Krka National Park and Sibenik

Croatia continues to impress us.  Today we traveled to Krka National Park.  We first drove through the town of Kastel just outside of Spit.  This is where they think the Zinfandel grapes originated.  There was talk of some DNA testing being done and they traced the grapes back to Croatia.  Croatia has a long history of wines — Romans were here for some 400 years.  One of my favorite wineries was started by a Croatian – Grgich Hills.  We did not realize there were so many famous Croatians: Nikola Tesla, Goran Visnjic (the actor from ER), and even the MP3 player was created by a Croatian.  I’ve been drinking a lot of beer because it’s been so hot but I now feel like I need to try some wine.  There’s a long history of good wine making here in Croatia.

We first stopped in Sibenik.  It’s a small town on the Adriatic coast with some 200 islands just off the town.  Sibenik is the first city that was actually founded by the Croats.  It was tossed back and forth between Venice, Byzantium, and Hungary.  We learned quite a bit today.  Our tour guide told us that this town center is like many others in Europe, where city hall is across from the church/cathedral.  This was to balance the power between the church and the state.  Aha, I didn’t now that!  Apparently, the Cathedral of St. James was built for some 100 years by three different architects.  One architect was an actual native son, Dalmaticus.  He placed some 71 sculpted face all around the cathedral, but represented men, women, children, different classes of people, etc., to say that in the eyes of God, everyone is equal.  It was a very progressive thought for that time period.   It also represents the fusion of Gothic and Renaissance.

Next, we were off to Krka National Park.  I’ve seen many pictures of the cascading waterfalls and was really looking forward to swimming in the blue stream.  It was beautiful and all the waterfalls did not disappoint.  Justyne didn’t want to go in the water and we didn’t really have a safe place to put our stuff so I stayed with her while Justin, Jayden, and Jevyn went into the water.  I was going to go when they were done but when the three came back and told me how cold the water was, I passed.  It was beautiful and I enjoyed drinking my 2 beers hanging in the shade.  Enjoy the view! (NOTE:  I’m having trouble captioning some of this stuff.  I’ll try to get back to it later.)

This is an old mill they found and they got it working to show visitors.

Author: HigmanTravels

We are a family of 5 traveling the world for one year. We are attempting this entire trip around the world via trains, ships/boats, and automobiles -- yes, that's right, no planes. View all posts by HigmanTravels