The forecast said today would be overcast. In reality, it sprinkled and rained all day. At least everyone had a raincoat or an umbrella. Except Arden. She must have missed the memo. So Dad was forced to share with her throughout the day.
We spent all of Dads Birthday at Plitvice, a place where you see things the US doesn't have anywhere within 5 minutes of you arrival. This is a national park with a huge lake. This lake is full of bicarbonate meaning the water does opposite of every body of water anywhere else. Instead of cutting through rocks and creating a huge river, the calcium gathers at the bottom and builds up the rock creating hundreds of waterfalls! It was so pretty!
Naturally, I took way too many photos.
Our hike started with a tram ride where we were accompanied by a group of school children on a field trip. Schools in Europe are so spoiled with their field trip opportunities! The tram took us to the top of the lake, and we found a boardwalk to follow. This boardwalk was the coolest one I have ever seen. It was all natural and completely uneven. There were 5 inch cracks between some boards, and by all logic, I should have tripped every step of the way, but like magic, I didn't. Sometimes there were falls to the death on either side of the boardwalk, but as I've said before, safety isn't Europe s #1 priority. I think there must be a lot of people who at least fall into the lake every once and a while.
We made it down to a boat that was to take us across one section of the lake, and I'm surprised no one froze. Brody made a cocoon out of his coat, and the rest of the family used the umbrella as a shield to block the wind. When we reached the other side, we found the nearest bathroom and spent a good 10 minutes thawing our hands under warm water.
The lower path to the biggest waterfall was closed. I considered encouraging everyone to sneak down that way anyway, but given that they leave flooded paths like this open, I can't imagine what they have to be like to close.
The walk back to the next bus station wasn't long from there. When we got there, our hand thawing ritual commenced and we all got some hot chocolate! A great way to end a great day.
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