Our weeklong spring break trip to Croatia and Slovenia started with flights from Minsk to Vienna and a regional flight to Klagenfurt, Austria where we rented a car. We drove through a tunnel to cross from Austria through Slovenia to Zagreb, Croatia. Toured the pedestrian friendly center and picked up picnic supplies for the Plitvice Lakes the next day. The Museum of Nave Art (Avant Garde self taught artists in the 930s) was amazing. On the way out of town we took a stroll through the architectural gem of Mirogoj Cemetery.
The geologic wonders of the Plitvice Lakes are picturesque in wildflower studded forests and best seen up close on meandering boardwalks, but pictures are amazing from various vantage points. Limestone is continuously dissolved and then redeposited to create ever changing waterfalls from one lake to another.
Left the next day for the coast and the Istrian Peninsula. Our next stay was in the hill fortress town of Motovun, overlooking vineyards and oak forests that are home to Croatias famous truffles. At night we could hear truffle dogs announcing each truffle find. We drove to the coast for a seafood lunch, searched the
We spent a few hours in Ljubljana, Slovenia walking along the river through downtown and having lunch in a rainstorm before heading off to Lake Bled, our final destination. We stayed at a tourist farm with a small herd of dairy cattle and a fascinating automatic milking machine. Bees here are lovingly kept in colorfully painted bee hives. We rode bikes (up many hills) around the lake with amazing views of the cliff top castle and churches with backdrop of the Julian Alps to a hike along the boardwalks of Vintgar Gorge.
