Croatia!

Hello friends!  Today was our Croatian adventure, which started first thing in the morning.  The ship set anchor a ways out from Split (probably because it’s too massive to fit in the harbor), so we took a 20-minute water taxi in to the city.

Our excursion was a tour of the central part of Krka National Park.  The park has a total area of 109 km2, and encompasses the entirety of the Krka River and its basin.  About an hour and a half outside of Split, the park was established in 1985, and includes an island Franciscan monastery, remnants of a Roman aqueduct, and several (non-operational) water mills along the length of the river.

The section of the park that we toured today was a network of interconnected boardwalks that wove around several small islands and waterfalls in the river.  By and large, the walkways were under tree cover and over water, which was a very interesting experience, as the river seemed to meander everywhere, with the trees growing out of the water.  There were a series of small waterfalls, until the boardwalk path wove down to the bottom of the largest waterfall.  For reference, the climb back up to the mill from the bridge at the bottom of the waterfall was around 220 stairs.

The walk around the waterfalls was a giant loop that took about an hour to walk – we, being the active people we are, and given that we had two and a half hours to spend at the park, did it twice.  On the way back from the excursion, we learned more about Croatia.  The landscape between Split and the park was mountainous, with mostly low bushes and rocky terrain, which was a pretty sharp contrast against the river basin.  Split has around 200,000 residents, and is the second largest city in Croatia.

When we got back to Split, we walked around for a while, since we had three hours before the ship departed.  It’s too bad that we had to see Split on a Sunday.  My feeling is that it would have been a much livelier place, any other day of the week.  We walked around the historic area of the city, which was originally a retirement palace for one of the early Roman emperors, who had been born in the area.  Within the area that used to be the palace, there were a lot of narrow, winding streets that opened up into huge courtyards (now bordered with restaurants).  The weather was more or less perfect, and we enjoyed wandering around.

After our (much choppier) ride back to the ship, we grabbed a late lunch, and I hunkered down in the Solarium to finish “A Casual Vacancy.”  I liked it reasonably well, but it wasn’t what I was expecting.  Somehow, I had it in my head that it was a mystery, so I kept waiting for the plot to thicken and some suspense to kick in.  That said, I still found it entertaining.  And I'd love any other book recommendations if people have them - I tend to go through books pretty quickly on vacations, and I have a kindle, so I can download from here.

Favorite things about the ship so far include: the mini golf course and the frozen yogurt machine.  I don’t know why, but when on vacation, I cannot seem to stay away from the frozen yogurt machines.  I have no problem staying away from the outpouring of trendy new fro-yo bars in Charlotte and Gastonia, but give me a cone to enjoy on a vacation, and I’m a happy camper.

Tomorrow is our day at sea.  I’m planning to read, take naps, try my hand at shuffleboard, and eat frozen yogurt.  That’s more or less the sum total of my plans.