Slovenian
and Croatian 9/13/2007-10/7/2007
Steamboat
SpringsàDenverà BostonàMilan,
ItàZabreb, CroatiaàSamabor, CroatiaàLjubljana,
SloveniaàBled, SloveniaàBohjni,
SlàJulian Alps, SLàBohjni, SlàIzola,
SlàOpitja, CroatiaàPlitvice, CràStarigrad-Paklenica, CràZadar, CràZagreb/Samabor,
CràMilanàBostonàDenveràSteamboat Springs
Journal
Part IX:
9/29/2007:
Starigrad, Croatia:
Just a little about Starigrad-Paklenica.
It was not our original destination, but as our trip philosophy is stay
flexible short stopping in this little town just seemed right. The town had its start with the Romans, but
since they vacated about 1600 years ago it has suffered and thrived with the
fortunes of the current ruling party and the Dalmatian coast. The other attraction for me is that is sits
right at the base of the Velebit Mountains and just a few miles from one the
premier lime stone climbing areas in Europe.
View out our window in
Starigrad-Paklenika. The dress up thing
is not universal since there is an old eastern European influence still present
in much of the country
Today hiked
up to Dom Paklenika which is one of the Refugio in the National Park. Very nice hike up a wide scenic trail. The highlight was meeting up with students
from the local cosmetology school in Zadar on the trail. It was probably typical for Croatia, but very atypical for America. A group of about twenty girls from the school
were on a day hike up 2,000 ft to the Dom.
To start with American students hiking is a little unusual, but these
girls were not only hiking, but they were dressed to kill. They looked like they were ready for a
shopping spree on Rodeo Drive
in Beverly Hills. This scene wasn’t totally shocking since it
seems to be common place for Croatian and Slovenian women to dress in style
where ever they are. The grunge look is
definitely not in in this part of the world.
Just a sample of some of the
beautiful lime stone cliffs on our hike up to the Dom Paklenika
Mo in a trail side hang out on our
way back from the Dom
After our
hike we walked down to the coast and watched the day go by as we ate olives and
sardines and drank some good, but cheap, wine.
There was a magnificent old watch tower on the shore. Could not find a lot of information about the
tower, but they are known as Vecka
Towers and predate the
Romans. They were probably part and
security system. From the top of this
tower you are supposed to be able to see another tower way up in the mountains
to the east.
The
construction appeared to be mortarless stone fit tightly together forming solid
6 ft thick walls. Clearly this was build
for security.
9/30/2007: Zadar, Croatia: After another night at the Rajna we hiked up
another trail in to National Park Paklenica.
This trail was much less used and more technically challenging. Mo also made the mistake of asking the park
ranger whether the signs about poison snakes was for real. He said people do get bit every year, but as
long as you keep your eyes in the trees watching for dropping snakes you will
be fine. Can’t understand why, but that
made Mo uneasy.
Still had a
very nice hike, but at the terrain became rougher and rockier, Mo decided that
the snake thing was making her uneasy.
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Slovenia Journal X
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