My last trip in Europe during PhD was to Croatia* - a beautiful
holiday destination with lots of Sea and the Sun and to add to that more and more
beautiful people all around. Where else can you expect the host to come to
receive you at the bus terminal and you reach ho(s)tel
in chauffeur driven car at 6AM in the morning. The lady of the house
then greets you with a traditional welcome drink -- honey and vintage liquor
(may be) half as strong as Becherovka burning your throat -- What a way to
start a day!!!
Ferpect (There is nothing perfect in this world) for a last minute
travelers like me, one of the curious practices in Croatia is that
you do not really have to book ho(s)tels etc. in advance. For one, you will
have a lot of residents looking for travelers to offer them
beds/rooms. Renting places and tourism is their major source of
revenue. If you are unlucky to find none, I was informed that you are free
to just knock on any door in the neighborhood and request them if they have a
place to stay. Worse come worst, the residents will guide you to another
neighbor and most likely you will get a bed at least.
With more than thousand islands, Croatia is one of those beautiful
marvels that it becomes too difficult to imagine that the country was at
loggerheads with neighboring Bosnia just a two decades ago and the war stories
on the dinner table leave you shock shelled.
For most prominent
traveling destinations, there is a lot and lots to see. While The pearl of
Adriatic -- Dubrovnik, described by G.
B. Shaw as "Those who seek paradise on Earth should come to Dubrovnik
and see Dubrovnik" should not be missed in any circumstances the tranquil
park in Plitvice will certainly leave you far away from the mundane day to day
routine that you will hate to come back. It's one of the decent places for adventurists too as there are quite a few water sports options to bask in. The passing beauty of the islands when you travel on roads
close to Sea is simply mesmerizing and it would be a huge effort to give a break to your shutter. Here are a few shutter bugs...
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| Dubrovink - The pearl of Adriatic |
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| Lokrum - An island close to Dubrovnik |
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| Croatia - A country with more than thousand Islands |
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| Pristine -- A natural cave in Lokrum |
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| Plitvice Park water fall - small and sweet |
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* By the way, Gary Kasparov travels to Croatia for vacation every
summer. Not only he relaxes in the summer house with his entire family, he
works on his Chess too. Being hugely optimistic, I was hopeful that an ounce of
sand would be fly into my head to improve my Chess performance. Height of optimism :-)
