Guest Bloggers: Heather and Mer, Day 4

After all of the commotion with yesterday’s journey, we awaken in Plitvice.national park at the Hotel Jezero. The hotel is pretty basic but has a great location about 100 feet from the entrance to the park. And it boasts an awesome breakfast. Mer and Heather were delighted to find among the basic/expected breakfast options a beacon of light in the jams/spreads area… a nutella-like half-chocolate, half-vanilla cream spread. Never mind that it came packaged in a cartoon character packet. This was clearly for adults.

Little did we know just how mission critical this breakfast would be, when we set out for what would become a five hour hike before we’d get to lunch. As most of you who know John would expect given this information, John fainted of starvation less than 27 minutes into the hike. We did not know whether John’s fainting spell was the result of insufficient nutrition or overexposure to nature, given that he complained of both. With John passed out, we began to enjoy the breathtaking scenery surrounding us. There were waterfalls around every turn and turquoise lakes that extended as far as the eye could see. The turquoise color was actually a little ironic because earlier in the morning, while looking for postcards in the gift shop, Heather refused to buy a postcard with images of the turquoise water convinced that the image had been doctored… in fact, the water truly is an other-worldly color. Apologies to those of you who could have received said postcards.

The highlight of the day came at the end. After lunch we began the final leg of the hike which turned out to be the most physically demanding, uphill and in the sun. Don’t worry, John made it. But Heather had to carry the backpack up the hill. We think John made it because there was ice cream waiting at the top. So, we stop for a respite and a refreshment. While some refreshed with water and ice cream, John chose espresso. Did we mention it was hot outside? Anyway, what happened next cannot truly be summed up with words. We’d like to share with you a brief video below.

Holding his super #1 coffee while ordering an ice cream, John soon found his espresso covering his shirt when the ice cream lady opened the freezer with a bit too sudden movement. I think John may have yelped. He was not happy. And he smelled a lot like espresso.

We made our way back to the car and hopped in for a two-hour ride to Zadar, a charming coastal town. It should be noted that we are a very hi-tech bunch. Joanna in the front seat with computer on, burned a cd for us to enjoy as a soundtrack for our journey.

When we got to Zadar, John went to check out the accommodations that he’d reserved on the phone earlier in the day while we waited in the car. John couldn’t handle that first hotel, so we wandered around getting lost in the neighborhood looking for a new hotel: Hotel Albin. This was by all definition identical to the first, but according to John the presence of air conditioning made it a thousand times better. Little did John know that the a/c in his bedroom was broken and that he would find himself taken two cold showers in the middle of the night to avoid overheating.