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Today we went on a day trip to the Plitvice Lakes National Park. John and I left our great air BnB apartment in Zagreb at 7:30 am and had a two hour bus ride to the park. Once we arrived we bought our tickets for the bus to Zadar, stored our luggage and started our walk! We had 7 hours before our next bus ride so lots of time. The first main stop was the "Big Waterfall" (very creative name) which was a high and beautiful waterfall. We couldn't enjoy the view too much because there was a tour group at the view point so we walked around the bottom of the waterfall. The path was just above the water and you could see right into the clear and turquoise lake water. We walked up and over the hill to the next lake. This way we were able to avoid some tourists and could enjoy the gorgeous views of the lakes and waterfalls. We then took a 20 minute boat ride to save time walking around the whole lake. While walking we took a lot of breaks just to take in the nature surroundings. However the big tour groups and a crying baby that seemed to be chasing us, interrupted our peace and quiet. It was amazing nonetheless to sit by the lake listening to the sound of the waterfalls. On our way back we took a quick bus ride to get us closer to the entrance, before getting off to walk the rest. And I'm happy we decided to walk a bit or else we wouldn't have seen the big caves on the path and what the park is also known for! I'm not a huge fan of caves so I went through them quickly! When we were on the trail (a narrow short cut trail) John yelled back at me "snake! Walk fast ash!" and well since I have neither fight nor flight I just stood there panicking until I ran. After laughing and talking about we realized it was probably just a big salamander because there were a ton of tiny mice, which wouldn't be the case if snakes were there! Once we were back at the first viewpoint, we were finally able to appreciate the view and beauty of the park without a tour group in front of us. Then we hopped on the bus to take us to Zadar. After two hours we arrived and were greeted by many people trying to rent us apartments and taxi drivers offering rides! At least they weren't as bad as the Moroccans! All were very friendly and understanding when we explained we are all set. We were picked up by the person who we are renting the apartment from and brought to the place. He had to leave for a wedding so it was a quick check in. The apartment is small and cute, just what we need with a little balcony. We found a grocery store and had Mr. Noodles (since we brought them from Canada and are sick of carrying them around) and a well needed salad. We sat on our balcony for a bit until I accidentally dropped and broke the glass. :( At night we watched a movie to end our amazing day.
Our day in Zagreb started with a nice walk to the Dolmac market, a square where you can buy tons of fresh fruits and vegetables. We got some raspberries and nectarines for breakfast and sat by the cathedral. Zagreb's center is all easily walkable so we did our round passing the stone gate, St. Marks church with its colorful roof and we navigated the shop filled streets to a nice viewpoint at this old tower. Our round continued at the big square and followed some nice gardens towards the beautiful train station. We bought groceries, made some lunch and went to the bus station to get a ticket for our journey onwards. To avoid the heat we stopped at the botanical gardens right by our place to relax. We enjoy these small cities where everything is walkable and can be seen in a day, but we are ready for some nature and beach! For the last Germany group game we decided to put our Germany shirts on and find a public viewing in the city. This seemed to be a problem, since Croatia already lost and did not move on to the next round. Most TV's were showing tennis or something else, and Ashleigh and I felt a little bit out of place with our Germany outfits. We decided to grab some food from the store instead and we then raced to our apartment in time to watch the game. Germany wins! Good night.
John and I always tend to travel very early in the mornings! We caught our bus to Zagreb, Croatia at 7:45 am. We arrived at the bus station about a half hour early since there was a transport strike going on and we wanted to make sure we would be there on time! Luckily it all worked out! The bus ride was about 7.5 hours and we drove through Austria and Slovenia. The Croatian border control was nice to me and stamped the right page of my passport :) We arrived around 3:40 pm and walked 30 minutes to the apartment which we rented. This place is super nice and big for only $35 a night! A perfect place to relax for the night. It was pouring outside and it was a Croatian holiday so no stores were open. So our dinner was soup and a calzone we found from a bakery in the train station. John attempted for a long time to stream the soccer game and finally figured it out. We had a tv but not the soccer channel of course!
After a typical breakfast we headed to BMW Welt to check out awesome cars and motorcycles. After sitting in one we decided not to buy it even though it was quite comfy, but to continue on traveling instead. We walked around the Olympic park from 1972, which consisted of cool looking stadiums and many green areas. We climbed to the top of a hill to enjoy the view over the city. After lunch we headed to the Nymphenburg Castle, a massive complex of little castles, parks and gardens similar to Versailles in Paris. It was very quiet and peaceful so we took a break. Afterwards we rode the tram into the center to meet up with Charly, and we all went to the English Garden (a huge park where according to the Lonely Planet guidebook hundreds of nude people tan in the summer - this is not the case! And was confirmed by multiple people), instead there are many nice beer gardens. The rule in Bavaria is one can bring their own food to the beer garden and just needs to purchase the beverages. So we stalked up on Brezels with some typical Bavarian dip and fruits. We found a nice table by a Chinese tower, rather an odd building for a beer garden in Germany but still cool. We had dinner and a drink and then went for a walk. This is our last night in Germany so we said our goodbyes and watched soccer as usual before bed.
On Monday, after saying goodbye to Maxi and Phillip we started our journey to Munich. Our day ticket was valid from 9am but we tried catching the 8.30 train from Ingolstadt to Munich. Our ticket was checked ten minutes to nine and the lady was not willing to let us stay on, even asked us to pay 20 euros for the next ten minutes. That was not gonna fly with us so we got off at the next station, but had to wait an hour for the next train. Not the best start to a sunny beautiful day, but it happens. We got to Charlottes around 11am and dropped off our bags. We all went to Marienplatz, the center of Munich. Ashleigh recognized the town hall but couldn't remember the beer hall she went to. Charly had Uni, so we explored Munich alone after a quick lunch at one of the little shops along the Viktualienmarkt. We stopped at Milka World, to check out tons of delicious chocolate products. We continued walking towards the English garden with a stop at the Hofgarten park. We were looking for the famous & never ending surf wave near the park. After some time we found it and watched the surfers do their thing one after another dropping in on the narrow wave in the river. We dipped our feet into the river as well to cool off. On the way back we stopped at the Hofbraeuhaus, a massive beer hall. We checked out the exhibition and wandered around the big festival room. We could only imagine how busy and packed this place is during the Oktoberfest celebrations. We grabbed some ice cream and took a walk along the wide shopping street to kill some time before the 5pmGlockenspiel at the town hall. Ashleigh finally found the beer hall she visited two years ago and we checked out the cool Glockenspiel at 5pm (wasn't that cool). For dinner we met up with Charly to get groceries for Schnitzel. It turned out really good. Our night ended as usual with the soccer games of the World Cup.
Yesterday the four of us went mini putting. Maxi beat us all and I came in last but did get a hole in one! For dinner we made some salsa chicken, potatoes and salad. We make good meals when we are all together just like in Morocco. And then of course to end the night we watched the Switzerland vs France game. Today I was surprised with a visit to the Neuschwanstein castle. It is the castle that Walt Disney based its symbol on. John, Maxi and Philipp had planned a trip here so I could see the castle but tricked me by saying we were just going for a hike. The castle was absolutely beautiful with mountains and lakes in the background. John and I have done a few puzzles of this castle so it was cool to finally see it! We had to walk up a steep hill to get to the castle and we were only able to go in the courtyard without paying to see the inside. We walked around outside and went to different viewpoints. The best view was where we had lunch, on the side of a Mountain overlooking the castle. After lunch we walked down and continued on to a little lake and dipped our feet in! It was a great day and I'm so happy I was finally able to see that castle. Once we got back we had to change quickly for the Germany vs Ghana game, ate some döners for dinners then headed over to the Public viewing. We arrived about an hour early to make sure we got a seat. We sat in the sand right up front. It was a really good game and a perfect night to watch it outside. After the game ended in a tie we went back to the place and played a few card games before heading to bed!
Over the past week in Morsbach we have been hanging out with friends and family and of course we are watching a lot of World Cup soccer games! It has been a lot of fun and it was nice to see everyone one more time until our travels begin once again. Not that we haven't been traveling for the past two months but it feels like it was just little trips here and there hopping from Germany. Now we have absolutely everything with us and we left nothing behind. Our backpacks are packed full with all our stuff, hopefully all of which will get used! Today we headed south in Germany to Ingolstadt. Here we will visit Maxi and Phillip, who we already met up with in Morocco. Since we had an all day train ticket we made a stop in Frankfurt and went for ice cream with John's old friend Laura. John was finally able to see everyone he wanted too while he was in Germany! The train ride was over 7 hours but it went by fast. In the morning all the German men were having beers and riding the train since it was a holiday today, I guess that's the thing to do here! Maxi and Philipp greeted us at the train station, just like they did in Morocco. We then went out for dinner at a beer garden and watched the Columbia vs Ivory Coast soccer game (not an important game but we tend to watch all games)! After dinner we went for ice cream, might as well take advantage of €1 scoops! And then we watched the 9:00 pm soccer game and had a beer at their house!
Today we went on a Geocache hunt. Jannik picked an eight station trail that took us through the beautiful green forest. At each station there was another clue to go to the next station. Halfway through, we had a surprise waiting for us, 3 beers and some snacks prepared by Anna. We kept looking for these clues until we arrived at the final one where there was a little prize. At the last one we had to use a beeping device to find the last clue, but the beeper didn't work so we just had to search a lot. Luckily Jannik found it. Inside were little treasures that other people have left. We put a Canadian pin inside and signed the log book. After the five hour hunt we went back to Jannik's for dinner and of course the World Cup games started for the night! Between the first and second game, we went for a beer in a really nice garden! It's nice to be back in Germany and be able to slow down our pace a little bit!
We were up at 4:00am this morning to catch our 7:00 am flight. The 2 hour flight was good, not completely full and landed about 30 minutes late. Once we arrived in Frankfurt, Jannik met us right away and we found our way out of the parking maze. We stopped for a quick bite at subway, since we didn't have a proper breakfast. The drive went well and we arrived at Jannik's place on a beautiful day. We spent all day outside in the backyard playing games and enjoying beer from the tap. We had the German version beersbee set up (soccer ball instead of a frisbee) and a fun slip & slide. Ashleigh was practicing her jumping moves on the trampoline. We had a delicious BBQ with sausages, steaks and salads, just what we needed! It was a great day and at night we sat outside to watch the first World Cup game Brazil vs Croatia. Let the World Cup fun begin!
We decided to spend our last day in Spain just relaxing. Since we arrived at the hostel around 2:00am we slept in a little bit and luckily no hangover! After breakfast, I ate a lot because I loved the cereal then we checked out of our room. We stored our luggage for the day and went to the beach for a couple hours. Luckily we had just enough sunscreen for one layer for today! We had lunch and dinner back at the same hostel and sat around to stay out of the sun, which was perfect since we were both lazy and tired today! We decided to change hostels for the night and get one closer to the city of Barcelona because our flight to Frankfurt is at 7:00am tomorrow. We weren't sure how our next hostel would be so we ate and showered before we left. Around 6:30pm we packed our bags and took the metro into Barcelona. The hostel isn't too bad, right on a busy street and really small but will do for a quick sleep, can't complain. We went on our last walk to Plaza Catalyuna and found out were we had to catch our bus in the early morning. It was almost a good thing we had a short sleep last night so we can get some sleep tonight!
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November 2022
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