September 12 It's Raining, It's Pouring

Plitvice Lakes,  Rainout and Blackout

About 90 minutes into our drive from Zadar to Plitvice Lakes, we are up in the mountains again, this time, the interior of Croatia. It is green and beautiful as we roll past some old tanks from the war and wonder again, just how close are we to all of those unexploded thousands of land mines still left lying around. 

The mountain scenery is a bit eerie with smoky, foggy, misty looking clouds with the mountain peaks popping out above making us feel on top of the world, albeit not a sunny one.

We roll into Grabovac, right up to our Turista Hotel which turns out to be half hotel, half campsite. There are tents and camper vans and RVs and wooden cabins, #118 just for us. 

>>>Stock Photo- NOT this nice day when we arrive!

Our reception hostess walks us to our cabin, opens the door and as she is leaving casually remarks, 'oh, tomorrow we will have no electricity from 8 - 5, the whole area had a problem and they need to fix it'. It doesn't take long to sink in-no lights, no WiFi and no heat. It is cold up here, about 11C, quite unexpected! And the forecast is nothing but clouds (ok, we can live with that) and rain, varying from mist to drizzle to downpours to thunderstorms. We pretty much decide one night here will be enough and while we do have wifi, we quick check out and book a Zagreb hotel, which in hindsight is much better for our 11am flight out on Friday.

We put on the heat so that when we come in from the cold just outside our cabin door, where we have to stand to get WiFi, we are warmed up. We head out to dinner to the highest rated place in the area (definitely not on Zagat) and share a pizza, which really you can't screw up. Back at the hotel, the thunder and lightening start and we think about taking in some tent campers for 10 Euro each - we can probably pay our entire 70 Euro bill that way. We go to sleep hoping by telepathy we can make those magic bells of Sukosan ring again tonight.

Morning, dark, misty, 8am power is off, drizzly, and we have to make the big decision- do we do Plitvice in the rain,? I quickly google Plitvice in the rain and surprisingly people say it is just as beautiful. Then we realize, they had a warm rainy day as opposed to our raw chilly one and we don't want to have a miserable experience, so Zagreb it is. Perhaps it will be an unexpected lovely surprise, especially our hotel, a brand spanking new design boutique hotel where the only room left was a luxury king. 

We pack in the drizzle and roll out. By the time we stop for breakfast it is raining lightly and by the time we are in Slunj, it is steady, so we made a good decision.  We are driving on the D1 which heads north and for a long while parallels the Bosnian border, only five kilometers away. The Croatian War for Independence started right here, in Plitvice, when the Serbs came across that border to try to crush the Croatians and Slunj's buildings still display the scars of the fight. 

And I am guessing there is still not too much trust between the two countries just as we are stopped to allow a convoy of assault military vehicles to enter the roadway, on patrol or exercise, which one we cannot tell. 

But as we drive, for quite a while, behind the convoy, Steve considers passing, at which point I say, gee I am not sure they want your car in between the tanks and I don't think you can pass all five in one fell swoop. We stay behind but then an impatient Lancia passes us and tries to pass the military police car bringing up the rear of the convoy. In a heartbeat, the police van pulls out and blocks the middle of the road to clearly send the message - NO PASSING ALLOWED....STAY THE HELL AWAY. 

So we do and in another hour or so we are in Zagreb and are pulling up to the Hotel 9, which looked very hip online. And it is. Turns out it opened only 13 days ago so quite possibly we are the first guests in Room 5 on the Silver Floor. From glamping to glamour in less than 24 hours. Silver alligator chairs, black linens and white leather sofas. I am not sure you can even imagine how that all actually looks good and not like a brothel, but it really does, think Croatian Kimpton-ish, but nicer.

The best part is that we get to spend the day in Zagreb, which turns out to be very cool, quite beautiful, with lots of great small sights to see and small boutiques to shop. We never expected to be here, and even once our plans changed, we never expected much of a city. So as always, when you have low expectations, you are usually delightfully surprised. There were markets of flowers with bouquets of fruit and markets of fruit with delicious figs to taste. 

There were Croatian design shops for clothes and for home. There was an entire pedestrian street for blocks of nothing but cafes, bistros and bars buzzing with live music. 

There was sculpture and art and architecture aplenty. 

And as much as I have been enraptured with little beach towns, Zagreb's charms made a great day of transition before we plunge head first into Istanbul tomorrow. So we must say goodbye to laid back, friendly, fun and sun Croatia and get ready to pack once again and say hello to mosques, mezes and minarets! 

PS - And this is how clear the water at Croatia beaches really are - this is Steve's foot in 4 feet of sea water!