The Most Beautiful Place on Earth

When you are going to one of the most beautiful places on Earth (according to Forbs magazine) you better be prepared for an adventure. We got up early to drive to the Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia's most known and unknown tourist attraction. It was granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 1979 and since then has been growing in popularity. Croatia may be gaining recognition for its beaches, but inland this park has a lot to offer. We drove there from Porec, which took about 4 hours. We arrived around 11 a.m. and got a quick lunch before a big day of hiking. The park is easy to navigate with wooden bridges, boats and buses. The majority of the park consists of walking--so be prepared. 

We walked around the park for a little over 4 hours, which we felt was a sufficient amount of time to see things. However, if we had children with us the walking pace would have been much slower. I was impressed with the number of strollers I saw throughout the park. After a full day of picture taking and hiking we were ready to go home. The only problem was that our GPS apparently was not ready to take us home. It recalculated a million times trying to get us out of the park. It led us on a wild goose chase through the forest--places I'm not sure any vehicle should travel on. Paved roads turned into gravel roads, which turned into dirt roads. Had we met another car there would not have been any room to pass each other. Lucky for us the "Off Brand Garmin" finally found its way. Just in time too because the sun was starting to go down and I didn't relish the idea of spending the night in the forest...even if it is beautiful. 

When we reached civilization again we took some random pictures of the road. I almost wanted to kiss the paved road after being lost for an hour on a dirt road. We ate a quick dinner by purchasing sandwiches at a gas station--gas station food is actually pretty good in Europe (random travel tip for you).  We got home late and exhausted, but seeing the so many natural wonders and taking in a place so majestic was worth it. If dinosaurs or fairies exist, I'm sure they live at Plitvice Lakes National Park.

These signs represent everything you can't do in the park.

The water is crystal clear. 

There are 16 lakes and countless waterfalls that connect
to each other throughout the park. 

Ben walking around.
Be careful not to push the path isn't too wide.

Fish swimming around. Too bad fishing is against the rules.

Here I am enjoying our first big waterfall. You could feel
the spray coming off of it, which really helped in the heat.

The waterfall was called, "Slap waterfall." 

When walking across the wooden bridge it almost feels
like a scene out of Jurassic Park. 

The park was not too crowded. At times the pathways were
packed and at other times you felt like the only people there.

A great panoramic view of the park. 

Ben's shirt matches the water perfectly. 

Ben next to a waterfall. 

The lakes were the most vivid colors of blues and greens.

One of the boats that takes you to the next waterfall spot.
These boats got crowed towards the end of the day with
everyone leaving.

Beautiful may not be a strong enough word here.

Ben made me very nervous taking this picture. As you can
see there is no railing. 

A random little cave walk through. 

Ben next to the biggest waterfall at the park.

Another beautiful lake. We found this lake while trying to leave
the park. 

The GPS was hard at work--"recalculating" is its favorite word. 

Back in civilization again.

Traveling the highway towards home.