Plitvice Lakes National Park

Plitvice Lakes National Park is definately the must-see when you are in Croatia. The country is quite big, so depending on where you stay it might take up to 7 or 8 hours by car to get there, for example from the Dubrovnic area. This might spoil the fun and let you postpone the visit for another time. But we were lucky enough to put up camp in the Krk area, so it was only a two hour ride.

The national park is famous for its lakes arranged in cascades, and currently 16 lakes can be seen from the surface. What fascinated me the most was the fact that the barriers between the lakes are built of travertine, and this obviously means that the lakes are changing their size and appearance constantly.

Luckily we enjoyed a temperature drop when we were in Croatia, otherwise I don´t know if we would have survived the temperatures. The evening we arrived it was so boiling hot that I was not sure if I could resist the heat or if I would just give up and stay in the air condition during the vaccation.

Anyway, when you arrive at Plitivice Lakes National Park the "US national park"- attitude catches you immediately. You can get a nice snack there (which is what we did) and ask for the proper route for you - which was "Route A" for us, because we could not spend more than a few hours there.

They speak good English everywhere at Plitvice which is not the usual in Croatia. Usually, whereever you go, most people pretend not to have heard any English, German, Spanish, French or Italian word before - so believe me, that was a relief! Everywhere else it is Croatian or Russian or else....

They got a lovely logo and a very wise motto.

When you walk down the mountain you get a first glimpse of all the wonders that are going to wait for you.

They have a lovely waterfall (don´t expect something like Lauterbrunnen or the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland, it is different, but still nice). And you walk a lot over the "most blue? bluest?" water you can imagine.





















The only thing I must admit: There were lots and lots of people there. But of course: It was main season, and everybody used the temperature drop for a little adventure. If I am in Croatia ever again, I think I might go there again - just to enjoy the beauty of the nature a little more quiet. But still it was a great trip, and we loved it lots.

Impressionen aus Madrid

When we arrived here for a girls weekend out we had expected it to be a bit warmer. But blooming was in full swing, so I guess everything was okay.

My good friend from England and I always meet up when we can somewhere in Europe. This time it was Madrid, and of course the first thing we did was hit the Prado.

The Prado definately is a must-see when you are in town. I am happy that we got here in March because it were not too many people there. It must be packed in high-season! My favourite painters are the old maestroes of the Renaissance, and you find all of them there. Unfortunately it is not allowed to take photos.

A good idea, as always, is the hop on/hop off bus. It makes you get a feeling for the city, and you can get off at any sight to stroll around there. We only passed the Houses of Parliament, because there was no stop there.

But of course we got off at the Almuneda Cathedral. Locals say that it is not worth going inside, but I definately liked the inside as well.

Right opposite is the Palacio Real, another must-see in the Old Town. The Spanish Royal Family, by the way, is not living here but in the more decent Palacio Zarzuela.

Walking around the Old Town also is something very nice. You hit the sights almost by accident, like here the Mercado de San Miguel. When we were there it was almost impossible to get inside. People go there for snacks and drinks, and on a Saturday afternoon it simply was packed. So I just went inside, turned around and left again. But it smelled yummy everwhere.

Food is definately an issue in Madrid, there are zillions of places to eat and snack. One of the really nice things you should grab is a Boccadillo del Calamares. Usually I do not like fried food, and I even less like squid, but this was something to die for.

And then of course the Paella. I had had Paella before on Mallorca and it was not good at all - the rice too hard, you could not get the seafood out of the shell - and so I was not sure if Spanish people just like their rice and stuff on top differently, or if the Paella was just badly cooked. But I must say the Paella in Madrid - with tenderloin, Spanish jamon and chickpeas - turned out to be really nice.

Of course Madrid is a place for art lovers. There is no better place for modern art than the Museo National Centro de Arte Reina Sofia.

Here I am trying to look really intellectual. Thing is: I liked the place - the atmosphere of the house is so really nice and quiet - but I simply do not understand Modern Art. I always think "WTF?" when I see these installations - which is why I never went to the New York MOMA for example.

To sum it all up: It was a nice weekend with plenty of impressions. But if you go to mainland Spain for the first time I would rather recommend Barcelona, which is more fun. Madrid is the capital, so it is bound to be serious, but I imagined everything to be more magnificent and bigger and somehow different. And beware: The Spanish do not speak any foreign language at all (or pretend to), so leave for the airport well in advance. It is not so easy to find your way back to your plane. It was a good idea that I calculated like three hours....