Munich...then Homebound

After driving from home, Salzburg, Slovenia, and most through Croatia it was time to make the trek back homeward. 

It was neat to drive through Slovenia and see and area we never thought we would see. Slovenia is a very rustic and hilly countryside with many old fashioned hay racks. 

We made our last stop (with no stau's...thankfully) and stopped halfway in Munich for the night.

 A castle we saw in Austria from the autobahn.

 At a pit stop my dad got a coke with his name on the bottle. Apparently it's the new thing here. There are all sorts of different names on the coke bottles.

 Our hotel was close by subway to the Höfbrau Haus. This place holds about 5,000 people and is the place to be in Munich.

 Enjoying a nice beer after a long days drive.

 We got a table on the first floor...call it luck...but we were happy to be out of the car.

 My mom and I shared and pork knuckle. It was SO yummy!

 My mom and her namesake Grace Kathryn.

 In this picture she is calling Jason her "little sweetie pie." She is a goofy girl all the time. Love her!

They were setting up for Oktoberfest just around the corner from our hotel. We were going to walk around and see all the action, but we were ready to get home and to our comfortable surroundings. 

We made good time on the way home and couldn't be more thankful for our safe travels and fun times.

Last Night in Croatia

Some snap shots of our last night in Starigrad-Paklenica, Croatia.

We had a great week long trip and did some amazing things while we were there.

I am so thankful for the time we had with my parents and exploring a new area during their visit. We made some memories that last a lifetime and I will always treasure our time together!

Plitvice National Park

This place is one of the many reasons we decided to go to the area we did. After seeing pictures of this we wanted to make this a must visit.

We drove about 1 1/2 hours from the apartment on a long, winding rode. There are two entrances to the park, it just happened that drove by entrance #2 first so that is where we parked. 

There are a number of trails to choose from to walk around the waterfall depending on how far and long you wanted to hike.

We opted for the "trail H" which is about 4-6 hours of hiking. It takes you to the top of the upper falls and you hike to the middle lake from there. The boat then takes you to the top of the lower falls to end at the biggest and most popular fall of all.

  The beginning of the hike to the buses.

 

Waiting patiently among the hundreds of others.

 Here you can see the map of the falls. They are protected and recognized as one of the first natural sights of the UNESCO Natural World Heritage. It extends over 295 square kilometers. The waters are so blue and clear because as the water flows through the limestone it picks up minerals within.

 Before the big hike we took a break and had lunch by the stream.

 Our first view of a waterfall. 

 Most of the paths looked like this along the way. It was great being so close to the water and being able to see the many trout and carp that live in the waters. I don't think I have ever seen water so clear.

 The view from the top of the trail. 

 On the way out we bought some local honey from this nice man. His parents and wife get the honey from the hive and his job is to sell it. We got honey from an acadia tree. Might just be some of my favorite!

This place is my favorite thing we did on this trip. The waterfall and water are just amazing to see. The pictures just don't do it justice. We hiked just about all day with stops here and there and were exhausted at the end of the day. We all took guesses at how far we hiked and Jason won with the closest vote...10 miles!!! No wonder we were so tired! We are so proud of the kids for doing that hike for so long. They hardly ever complained and kept up the whole way.

If you get the chance to go...it's a must!

Beach Days

Just a few kilometers from our apartment are a numbers of beaches to choose from to spend the day. We could see one from the road, but couldn't figure out how to get to this gem. After many turn arounds we found the secret way to get there. 

 The beaches in Croatia are mostly rocky with pebbles. There are very few beaches with just sandy shores. I actually prefer the little pebbles than having to deal with sand getting in everything.

These days at the beach were some of our favorite.

 Out in the ocean two planes continued to land on the water and go behind the mountain range. There must of been a fire around because they kept coming back for more water.

This is how Jackson looked the whole time were were at the beach. The water was clear enough that he snorkeled for hours and hours. He is a little fish!!

 After snorkeling for some they noticed that there were hermit crabs all over the ocean bottom.

This began a hunt that ended in many, many hermit crabs in the bucket.

 Grace was quite attached to them and started to name them all. Such a girl.

 My mom and Jason joined in and found them while Grace ran them up the shore to the bucket.

Grace loves to swim. She does so well and once she gets started has a hard time stopping. She could swim non stop if I let her.

 Love this picture!

 Playtime with Daddy is the best.

Sorry for this picture...but it was so funny I couldn't help but post. This woman was sunbathing next to us...unfortuntely. We laughed about this the rest of the day.

 

Our days at the Adriatic Sea were fantastic! 

Zadar, Croatia

We took the 45 minute drive to the city of Zadar. We stayed most of the day exploring the city and stayed till the sunset after dinner.

The city is has a lot of roman ruins which was really neat to see since I love Roman history. The columns and statues were amazing to see!

 Roman Ruins

 This is at the church of St. Donat. Most of the foundation was built on the leftover pillars from other construction areas.

 This shot just makes me smile.

 The gates entering the city.

 Ice cream to top off the night. For some reason there were so many ice cream shops in the city. So how could we pass that up.

 After dinner and ice cream we walked down to the end of the city's edge to the Sea Organ. It was amazing to hear the sounds that came from the pipes under the walkway. It was so relaxing...wished we would of come earlier to hear it.

After the sun goes down there are lights that light up as the waves crash under the walkway. We didn't stay until complete dark because we were so tired from walking all day. But I can imagine it would of been neat to see.

Here are the kids listening to the sea organ through the holes in the ground.

 A beautiful end to a fun day in Zadar.