Colin: Today we left Zagreb in the early morning for our trip to Plitvice (pronounced Plee-VITZ-uh) Lakes National Park. We hiked in to the Lower Lakes and the Korana canyos at the park where we observed the beauty of the 16 large lakes throughout the park. Unfortunately, it started to rain as soon as we had gotten to the base of the biggest waterfall in the park. We then hiked up to one of the larger lakes and took a ferry ride across it. While on the ferry, we were able to observe nature and relax on our way to lunch at the parks lodge.
Every day is a new experience for us, and lunch today was no exception. We were severed a wonderful tomato based soup with mushrooms, a salad, and a variety of meats to feast upon. After arriving back on the bus, we were informed that the wonderful tomato soup with mushrooms was not, in fact, a wonderful tomato soup with mushrooms. What we thought were mushrooms turned out to actually be pieces of cow lung, which we were told is a delicacy in this area of Croatia. Some of our classmates were not happy with this new information, but as a whole our group loved it! (Ben - I would definitely eat it again!)
On our way back from the National Park, we went on a hunt to find a "spa" in Lesce. When we arrived at this "spa" we were surprised at what was considered a spa here. It was basically a pool in the ground that was only filled to about 1 foot of water (picture to the left). The spa is filled with a natural hot spring under the pool and people use this pool to heal aliments such as arthritis among other things.
Our last stop today was Bosiljevo castle, where we met with the mayor of the town. The castle had been abandoned since the 1980’s and it was falling apart, but we were able to explore the grounds anyway. At the conclusion of our exploration, we spoke with the mayor who explained to us that the castle was owned by a family before the Yugoslav Communist era. Under the Communists there were not supposed to be class differences between the people, so little or no money was given to upkeep such reminders of feudalism. Since the creation of an independent Croatia, the family has regained full ownership of the property. They apparently have no interest in restoring the castle, but anybody who wants to pay $2 million, and do the extensive work necessary, the castle is there for the taking.
Every day is a new experience for us, and lunch today was no exception. We were severed a wonderful tomato based soup with mushrooms, a salad, and a variety of meats to feast upon. After arriving back on the bus, we were informed that the wonderful tomato soup with mushrooms was not, in fact, a wonderful tomato soup with mushrooms. What we thought were mushrooms turned out to actually be pieces of cow lung, which we were told is a delicacy in this area of Croatia. Some of our classmates were not happy with this new information, but as a whole our group loved it! (Ben - I would definitely eat it again!)
On our way back from the National Park, we went on a hunt to find a "spa" in Lesce. When we arrived at this "spa" we were surprised at what was considered a spa here. It was basically a pool in the ground that was only filled to about 1 foot of water (picture to the left). The spa is filled with a natural hot spring under the pool and people use this pool to heal aliments such as arthritis among other things.Our last stop today was Bosiljevo castle, where we met with the mayor of the town. The castle had been abandoned since the 1980’s and it was falling apart, but we were able to explore the grounds anyway. At the conclusion of our exploration, we spoke with the mayor who explained to us that the castle was owned by a family before the Yugoslav Communist era. Under the Communists there were not supposed to be class differences between the people, so little or no money was given to upkeep such reminders of feudalism. Since the creation of an independent Croatia, the family has regained full ownership of the property. They apparently have no interest in restoring the castle, but anybody who wants to pay $2 million, and do the extensive work necessary, the castle is there for the taking.
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