"Beautiful Country in Mediterranean... " a Croatia Travel Page by haysnoe

Croatia has one of my favorite combinations of historical signifigance and interesting geography. My trip centered mostly on the West coast of the country along the Adriatic Sea and over to Plitvice National Park. I was there in April so the weather was a little blustery but I'm very interested in returning during Summer, especially to go futher South to Dubrovnik and Split.

Being relatively close to all of the main centers of the historic Roman Empire, Croatia is full of interesting relics of that time. Sadly, I also saw many scars from the fighting that plagued Croatia in the early 1990s. Often, I would cover miles of beautiful semi-rural country only to pass through a town with many burned-out and bullet-riddled buildings with few people about. Frankly, I did find the people to be a little bit dour but that could be partly my shortcoming from sometimes being intimidated in situations where I don't speak the local language and understandable given the reality of local history.

The main highlight for me on my trip was visiting the Plitvice National Park, though I wish I had visited later in the year. There was still much snow in the park and most of the trails were closed and I did not get to see many of the lakes and waterfalls which I had traveled so far to see. The real hidden jewel was the Sixth-Century basilica, Eufrazijeva Bazilika, in Porec. Well-advertised so not really hidden but a real treasure and felt hidden, I guess, because I travelled so far to get there. While visiting inside, a group of school children was sheparded inside by a nun to a side chapel for prayer which was fun.