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Last day - our goodbyes to Croatia

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  Yesterday afternoon we went shopping around Zadar.  When we returned to the room, the door was ajar.  Nothing was taken, and my valuables were on me, so no idea what happened.  We had checked the door when we left.  We went out for dinner at an Italian place across the street and ate like pros, it was our first meal of the day. At bedtime, we double checked the door, and even piled luggage in front of it as a high security stop point for would be intruders.  An hour later, the door clicked and slightly opened.  Nobody in the hall. We notified the manager.  I found that if I pushed and pulled the door real quick, it would unlatch.  The wind was doing it.  No ghosts. We left in the morning for Smiljan, to the birthplace of Nikola Tesla.  There is a nice small museum and visitors center, with demonstrations of real Tesla coils. We headed to  Gospić, a few minutes away and did some souvenir shopping, then got back on the tollway, headed for the airport.  We dropped off the car and cousin
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Zadar

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 We checked out of the house in Sveti Rok with a sad goodbye to our host.  We loaded up and drove to Zadar, which is on the Adriatic Sea, specifically the old part of the city.  Just outside Sveti Rok, there is a ridge of mountains called the Velebit.  Although there is a pass over them, the convenient 3.5 mile (yes, that long) tunnel through the mountains is a pretty sweet time saver. Once through the tunnel, you go from Wisconsinlike continental climate to Mediterranean climate, all in a matter of minutes.  From thick greenery and fields to arid, warm, with olive trees, grape vines and palmettos everywhere.  After another 45 minutes we arrived at our hotel and luckily found a parking spot 1/2 block away (nearly impossible odds).  Our hotel is right on the seafront as seen in this photo: After check-in, we wandered around the city to many of the key sites.  It’s entirely walkable in a few hours.  We got gelato and even bought some handmade lace from a kind old lady who insisted I take
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Cerovac Caves - CEROVAČKE ŠPILJE

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 This morning we had a light breakfast and went about 30 minutes south of here to Cerovac Caves near  Gračac.   There is a welcome center, and two caves.  Both cave entrances are a hefty hike up the mountain, one above the other by a 15 minute walk.  The caves go into the hill for kilometers, but the tour goes about 600 meters each.  We arrived after 10am, and found that we were the only people there yet.  We missed the 10am tour, but headed to the upper cave for the 11:30a tour.  A tota of 8 people were there for the tours.  Slow day in the off season. We started at the upper cave.  It had enormous cathedral caverns.  Hard to describe all of the detail, but slightly dark in there, very cold (44 deg f), and damp.  Like a cave.  Lots of calcite formations above and around. The lower cave was also incredible.  Narrower than the upper, but a lot of detail Tonight, we’ll take it easy and go find dinner near Lovinac.  Tomorrow morning we leave for Zadar, on the Adriatic Sea. .
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Sveti Rok, Croatia. Population 292, Salute!

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    We got up this morning and made our way to Sveti Rok.  This town was the ‘center’ of life for my great-grandparents, namely for church and trade.  They lived on opposite sides, outside of town from each other, but most everyone here was connected as family to their church.  My great-grandfather was Stjepan Japunčić, and upon arriving solo in America, used the name Steve (Stephen) Japuntich henceforth.  About two years later, my great grandma Kata Krpan decided to come to America and marry him, right before world war 1 in October of 1913. We drove out of town to the property where my great grandpa was born to visit the ruins of his fathers house. Steve’s two brothers built this house for their families and their father Jacob.  Not much is left after the homeland war and years of weathering. Here are photos from before and after the homeland war, and from today. While we were there, my online friend Marko  Japunčić happens to be driving out of the property and we met awkwardly using
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Plitvice Lakes National Park

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  NOTE: you can click on the pictures to enlarge them.          Today was spent at probably the most beautiful park in the world.  Plitvice is a chain of 16 lakes that are tiered one to the next with waterfalls.  Wooden pathways and earthen trails guide visitors along, over and through the waters.  A nice couple staying here agreed to join us for the day. We started at our rooming house for a mile walk until we came to the ‘secret’ Flora gate to the park that is meant for people staying in Plitvicka Selo like us.  Otherwise, it is 20km to the main entrance via a drive around the canyon.  The Flora entrance is near Point3, and there our program began with an electric boat ride across Kozjak lake to Point2. At point 2 we walked along the Upper lake chain through many areas of small waterfalls and scenery. At the end of the route is ST3, where we rode a bus tram to the main entrance 1.  This is where normal people get into the park and start the route.  We followed the trail back to Point
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On to Plitvička Selo

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 We left Rastoke and Slunj around 4pm today, heading for Plitvice (pronounced Pleet-veet-seh) Lakes National Park.  Instead of staying at the large, expensive state owned hotels, we opted for a rooming house owned by an older lady named Nena in a villa called Plitvička Selo (pronounced Pleet-veech-kah Sell-oh).  Selo means villa.   This place is 120 yards from the edge of the canyon at the park. In fact, the creek that flows through her property makes the tallest waterfall at the park called Veliki Slap (means ‘big waterfall’).  We had some sub sandwiches from a high end convenience store, and we ate them on Nena’s ‘island’ surrounded by flowing water.  We walked down the driveway to a couple of canyon overlooks in private property that take your breath away.  I had a hard time from being emotional, because it’s the first time seeing the overwhelming nature of the park after two or three years of watching YouTube videos about it.  When you got the real deal,  nothing else compares. He
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