“In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.”
― Terry Pratchett
Lesson Learned: Selecting the best footwear for your trip is important. OK, so this bit is like going in for your semi-annual teeth cleaning…..important, but so damned boring. OK, I’ll make it quick.
Shoes take up a lot of space and weight in your luggage. So, don’t be Imelda Marcos and pick some sensible pairs for your trip. I recommend taking no more than three pairs. Here are my picks:
• Good pair of hiking shoes. Spend some bucks here. This may well be your go-to everyday shoe. Good traction. Protects your feet. Good cushion. Rugged. And, actually you can get away wearing these things in almost any situation…..with shorts, long pants, out to dinner (maybe), on the city streets, in the mountains, or slogging along in the mall if that’s where you end up. I had planter fasciitis on my left foot when we left the US, but after 3 months on the road, doing a lot of walking every day, it doesn’t bother me at all. I’ve been wearing my hiking shoes (not boots) about 60% of the time. I also always wear these shoes on plane trips since they take up too much room in my bag. They are a pain in the butt to unlace in the airport, but half the time security doesn’t make me take them off.
• Flip flops. They fit into the suitcase well, they are light, work on the beach, at the pool, on the city street, in your room as slippers, in public showers. Hell, they may be your back-up favorite pair of shoes.
• Casual loafers. Something comfortable that you can wear walking around Rome all day, but can double as dress shoes if you have to go to the ballet, or to a 4-Star eatery. I didn’t do this, and I regret it. I bought a pair of black lace-up dress shoes in Cairo which look great, but shoot me if I have to walk a couple of miles or have them on all day. They take up too much room in my bag too. Just make sure this shoe can handle a full day of walking, without ruining your feet for half a week after wearing. So this gives you two pairs of shoes in your bag and one on your feet. That is efficient.
• If you are going to splurge on a 4th pair of shoes, pick a good pair of trainers (tennis shoes, running shoes, cross trainers, etc.) They are bulky, but light, and come in second behind hiking shoes for versatility. Be aware though….some places won’t let you inside wearing these. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
• Women may want one of those ultra-light slip on shoes. They are compact, can go with slacks out to dinner, comfy to walk around the hotel, but my wife says they suck if you are on your feet all day. They have soft soles and no arch support. Your pick.
• Women probably want a pair of flats, kind of like what many wear to work. Good for the evenings, but not a great pick for all day walking around town. The good news is they are light and pack pretty easily.
Of course, this commentary completely ignores specialty shoes like water shoes, bike shoes, running shoes (for running), court shoes, etc. If you are going to do these activities, you’ll wear the appropriate gear. Enough said.
Regrets: This country is too spectacular to have any regrets.
Go-Date: Day 86, Thursday, April 18
If you don’t care much for water falls in particular, and wet watery forests in general you can skip this post. We visited the Plitvice Lakes National Park on Wednesday and Thursday. It’s truly an amazing sight to see. Croatia declared this area a national park on April 8, 1949. The process of tufa formation, which results in the building of a combination of sediment, limestone, moss and whatever else floats by and sticks to the edges of ponds that creates tufa, or travertine, which are barriers that resulted in the creation of natural lakes, and layers of cascading waterfalls. This amazing area was internationally recognized in October 1979 as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The national park is world-famous for its lakes arranged in cascades. The lakes are all interconnected along the course of the river. The lakes are separated by the travertine dams. The lakes are renowned for their distinctive colors, ranging from azure to green, grey or blue which range from turquoise like Lake Tahoe, to deep greens which look like the colored waters on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World. The colors change constantly depending on the quantity of minerals or organisms in the water and the angle of sunlight. Due to the features of limestone, many rivers drain away into the rock. Therefore, extensive underground river systems exist. Upon reaching hard rock, rivers emerge on the surface. This phenomenon of underground waterways is called the karst rivers. There are caves all over this region, including a couple within the park itself.
We found this park to be a must-see venue, well worth the time to drive to it. The park is in central Croatia, so its not close to the coast, and its not close to Zagreb, but its not an awful drive to get there from either location. We stayed in a little town named Otočac, which is a sleepy, but lovely little village renowned for its trout fishing on the Gacka River (they say they catch 6-pound trout here). We had a fabulous Air BNB of Ana-Marija which was spacious, spotless, reasonably priced, had a great TV, and she even left us a bowl of fruit and a couple of local beers in the fridge. It was a 45-minute drive to the park, but the ride reminded me of Cimarron, New Mexico or Ridgeway, Colorado, so we didn’t mind the drive to the park at all.
Part of the park was closed due to rock slides caused by recent rain storms. At first we were upset that we wouldn’t be able to see these falls up close, but it turns out that there were so many other falls to see we didn’t even miss it. This is a small park, you can easily do it in two days; maybe three if you go as far back as is allowed. You can’t get off the trail routes and explore on your own. They don’t allow backcountry hiking or overnight treks, but there are plenty of camp sites outside the park boundary if this is your thing. There are also caves and fishing areas all over the region, so you can get your rustic urges out of the way. Plitvice Lakes National Park was pure eye candy and we had fabulous hikes both days we spent there.
