Every day starts out better when you get some rest, and I did pretty well last night so it was easier to kick off the day with a better attitude than yesterday. Insert big sigh of relief here. Today we drove to KrKa National Park which was about an hour and fifteen minute drive. Apparently the water falls at the park are the top Instagrammed place in Croatia.
The actual falls within the park you can reach either by ferry, or by walking. The ferry line was crazy long, so we decided to walk. It was about 4 km, which roughly translates to 37 miles. Not really, but you would have thought from the level of complaining and dragging in our party. To be fair, I was dragging too because it was HOT, and the mid-day sun was brutal. Plus I had eaten salami and potato chips on the way there and my fingers were literally swollen up like little sausages from all the salt. They were no longer bending at the knuckles.
We had this quiet perception from the walk, which was relatively deserted, a few people here and there but nothing crazy….there were long stretches of the road when it was just us walking. When we finally arrived it was like bursting into the craziest, busiest scene. The falls are gorgeous, the water an amazing light emerald color, with much of it clear with beautiful pillowy shaped rocks below. The mobs of people? Seriously less gorgeous. I think it’s possible there were actually more pounds of people than water—and I am only exaggerating a little. I cropped the picture so that you couldn’t see the throngs of people.
The kids all swam, or rather, waded around trying to find water, and I guarded our stuff while perched on a tee branch to avoid sitting in the actual dirt. Mad. Scene. I people watched for a solid 45 minutes and here were some observations. The abundance of selfie-sticks have greatly reduced, which is wonderful, but I still saw some and it’s embarrassing. There were however, an over-abundance of painful looking shortie shorts that I seriously thought might be causing vaginal injury. I’m sorry, but that just can’t be comfortable or good for the nether regions. The tiny speedo situation? Very abundant, and positively scary on 99% of the men I saw….actually, take that back, 100% is more accurate. This was no svelte crowd.
All that being said, the walk was lovely even if it was smokin’ hot. The car ride there and back was peaceful (enough), and the little town near the park was quaint and not nearly as crowded as you’d think….we did a stroll thru toward the end of the day. We ran into a beautiful swan at the water’s edge that decided to try and attack Lucia’s foot. I grabbed a picture of her holiness BEFORE the rabid attack.
I think the problem is the same that I always have when we travel…I hate lines and crowds. I’d avoid them entirely if possible. Venice? Florence? Lovely places, but they would have been 1000x lovelier without the throngs of people. I can’t wait to go back to Venice in October….July is insanity. What can you do though, got to travel on the kids’ summer schedule.
We did a quick stop at the beach after we got home, and the kids got a little more water time. Tomorrow we’ll head toward Split and I’m kind of ready. The area has grown on me a little more today, but I still think there is more of Croatia to love somewhere else.
Signed, ME {lv}
Comments