Getting There - Aneel's Travelogue

Since we'd had a full day in Zagreb yesterday and the museums were all closed on Mondays, we decided to take another minibus tour, this time to a natural wonder, rather than a cultural one.

The Plitvice Lakes are a set of cascading pools that have built as water flowing from the heights has made its way down to a valley flow. Rather than forming a canyon through erosion, the water has enough chalk dissolved in it that it has formed terraces of travertine. One pool spills into the next over (mostly) low, mossy waterfalls. They're spectacularly colored, in greens and aquas, very clear, and with white bottoms. Even branches that fall into the lakes are coated with chalky sediment.

We were back in Zagreb early enough for me to do a bit of shopping before returning the US. Croatia claims to be the original source of the necktie. As the story goes, Croatian soldiers, lacking uniforms, identified themselves with tied neck scarves, which were admired by the French, who called them "Cravats". I found a nice purple one with writing on it in the ancient Glagolithic alphabet.

I also stopped by a store that was selling Croatian liquors specifically for tourists and picked up a Maraschino (named for the Dalmatian maraska cherry) and a Medica (honey). I'll be flying home with 4.2L of liquor tomorrow. We'll see what customs has to say about that...