PLITVICE LAKES AND ZADAR, CROATIA || OUT AND ABOUT

So here is part two of my adventures through the land of Croatian beauty (click here for part one). After spending the day in Zagreb we took a very early morning bus to the Plitvice National Park. I think it is safe to say it is one of my favourite places I have ever visited. The water was a beautiful turquoise colour and incredibly clear - you could perfectly see all the fish swimming around.

The park is massive and there are different paths you can follow to explore it - some are only an hour or two and some will take up the entire day. Since we had a lot of time to spend in the park we decided to do the longest hike which was shorter than it was supposed to be - it must have taken us about 5 hours which is not too long given that we got to explore the entire park.  We also saw some big green lizards which scared me a tiny little bit but I got over it. 

As the walk was shorter than expected we decided to rent a rowing boat which was a great. We got to see some extra waterfalls and it was so much fun. I also discovered I was pretty decent at rowing... you'll see me in Tokyo in 2020.

Later that day we took another bus to Zadar where we explored the Old Town a bit before having dinner and going to bed early after the exhausting day we had had at the park.

The following day was spent in Zadar, and we discovered there isn't really much to do there other than wander around the pretty streets in the Old Town and walk along the promenade. Another cool thing was The Greeting to The Sun, which are essentially solar panels that light up after the sun sets. It was hard to get a good photo, specially because it gets reaaaally crowded but it was gorgeous. Near the solar panels you can also hear the Sea Organ, which according to the Internet is a 'music instrument which plays music by way of sea waves and tubes located underneath a set of large marble steps'. I could have never explained it so well. 

And this was our time in Zadar! The next post will be about our time in Split, one of my favourite cities!

24HRS IN ZAGREB, CROATIA || OUT AND ABOUT

If you've ever spent a summer in London you'll know that, whilst London is absolutely beautiful in the sunshine, it doesn't really feel much like summer. Highs of 20˚C and only sporadic days of sunshine are not the representation of the well-known quote "summer, hair gets lighter, skin gets darker, water gets warmer, drinks get colder, music gets louder, nights get longer, life gets better".

Which is why after coming back to England from Spain, I escaped the clouds once again and run off to Croatia with a friend for about 10 days. I visited different cities and a couple of stunning National Parks. Instead of doing one massive post, I decided to do one for each place so that I can explain everything in more details. 

We flew from London to the capital, Zagreb where we spent the day. We didn't have much of a plan and everything we wanted to see seemed to be vert close together in the Old Town so we took an Uber there and wandered around. If you visit Croatia I would definitley recommend using Uber instead of public transport as it is similar prices and obviously much more convenient. I only spent about £20 in 9 days and we took at least two-three ubers per day.

We took an Uber to the Railway Station and then walked from there towards the Zrinjevac Park. After walking to the Trg bana Josipa Jelacica (Main City Square) we went to the Dolac Market where we got some incredible fresh fruit to snack on and a pastry for lunch. And that was the day we discovered Croatians love cheese in their pastries, I love cheese but not even I would eat that much cheese. 

We also visited the Cathedral and then walked to the Upper Town where we got some breathtaking views of the city and stumbled upon the Giant Whale Mural by the French artist Etien.
Since neither of us knew much about the history of the country we decided go visit the Croatian History Museum, which was only 5HKR (about 50p), and taught us all we needed to know about the recent war and how it affected Croatia.

After that, we walked around the Upper Town for a bit before going to the Museum of Broken Relationships which to be honest wasn't as cool as we were expecting but still worth visiting if you don't know what else to do.

 After all that walking and our 6:30AM flight we had been on earlier, we were quite tired and hungry so we went on the hunt for some good Croatian food. We ended up going to a place called Nokturno where I had some incredible Black Risotto for a very decent price, the restaurant was located in a very lively and cute uphill street with many other restaurants.

Overall, I would say I enjoyed Zagreb more than I expected but I also think a day is more than enough to visit everything and to enjoy the city without getting bored. It is also the cheapest city we visited in Croatia so if you want to get some nice seafood for a good price do it there!