinarian Rudolf Lessing, the Americans relocated the horses to a safe area.
The herd in a field.
Augie getting up close. All the horses were friendly.
The horses were very curious and alert.
Always watching.
P. Samira, a 24 year old breeding stallion in his stall in the original stable. The horses live to about 30 years old and are in training as long as they live.
P. Samira in his stall with his name plate.
The name plates have their birthday in the upper right corner, their name on the first line, their father on the second line and their mother on the third line.
The training is a very long process. At one point the trainers rode by on 5 year olds who were in their second week of being ridden.
A trainer at work.
It was a pleasant day to be walking around the estate. We ended up having lunch there and then continued on our way. We made it safely to Venice and thankfully rid ourselves of the rental car without incident.
We had a very fun and educational truffle experience today. They called it a truffle hunt, and we did indeed find four truffles, but it was more of a demonstration.
The woods we walked through to find truffles.
We met at the Miro Tartufi headquarters just below the town of Motovun. We opted for the group hunt for 90 € each. There were 16 participants in all. The true truffle hunters go out for hours in the woods with their dogs, while we strolled through the woods for about an hour, listening to Miro, who was passionate about his subject and obviously loved his dogs.
Miro, with 6 year old Labrador Lila and 5 month old Jackie, an Italian Water Dog
Lila smells a truffle and starts to dig.
The digging produces a black truffle.
Lila watches as we pass around her truffle.
Miro told us everything we wanted to know about truffles and truffle hunting. Right now it is white truffle season, which starts around September and ends at Christmas. Black truffle season starts around March and runs through August, but the seasons do overlap.
Jackie, a 5 month old Italian Water Dog is in training.
Miro pays 250 € per year for a license to hunt for truffles on the land we walked today. Fifteen years ago he planted hundreds of trees on his own property, which he called a truffle farm. They recently found their first truffles in the orchard. The truffles grow on the roots of all kinds of trees. They don’t last long, about 20 days, and if not found, they are eaten by bugs and decompose back into the soil. You can go back and find truffles in places where you’ve found them before. Miro said he goes out daily. The price for truffles fluctuates wildly, it can reach as high as 5000 € per kilo for the white truffles.
Jackie smells a truffle.
They train the dogs very early, using truffle oil and bits of truffle in their food. They look for dogs that are not “lazy”, are good diggers, and not known for chasing wildlife. Miro had to give one of the dogs away because it only wanted to chase deer. The truffle hunter must be quick too, as the dogs will eat the truffles.
Miro gives Jackie a kiss.
There was an older dog, Bella, who at twelve years old does not go out hunting any longer, but feels left out, so they must take her walking in the woods. He said he trusted her 99% of the time, when alerted to a truffle. Lila the Lab he trusts 80% of the time, and Jackie, who is learning, gets it right about 20% of the time.
We had an exceptionally tasty lunch after the truffle hunt. We didn’t find enough for the meal, but they had a large truffle from the day before.
One of the crew explains the toppings and cheeses.
Sheep and cow milk cheese.The truffles we found today. One larger black truffle and three small white truffles.
We were instructed to pour white truffle oil on the right side, and black truffle oil on the left, with balsamic vinegar in the middle and truffle salt at the bottom. We then dipped fresh bread in the different oils to try and find our favorite.
The truffle hunt included the lunch. It was the best lunch so far of this trip with different types of truffle spreads, a salad with shaved truffles, and scrambled eggs with truffles. The eggs were fantastic. They scrambled them with butter, olive oil, grated truffles, anchovies and Parmesan cheese. It was topped with shaved truffles.
Green salad with truffles.
Scrambling the eggs.
The best scrambled eggs on earth.
Oil for sale at the family shop.
It was well run and felt like an honest example of what a truffle business can be. The dogs seemed happy and Miro and his family and helpers seemed genuine and friendly.
Street scene in Groznjan.
After our truffle filled morning we drove twenty minutes to the small town of Grožnjan, a local artistic community. It had restaurants and shops, and to our surprise, karaoke in the square.
One of the shops in Grožnjan.
I purchased a ceramic piece from the sisters who own the shop and make the ceramics. They’ve lived in the small town 35 years.
From our rental house it was an hour drive to see Rovinj on the coast. The drive was scenic, through mostly vineyards and olive groves. We saw olives being harvested at four of the groves, but the grapes have already been harvested.
Olive oil and truffles at the farmer’s market.
Olive oil.
Truffles.
At the farmer’s market we tasted samples of the truffles. In the past I have avoided dishes made with truffle oil, it’s always been too strong for my taste. But here, what a difference. The truffles in the jars weren’t strong, just pleasant. We ended up buying two jars of truffles, but not the truffle oil or truffle powder.
Farmer’s market stall.
Walking the street up to the Cathedral of St Euphemia.
Rovinj from the top of the bell tower. The cruise ships anchor at the port on the left. The waterfront on the right held smaller boats and the local fishing boats.
At the top of the bell tower.
Descending the 200 stairs from the top of the bell tower.
The interior of the cathedral, dedicated to St Euphemia. She was a Christian virgin martyr who died around 303 AD. She was martyred for refusing to offer sacrifices to Ares, a pagan god. There is a lot more to the story if you wish to read more.
Another winged lion.
Rovinj municipal building.
St Mark’s lion on the municipal building.
Rovinj town square. The town was under Venetian control from 1283 to 1797. Venice, Italy is due west across the Gulf of Venice.
St Marks lion.
Having seen so many representations of the winged lion, or St Mark, I was curious about the origin. A google search for St Mark opened up a rabbit hole of catholic symbology and history of the saints. In Augie’s words “Raised a Catholic, I always figured you couldn’t tell a Saint without a score card.” I think we have seen as many winged lions as crucifixes. There were at least four in this town.
Small boats in the Rovinj harbor.
Rovinj.A fishing boat on the Rovinj waterfront, with fishermen mending their nets.
While the fishermen mended their nets, three dogs were resting in the piles of netting.
We drove from Rovinj north towards Poreč. My sole purpose of visiting this coastal town was to tour the Euphrasian Basilica, built in the 6th century. When we found the ticket office, we were told that it had closed at 1:30 today for two weddings. We were disappointed and headed to lunch instead.
The gate to the Euphrasian Basilica.
Truffle ravioli and a glass of wine only slightly eased my disappointment. We discussed options and ideas. We decided on making a quick return to the city early Monday, prior to heading into Italy.
Truffle ravioli at a waterfront restaurant in Porec.
Once we had a plan, we walked back to the Basilica to confirm the opening hour on Monday. There was a wedding party exiting the basilica, and a band and crowd at the gate. At the same time we saw a guide ushering a group of tourists past the throng and into the church. We slipped in right behind them and joined the tour.
The Euphrasian Basilica being prepped for the second wedding.
Basilica interior.
We only saw the basilica, the atrium, and the baptismal room, but that was better than nothing. We missed the Bishops palace and the bell tower.
The atrium.
Detail on the wall of the atrium.
The atrium.
5th century floor mosaic fragment.
I would have liked to make a proper tour of the entire “masterpiece”, as it is described, but we were lucky to be able to see the basilica with its marble columns and beautiful mosaics. We drove the 45 minutes back to the house and called it a day.
The small town on the top of the hill across the valley from our rental is Motovun.
We are staying at a very nice VRBO rental in Istria, with a view of the hilltop town of Motovun. We rolled into the rental just prior to sunset. Marion met us there and introduced us to the cats, and our accommodation.
Sophie the greeter.
Beautiful pool at the VRBO Majestic Eye rental in Istria.
We woke to thick fog filling the valley. But it cleared quickly. The little town of Motovun was a ten minute drive and then a 15 minute walk through the stone streets. It was nice to have a day without a lot of driving.
A room with a view. The fog cleared quickly.
Motovun street.
In the guidebooks Motovun is called “the most celebrated of the Istrian hilltowns”, “picturesque” and “fairytale.” The Istria Tourist Board describes Motovun-Montona as “magical” and “the best preserved medieval urban complex in Istria.” All pretty accurate, and we had a fun and relaxing day wandering the streets and settling in for lunch.
The door of an old church.
Motovun
Some of the old buildings were very colorful.
The main square in front of the Church of St. Stephen.
The interior of the Church of St Stephen, 17th century.
Church ceiling.
We climbed to the top of the town, but not the Bell Tower. Augie was happy to see it was closed today. There was a shop in the square selling locally made olive oil, soap, chocolate, liquors, jams, and more. We made a few purchases and tasted the olive oils.
Aura, a shop on the main square that sells all kinds of tasty local goods.
Aura’s interior.
Olive oil to sample.
It is another walled city, so we were compelled to walk it.
The countryside surrounding Motovun is made up of olive groves and vineyards. This photo was taken from the wall, a walk you can do for 3.50€.
I had a glass of the Tomaz white, Avangarde, at lunch and liked it.
Local Tomaz wines.
A view from every location.
St Mark’s winged lion is here too.
After lunch we drove down into the small town below the walled section looking for vines. We found not only the vines, but the Tomaz winery and tasting room. We tried to get a tasting but it was full, and we were told it was best to make a reservation. We bought two bottles of the white I had at lunch, each bottle costing just 12.50 € .
The hilltop town of Motovun presides over the local vineyards.The Tomaz vineyard. We tried to have a tasting but it was full.
Tomaz vineyard.
We had the Tomaz wine with cheese and fig jam back at our place.
We had a good weather day today. It was sunny and 75 F. We watched the sun go down from the patio.
So far on this trip we have visited 6 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Dubrovnik. Old City of Dubrovnik. Criteria – Cultural. 1979.
Kotor. Historical Region of Kotor. Criteria – Natural and Cultural (i, ii, iii, iv). 1979.
Trogir. Historic City of Trogir. Criteria – Cultural. 1997.
Stari Grad Plain, Hvar. Starogradsko Polje. Criteria – Cultural (ii, iii, v). 2008.
Zadar; Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th and 17th Centuries: Stato da Terra – Western Stato da Mar. Criteria – Cultural. 2017.
Plitvice Lakes National Park. Criteria – Natural. 1979.
DubrovnikKotor
Trogir
Hvar wine country, Stari Grad Plain.
Zadar.
Plitvice Lakes National Park
I was curious as to how a place becomes a Heritage Site. This is what the World Heritage Convention says about it (whc.unesco.org):
The Criteria for Selection
To be included on the World Heritage List, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria.
These criteria are explained in the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention which, besides the text of the Convention, is the main working tool on World Heritage. The criteria are regularly revised by the Committee to reflect the evolution of the World Heritage concept itself.
Until the end of 2004, World Heritage sites were selected on the basis of six cultural and four natural criteria. With the adoption of the revised Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention, only one set of ten criteria exists.
Selection criteria
(i)
to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius;
(ii)
to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;
(iii)
to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;
(iv)
to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;
(v)
to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change;
(vi)
to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria);
(vii)
to contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance;
(viii)
to be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth’s history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features;
(ix)
to be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals;
(x)
to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.
We have one more site on our list, Porec, known for its Euphrasian Basilica built between 539 and 553.
We made the drive up to Plitvice Lakes National Park from Trogir, stopping in Zadar for lunch along the way. We had a bit of trouble finding our lodgings but finally pulled in right around sunset.
Early morning on the boardwalk.
We arrived at the park at 8 am, and were glad we made the effort. We had portions of the boardwalk to ourselves at that early hour. It was cold enough to see your breath, and we had deep shadows in places. But the lack of people made it worth while.
It’s a truly beautiful park, and it’s one of the most well run parks I’ve ever visited. The boardwalks are beautiful and get you into places you could not have gone otherwise.
Plitvice Lakes National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was National park is 1949 and UNESCO site in 1979. It’s our fifth UNESCO site of this trip, something we weren’t even trying to do.
It is absolutely pristine. The water is crystal clear, but they make a huge effort towards that. No feeding the ducks or fish, no swimming in the lakes. There were park rangers galore.
We started our walk at Gate 1, then took the shuttle boat to the drop off point to the upper lakes. We walked the upper lakes, all on boardwalks and trails. It’s very well maintained and marked. We think we walked about 5 miles. There were many people with dogs, welcome visitors, as long as they are on leash.
One of the upper lakes.
I was impressed with the boardwalk. It was sometimes over the lakes, or marsh, or even placed over waterfalls.
The boardwalk along one of the upper lakes.
The leaves were turning.
I was impressed with the park and recommend a stop here if visiting Croatia.
Looking down on Hvar Town, from the trail to the Citadel.
We boarded a ferry in Split, and two hours later were driving onto the island of Hvar at the small port town of Stari Grad. The pedestrian ferry has a direct route into Hvar Town, the main attraction. But we wanted our car as we were on a mission to find a local winery where we could taste a few wines and see more of the island.
The waterfront promenade in Stari Grad.
We walked along the waterfront, enjoyed some coffee and continued our drive.
A door I liked in Stari Grad.
Detail of the carving around the door.
A street in Stari Grad
The steeply climbing hairpin turn main road heading east out of Jelsa would have been a pleasure on a motorcycle, but alas, we were in an Opel. Still it was scenic if also hair raising at times.
If what we saw previously were narrow, these roads were half that size. We drove up some gravel roads to spots where we had to back out, with no room to turn around.
The road east of Jelsa.
The view from one of the infrequent pull over spots on the narrow, twisting road.
We saw terraces of olive trees.
Still we continued our search for vineyards and wine, and the perfect wine tasting experience. Several spots where we thought we saw signs of a tasting room turned out to be dead ends.
A small town at the end of a narrow road.
Grapes still on the vine. Most have been harvested
Grapes ready for harvesting.
We were starting to worry we wouldn’t have a chance to taste some locally made wines, when we stumbled upon the Plančić winery. We passed by the nearly hidden road the first time, then turned around and saw the sign pointing down towards what looked like a garage. With no sign of life we thought we had made a mistake.
Plancic tasting & sales.
We walked around the building, through scattered equipment and tires, thinking for sure we had the wrong place. We were about to give up when we did find someone. Three men were wrestling with machinery inside the building, but directed us out to the picnic table.
The tasting room.
Mario, as it turned out, gave us a quick tour of the fermentation vats and bottling area, then wiped off the outside table and sat us down. He bade us to wait maybe five or ten minutes and he would be back. It appeared that they were having some sort of issue with the bottling machine. They had finished the harvest the day before, having started it in August. We felt like we were intruding. But no, Mario was more than happy to open a few bottles with us and talk about his wine. He said it got him out of working on the bottling.
Mario returned with three bottles of his wine. He explained to us that they have 8 hectares of vines, and that each one is a microclimate. The soil, the slope, the amount of sun, each one determines how the wine will taste.
From the Hvar tourist board website (visithvar.hr):
Plančić Winery
Wine production in the Plančić family was founded in 1919 with the arrival of Plančić’s grandfather in Svirče. The winery started modern wine production in 1985. The concept of Plančić winemaking is based exclusively on the production of wines originating from autochthonous Hvar grape varieties.https://www.facebook.com/vinaplancic
We were given cheese, olives from the property and delicious brown bread.
Augie and Teresa enjoying the experience.
When Teresa told Mario she was a vegetarian, he came back with a pomegranate and showed us the right way to eat it.
The Plančić brothers. Mario (seated) poured the wine and entertained us with local history, viticulture, and witty one liners.
I liked this 2020 blend of Plavac mali, Darnekusa, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. They had produced 3333 barrels that year. We left with two bottles of this one.
After our positive reaction to the first three, Mario brought out a 2016 Grand Cru. This wine he said, should be enjoyed slowly, like whiskey, with a good movie and maybe a cigar.
I also bought a bottle of the 2016 Grand Cru (79€). They had lost half the harvest that year and had produced far fewer barrels.
What we found was a true wine tasting experience. There was no fancy tasting room with a million dollar view. We got something better, an introduction to the wine – and Croatian history – from the winemaker himself, and a lesson in family dynamics. When we first arrived we saw Mario’s brother deep in the every day tasks of winemaking, moving about with purpose. He did not speak to us, and we asked “Is that your brother?” Mario’s response was “Unfortunately yes.” We laughed, but later learned that the family relationship is as complex as the wine. And while they argue every day (per Mario), they are family, and always come together by the end of the day. His brother was happy to come out and greet us, but spoke no English, and we speak no Croatian.
When I told Mario that it was a dream of mine to have my own small vineyard, he did as almost all winemakers and vineyard owners have, he smiled (I think there may even have been some eye rolling), shook his head and said it was a lot of work.
We were sorry to leave our very personal introduction to Croatian culture and wine, but we still wanted to see Hvar Town and we did have a return ferry ticket for later that day.
An olive tree grows along the wall on the trail to the fortress.
Hvar Town wall.
The lavender gelato is a must try.
We watched the sunset from the ferry back to Split.
A Traveler's Photo Journal 