I’m sad to leave Zadar at this point because I don’t feel like we’ve experienced as much here as we should. It’s a simple place that makes me want to settle in a stay awhile. Instead we will drive to Plitvice lakes today, our shortest drive yet (1 ½ hours).

It was a terrible night of sleep for both me and Stefan. This bed is very comfortable, but we just woke up a billion times throughout the night. We have a nice breakfast of fruit and whole grain cereal. Oly gladly takes him medicine in juice. I think he’s excited to be pooping again.

By 10am, we are walking down the street toward an old church built on top of the Roman forum. It’s another perfect weather day. The sun is shining, but it’s not hot at all. The street opens up to a large space open to the water on the left and centering on a church.

The church is clearly old, and the most interesting aspect is that it seems to be built on top of old pieces of stone. It looks like some pillars fell and they then used those fallen pieces as the base of the church. Very odd. The church is small and circular with a wooden roof. It’s not used as a church anymore, and it lacks the ethereal feeling you often get from a sacred space.

Directly across the square from the church is the Archeology Museum. Lillian wants to go because she hopes they have audio guides. They don’t. We go anyway. The first floor is about the region during Roman times. It’s actually very interesting for the whole family. The kids particularly like the tiled floors beneath glass. One even has a penis, which they think is hilarious. Okay, Stefan finds it the most hilarious.

//Stefan note: super hilarious.  A stone with a penis etched onto it.  Safe under an inch of glass.  Secure for the rest of history.

The kids also like the money and toys.

The top floor holds items from antiquity. Here the kids find old jewelry and weapons! They run around a little crazy, but there are only a couple other people in the museum. It’s a nice, calm museum. And inexpensive. So worth the trip.

We walk around the rest of the old town we haven’t seen yet. There’s a cool little church. It’s difficult to impress us after Venice.

Then we spot a picnic company! What a fantastic idea. They put together healthy baskets of local products and give you a map with suggestions on where to eat it. We need this in NYC. We get a breakfast basket with local ham, cheese, fresh-pressed juice, apples and rolls. Yum.

Now we want to give the kids a ton of playground time. We will pack up and leave after eating lunch. Stefan and I sit on a bench looking out at the water, and the kids play on the amazing playground next to us. It’s peaceful.

Finally it’s time to get our stuff back in the car. We had such a nice morning (it’s now 1pm) that I feel better about leaving Zadar. It’s a nice little town. I could say awhile longer, but we wouldn’t really do much more than playground, run and work. It’s time to move on to new things.

The drive to Plitvice Lakes is only an hour and a half. Oly takes a nap, and Lillian plays sweetly. She’s super into this toy my parents bought her.

We are staying at a hotel instead of an Airbnb here in Plitvice Lakes, Plitvice Ethno House. I couldn’t figure out what was a good value and actually close to the park, and this hotel got great reviews. The real bonus is it has a swimming pool and play area for kids. We pull in and unpack into a cute little room on the top floor (two flights of stairs). It’s basically the attic. The place feels rustic, like we are in the mountains. Stefan has a work call, and then I have to work. Not the most fun afternoon for the kids. But thankfully they play on the playground for at least half an hour. Then Lillian wants to go swimming. Stefan isn’t interested as the water is not warm.

When I get off my call, I give in to her disappointed tears and put on my swimsuit. People are sitting outside in their jackets and stare at us oddly as we descend the steps to the pool. I stand on the first step and realize this is way colder than I realized. There’s no way I’m getting all the way in the pool. Lillian, on the other hand, asks to be pushed in. Oly happily obliges. Lillian swims for about ten minutes, having pappa put her in at one end of the pool and swimming to the other end, where Oly waits for her. It’s so cute, but I finally have to say no more because I realize how numb my legs are, even 10 minutes after getting out of the pool. Yikes. 

We change back into normal clothes and head down to the hotel restaurant for dinner. They asked me at check-in what we wanted to order and what time we wanted to eat, so we just have to show up at this point. We start with a really nice chicken soup. The kids love it! Lillian talks about how we need to make lots of soup this winter. The the main courses come. I got simple chicken for the kids and the house specialty for me and Stefan. I understood it to be some pork dish with ham and cheese.

On a large platter sit two long strips of meat, each braided. Yes, braided pork. I’ve never seen such a thing. I wish it tasted better, but everything tonight is a bit weird. Oh well. At least we are approximately two minutes from our beds. We set our alarms for an early morning tomorrow, but I don’t think anyone expects us to break character and start the day early. We’ll see.