Jeff & Serena 2021 - Italy, Croatia, Morocco

  Plitvice National Park in Croatia is stunning.  16 named lakes and countless smaller bodies of water are linked by cascading water everywhere. Yes, the water really is this color.  The surrounding stone is rich in carbonate which the water wears away.  The carbonate settles on the lake bottom and reflects bright aquamarine.  This is the tallest waterfall in Croatia. Veliki falls 87 meters.  Here at the end of summer the water volume is a little low. Another view of Veliki. Water flowing through the forest. Yet another beautiful cascade. Chestnut wood walkways allow passage without damaging the ground.  There were even a couple of places where the walkways went over a rushing cascade of water just below our feet. Stairs from lake level have been installed inside this sinkhole all the way to the top of the gorge walls. Given the size of the trees growing inside, this hole has been around for quite a while.  The water travels through the landscape ...

  Met up in Zagreb with Santa Cruz expats and headed for the Istrian peninsula. Our first stop was in Rovinj (pronounced Roveen).  We stayed in the pedestrian old town. Lots of restaurants, bars, shops, and nightlife. Also, just a few boats. And yachts of varying sizes. This is one of the smallest ones.  There were not a lot of yachts - 1 giant one, a couple of large, a few medium, and fewer than 10 of this size. View of Rovinj and anti-facism monument.  Croatia has a long history of fascism, resistance, and wars related to fascism.  Both Rovinj and Groznjan had memorials dedicated to anti-fascism.  June 22 in Croatia is a National Holiday dedicated to anti-fascism. And yet, the internet will tell you that in the 1990s when Croatia was most recently in a period of upheaval, thousands of anti-fascism monuments were removed. We know this is very recent history though, as tourists, the country today seems prosperous and peaceful.  Mariner statue on top of...