Budapest, Hungary, to Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

This would be a travel day. We took a last look at Budapest from the window of the bus. Again Katerina made the bus ride very pleasant as did Sam, our driver.

After a rest stop in Hungary,  soon it was time for lunch in Croatia at Restoran Zelengaj. When we arrived, we were greeted by a homemade buffet with antipasti, many salads,  baked ziti, hot dogs,  spinach patties,  and cake, all served al fresco. Nick loves to photograph flowers, so he was happy to find a rose garden in bloom on the property.

On all Rick Steves tours, everyone chooses a “buddy” on the first day, and we all check to make sure our buddy is present during group activities. This works, except when both buddies are missing, which doesn’t happen often.  After lunch,  each of us was to introduce our buddy to the group. I enjoyed interviewing my buddy, a retired educator at the other end of the teaching spectrum (high school and college) from me.

We enjoyed being on the bus  together, and taking in all the sights we were observing through the windows. We saw a little waterfall  adjacent to a residence that was part of a small cluster of houses. Before long, we arrived at  Hotel Jazero at the entrance to Plitvice Lakes National Park, which we would explore the following day. It was time for dinner, and we found the restaurant  offered  many buffet tables  of foods: hot foods, cold foods, chicken, veggies, pasta, and risotto.  There was also fruit and cake. In order to get to know more of our travel mates a little better, we tried to eat with different couples each day;  this time,  our dinner companions were a couple  from Washington State.

5,500 steps