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.

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.

I was impressed with the boardwalk. It was sometimes over the lakes, or marsh, or even placed over waterfalls.

I was impressed with the park and recommend a stop here if visiting Croatia.

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.

We walked along the waterfront, enjoyed some coffee and continued our drive.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

We read somewhere that Dubrovnik is called the Pearl of the Adriatic. Now we are visiting the Jewel of the Adriatic. The sites we covered in Trogir today included the Cathedral of St Lawrence, the Church of St John the Baptist, the Church of St Dominic, the Church of St Nicholas, the Loggia and Clock Tower, the Sea Gate, and the many narrow streets making up the old town. We also squeezed in a relaxed lunch, believe it or not.

Because we are staying right across the bridge from the old town, we headed out early for pictures, trying to beat the crowds. Then returned for breakfast, and back into town for the church pilgrimage.

For 5 € we toured the small exhibit in the Church of St Nicholas. Paintings of saints, the Madonna and Child, and a well preserved Greek relief of Kairos from the 1st century BC.

The Loggia faces the main square and the Cathedral of St Lawrence.

Another 9 € ticket gave us entrance into the Cathedral and the Museum of Sacred Art.

We climbed yet another bell tower while we waited for a mass to be completed in the cathedral.

The entrance to the cathedral is said to be the finest expression of Romanesque carving in Dalmatia, created by sculptor Master Radovan in 1240. It is very detailed, depicting scenes from the Bible, Adam and Eve, the birth of Christ, and many we didn’t recognize. Augie’s twelve years of Catholic education comes in handy as he can still read a lot of the Latin.

We made our way through the maze of narrow streets to the Church of St Dominic.

There was a small side entrance to the Church of St Dominic with no attendant and no one else in the church. Constructed in the 14th century and later renovated. The interesting part of this church was the central garden area, where we found old architectural pieces propped up around the garden.

The central garden had orange and lemon trees full of fruit. We also saw pomegranate trees.

It was time to take a break. Lunch was pasta and mussels in a traditional sauce from Dalmatia.

Post lunch the wind was blowing again and I was in need of coffee and dessert. No shortage of offerings there.

We rested for a few hours in the afternoon, then Teresa and I walked back over to the island to watch the sun set. We met a friendly local and watched a parade of dog walkers.

Today was moving day. We packed up our rental car and started driving north on highway 8. We drove through a few long tunnels, but mostly the road followed the coast.

We passed vineyards and olive groves. The vineyards don’t look like what I’m used to in the Oregon wine country, with neatly spaced rows, carefully pruned and tended. The vineyards look much more wild. The tasting room attendant said the vines are left alone to work at finding water and nutrients.

We passed many olive trees, which are so pretty, but with narrow roads and no pullouts, it’s hard to get photos.

These are perfect roads for motorcycles, and we saw quite a few groups of them on the road.

Our route took us through an agricultural area. There were many roadside fruit and vegetable stands. We stopped at one and bought tomatoes, lemons, fresh squeezed orange juice and fig jam. We should have bought some olive oil but there was no way to taste it.

It was raining hard when we found a parking spot in Split. We took refuge in a restaurant acrosss the street from the cathedral.

We walked through the cathedral after lunch.

We pulled into Trogir in the pouring rain. We’re staying just across a bridge from the small UNESCO World Heritage Site town.

After the rain stopped Teresa and I did a quick reconnaissance of the town. It’s small, with narrow cobblestone streets, and lots of restaurants. Tomorrow we will tour the historic sites. Tonight we just soaked up atmosphere and walked back to our rental place with a pizza.

Today was our first day of perfect weather, so we spent it walking the wall around Dubrovnik and exploring the old town area. It was sunny and 65 degrees F. The first order of business was to purchase a tourist day pass for 40 €. The pass got us up on the wall, into museums and galleries and passes to ride the bus.

We started the day by walking the length of the wall, approximately two miles. It was fairly busy but everyone was polite. The views were impressive.

Walking along the wall we stopped in at the maritime museum. There were displays of shipwreck artifacts, maps, paintings and documents.

Continuing around the wall we passed the bells, which chimed at noon.

We toured the Rector’s Palace, home to the Cultural History Museum. I’ve included some pictures of my favorite pieces. The stonework was incredible.

After touring the palace we roamed the many streets and found an outdoor table for lunch. There were many cafes to choose from.

On my friend Leonie’s advice, we sought out Peppino’s gelato. It was good advice, and we waited in line for the delicious treat.

After gelato we walked through the Franciscan Monastery, built in 1317. It housed some impressive paintings, artifacts, and silver pieces for church services.

But I think my favorite exhibit of the day was the Early Medieval Sculpture exhibition. The displays were actual pieces of stone from archaeological excavations. In Dubrovnik there existed a stonemason’s workshop for the production of sacral furniture and architectural sculpture. They produced beautiful works of art.

The following is a description on the wall explaining the symbolism of plants, geometric forms and numbers.

The relationship of the Holy Trinity with the “troplet” (Croatian interlace design or “pleter), the round with the square, the cross over the square and the square over the cross are the basic constants of pre-Romanesque stonemasonry.

FLOWERS – spring,accumulated solar energy, the manifestation of life inseparably linked with water and the sun, eternal birth, the permanent flow of new life.

ACANTHUS – eternal love, victory over the Biblical curse.

IVY – fertility and immortality.

THE TREE OF LIFE – the struggle of life and immortality.

LILY – whiteness, purity and innocence, a virgin’s flower.

VINE WITH GRAPES – the Eucharistic rite.

PALM – perfection, harmony and beauty.

ROSE – victory, pride, triumphant love, the flower of Venus – the Goddess of Love.

4-PETAL ROSE – four round, straight or pointed petals placed in a cross – resurrection.

8-PETAL ROSE – a double cross, four round, straight or pointed petals placed one above the other.

SWIRLING ROSETTE – the sun, it’s movement and eternity.

GRAPEVINE- the blood of Christ, represents the relationship between God and man; Christ is the vine, and God the winegrower.

CIRCLE, RING – eternity.

SQUARE – the world.

TRIANGLE – the Holy Trinity.

CROSS – Christ and his sacrifice, faith.

HEXAGON – creation.

OCTAGON – resurrection.

ENDLESS ROPE – A PRETZEL that is ,multiplied in a row or is intertwined into eternity, infinity.

3 – the Holy Trinity; beginning, middle, end; completion.

4 – four evangelists, four seasons, four corners of the world, four elements, four pillars over a tomb or altar.

5 – pentagram; Christ’s five wounds on the cross.

6 – perfection, divine power, magnificence, love, compassion and justice.

7 – love, mercy and the Holy Spirit, perfection, the seven holy sacraments.

8 – resurrection, bliss.

9 – completeness and finality.

12 – perfect harmony between the divine and the heavenly; the twelve apostles; twelve months of the year.

Walking back to our car we stopped in at the perfect spot to watch the sunset, have a snack, and make a toast to a wonderful day full of new discoveries.

Overnight we experienced gale force winds. Our rental apartment is about 15 minutes north of Dubrovnik and had a nice upper deck.

The overnight wind storm left a mess. It was cold and still windy so we took the day to explore the Peljesac Peninsula and Korcula.

Our first stop was the small town of Ston, another small town surrounded by a defensive wall, begun in the 14th century. We contemplated the two hour hike along the wall but rejected the idea due to the high winds and cold temperatures.

The peninsula is known for its vineyards, wine production and olive oil. We also passed many oyster and mussel farms in the shallow waters. The roads were narrow and winding, running up and down the mountain chain that forms the peninsula.

From Orebic we took a short 20 minute ferry to the island of Korcula. The main town on the island is also named Korcula, and is said to be the birthplace of Marco Polo. (Wikipedia claims he was born in Venice).

It’s a pretty little town with narrow stone streets, a 13th century wall, a bell tower, St Mark’s Cathedral, plus many cafes and shops.

It was cold and windy, so all the outdoor cafes were empty. It would be a very nice place to spend a pleasant day.

We took the ferry back to Orebic and started the 1:45 drive back, up the narrow, winding road with the sun setting

On our return we stopped at the Madirazza winery and tasted three different vintages of their Dingac. We were looking for wine to enjoy with dinner. We walked away with a 2013 Grand Madirazza Dingac Riserva for 27 €.

In a normal year I would do a lot of the planning for a trip like this. But the last 12 months have been anything but normal for me. Riding out two back to back hurricanes, flood damage to my house, and a big move across the country left me no time to plan a vacation. So I left the details to my dear friend Teresa and am along for the ride. My only responsibility was for the rental car and the driving. My friends and I arrived into Croatia to cloudy skies and cool temperatures. Having traveled for 24 hours we were on our first reconnaissance of the city.

The Buza Bar, where I had hoped to recreate a picture of my mother from 16 years ago, was unfortunately closed.