Wednesday, March 9th. A long drive to the coast of the Adriatic with a significant stop at Plitvice Lakes, a World Heritage National Park. A series of lakes with numerous small and large waterfalls. We had the option to walk along the canyon rim or hike down to lake-level and then take a boat ride. I opted for the lower choice, but I’m sure the rim walk was also fine. Sunny day. Took the oppurtunity to play with shutter speeds with some success. Great time. Deboned trout for lunch.

Because of our visit to the Lakes, our roads were largely local all the way to the coast. Bus driver is fast! Stopped at a monument identifying itself as being exactly equal distanced from the Equator and North Pole. Sign said 5,000km from each, which is surprisingly fairly accurate.

Beautiful hotel view! Due to the illnesses that swept through the group, the local OAT representative arranged a four-person band to perform before dinner. Reminded me of Mexican bands. We later spent the evening sharing our (mostly fun) experiences with the rep, while he explained some of the organizational processes of pulling off such great trips (with some occasional bumps). We were curious how OAT found some of our more off-the-beaten-path hosts.