The beginning of our Croatian National Parks tour -Krka

Last year my husband won two free tickets to enter Paklenica National Park. Sadly, we never managed to visit Paklenica until the end of the validity period of the tickets. As we're very sorry to never make it to visit Paklenica with the free tickets, we decided to commit ourselves to visit all eight National Parks of Croatia, at least one park in one year.

Earlier this year he won (again!) two free entrance tickets to Krka National Park, so we decided to start the national parks adventure in Krka. While summer vacationing in Nin in mid August, we took a one day trip to Krka NP which was around an hour drive from the coastal town of Nin near Zadar. When I googled about Krka, Skradinski buk attracted me the most. I thought, that was what I wanted to visit in Krka. Following our 6-year-old outdated GPS, we ended up in Roški slap entrance of Krka. We parked the car and consulted with a young girl at the ticket sale point about our destination. She checked the tickets my husband won, and she told us that they are only valid for the northern side of the park, which starts from Roški slap toward the north, and not valid for Skradinski buk. Meaning we actually were on the right spot. My husband packed babygirl on his back with Ergo carrier, we got a ticket for my mother-in-law who was with us (cost 60 kn for her -around €8) and started following the map the girl handed me.

Roški slap waterfall at the northern part of Krka National Park

We walked along the Krka stream which was very tranquil and breathtaking, learning about the biodiversity of the area on the boards along the hiking track. Babygirl was delighted by the amount of fish she saw along the crystal clear water, and many ducks that swam along the stream. The track is flat and wide, easy enough even for a 2-year-old and a 63-year-old (my husband's mother).

After crossing a small wooden bridge to get to the other side of the stream, we slightly went out from the walking track and decided to climb the 517 stairway up toward a cave called Oziđana pećina. The 517 steps were a little intimidating for both my husband and his mother, but I was determined (I even carried babygirl halfway, with a carrier on my back). We took a short break for water and peaches at around 250 steps (there are benches for resting) and finished all the steps quickly and went into the cave. We didn't see bats, but the story about bats thrilled babygirl that she went to the daycare in the next three days in bat costume.

The view from Oziđana pećina Cave

After getting back down the stairways, we were back on the track and stroll along to reach the ethnological village to see the traditional water mills. While looking at the old houses along the streams, we found a unique eating place (with a water mill) where the tables are set next to little waterfalls, on the water, allowing the guests to chill their feet in the clear cold water while having their meals. This point was probably the best experience for babygirl, because we had to bribe her with ice cream to get her to leave the place when we were done.

The concept of the place thrilled us, we got to bathe our feet while eating

Everything served here was home-made and home-grown. We got delicious plate of goat and cow cheeses, freshly baked bread (with the flour milled in the water mill inside the house), and beautiful salad plate of home-grown green olives and tomatoes dressed in home-made olive oil. We got both home-made red and white wine, although we liked the red one better. For a big plate of cheeses, a big plate of salad and a basket of fresh bread, including all the wines we had, they charged us 70 kn (€9) for all four of us!

After the food-and-drink break, we walked down the hill to go to the beach, which was looking toward the famous Roški slap waterfall. At this point my husband and babygirl couldn't wait to take off the clothes and jump in the water. But the water was way too cold for me. The water was unbelievably clear though, with lots and lots of fish you could swim together with, and there are smaller waterfall around the beach area where people are gather to bathe.

Bathing at the smaller waterfalls around the main Roški slap waterfall

After spending the afternoon bathing and enjoying coffee (babyccino for her) by the beach, we went back to the point where we we started. There are still lots of spots like ruins of castles and other waterfalls we could've visited, but at this point babygirl was deep asleep and grandma was way too tired. So we decided to go back to the parking lot and drive back home.

Overal, we were delighted by our experience of Krka. It's too bad we didn't get to the southern part (Skradinski buk), but we'll visit that some other time. This part that we visited are family friendly, with hiking path that are good for visitors of all ages. There are plenty of sitting places to take a break while enjoying the scenery and the animals living there, and the offers of foods and drinks are not overpriced. My husband likes it here because they actually let you bathe in bathing areas, while in other national parks like Plitvice for example, swimming and bathing are strictly forbidden, which, could be frustating when you're hiking and strolling around inviting crystal clear fresh water on a super hot day.

Summer vacation with a toddler

Most Europeans spend two or three weeks on their favorite coast for a relaxing summer holiday. This year we decided to break our summer vacation to three parts because we wanted to "save" vacation days from work and spend as little paid-vacation-days as possible. This way, my husband could stay longer (probably three weeks) when I give birth in the end of this year.

Our summer vacation this year looked like this: three days (long weekend) of Lovran, three days (long weekend) of Moščenička Draga and five days (extended long weekend) of Nin. All destinations were of course, Croatian coast (the first two in Kvarner, the last one in north Dalmatia). These were our third year taking babygirl to summer vacation, and here are some tips we could share:

 

Learn what your child likes, and it's probably sand

After many beaches, if there is anything we learned, it's one thing: babygirl loves sand. She prefers sandy beaches much more to pebbly ones. As much as we love crystal clear waters on rocky beaches where we can jump into deep waters, we now go to sandy beaches with easy entrance and shallow waters. She tried to kill herself several times in pebbly and rocky beaches (by tripping, falling and bumping into big rocks, and once by trying to eat and swallow a pebble), so we only go to her kind of beach now. Plus, most family with small children prefer sandy beaches anyway, meaning there would be many other children. And that means lots of new friends to entertain your child (if you're child is as social as mine) so you get more chance to just relax and sun bathe.

She can play with sand for hours and hours. And when it gets too hot, she walks to the water and dip herself in.

 

Protect him (and yourself) from over-exposure of sun

I've seen these kids around the beach with hats and UV-protected wet suit, and they're like that the whole day. Nope, my child is not one of them. She's the nudist kind. She'd wear a hat for like one second before throwing it away into the sea. And she takes off swimming suit. So we just let her be naked all day, and got a good and easy-to-apply sun screen. For the last two years we use the Organic Children SPF 30 from Green People on her, which I re-apply probably every two or three hours. If your product comes with a spray, I swear God it's much easier to apply.

 

Invest in a good beach tent

If your family is okay with no shade all day long, then you don't need a tent. Or if the beach you're going is full of trees with good shade. Normally we need a tent so every once in a while we can take a break from the sun and be inside, but you can also choose a parasol if you prefer. For three years we suffered from our conventional tent, which, quite okay but take so long to set up (it has the sticks that need to be put together, and then need to be inserted to the provided holes in the tent), so we swear we're getting a new 2-seconds-Quechua beach tent which, literally sets up in 2 second when you throw it away in the ground.

 

Start early, time his nap well

Before baby we'd wake up during vacation probably at 9am, have breakfast and coffee in peace, and arrive at the beach around 11am, and stay the whole day until sunset. With babygirl things changed. She wakes up around 7am, so we start our day earlier. We're usually already at the beach by 9am so she can enjoy before the sun gets too strong for her. We'd do two or three rounds of swims, she gets several hours of play, before lunch time comes. At 1pm the sun gets too strong so we'd leave the beach, get some lunch and she'd sleeps nicely in the hotel or apartment that we rent, for three or four hours sometimes, before she wakes up at 5pm and ready to go back to the beach. By 5pm the sun is quite friendly at the beach, so she plays for another three hours before the sun finally sets.

She gets three to four hours of play in the morning, and then another three hours in the afternoon

Mind the diaper, if your child is not toilet trained

It's okay to pee in the sea. Who doesn't? But bigger (poop) accident won't be nice. If your child is still in diaper, buy a good swimming diaper. I've seen these babies in regular disposable diapers floating and dipping in the water, their diapers soak up so much water that by the time they get out of the water their diaper is probably heavier than themselves. You can buy disposable swim diaper if you like, major brands have 'em. When babygirl was in diaper, (she was cloth-diapered) we put on swimming diaper from Close Parent (the maker of Pop-in diapers).

 

Pay attention to other offers in the area

When you go to the beach, most probably it's not just about the beach. You need other things to enjoy and get the whole experience. We try to find some beach that is close enough to other destination where we can do a day or a half-day trip to break the routine, such as an old town, a natural or national park, or some mountains for hiking. At the beach itself, our basic needs include trampoline (babygirl can't survive without trampoline), showers (we don't want sand castle in the car), coffee shop and some snack bar (she usually likes pancakes and boiled corn at the beach). Based on all of these above-mentioned category, our last year's star of the summer was Paradise beach (Rajska plaža) on Rab Island, while this year's is the Queen's beach (Kraljičina plaža) in Nin. Next year, we're planning to go to Sakarun beach in Dugi otok.

A spark, a cactus, and a hurricane

Six years. One child. Seven countries. 120.000 km. This is a story about our little red Chevrolet Spark. Which we sold today. This morning we signed a contract with the buyers and we handed the beloved car to them. And I'm feeling very, very emotional about it.

Not many people feel so emotional about a car. It's just a car. But I love cars. I watched Top Gear more than I ever watched Friends in my life. Or Sex and the City. Or anything like that. My mother used to work in a car industry and my father is a car maniac. It's genetics.

We got our Spark six years ago, brand new. We didn't have much money so we got a small budget car for our daily need. The car was mostly rested during the week -except for regular house errands- because we take trains to work. But we'd go to road trips and weekend getaways whenever we could. It's been to beautiful places. It witnessed the growth of our family, and now as we're growing even more, we needed  a bigger, stronger car.

You will be missed <3

My favorite story with the Spark is the hurricane story. I was 8-month pregnant with babygirl, when my husband had some job arrangement in Rijeka, 160km from Zagreb. I decided to go with him so I could take a walk in the city while he was solving his thing. By 8pm he was done with his work, but he wanted to stay a little longer in some coffee shop to watch a handball match. We were ready to go home around midnight when the game was over. And that was when the hurricane came.

Rijeka and places around it is often hit by a very strong wind, called Bura. That night, the strongest kind of bura came, called Orkanska bura, or Hurricane bura, which could reach speed up to 220 km/h. We came to the entrance of the highway for Zagreb when we found out that the highway is completely closed for all vehicle due to security reasons, so we decided to go back to the city. The wind was so strong we lost our radio antenna. The whole car was shaking when parked. We went to a gas station in the center where the wind was blowing less, and decided to just go to sleep in the car. Due to my pregnancy bladder, we had to walk across the street at least three times during the night to use the toilet, fighting with the wind so it wouldn't fly us away every time. We woke up around 7am to a great sunny day, so we expected that the road should be okay by now. No wind whatsoever. We went to the highway just to find out that it's still closed. The officials couldn't confirm when it will be reopened, so we decided to go back to Zagreb via the so-called old road, through the mountains of Gorski Kotar.

Our little car climbed slowly on the road of the mountainous Gorski Kotar which was literally covered by one meter of white snow in the middle of March. It was a beautiful, beautiful view along the way. We drove passed by small villages that just were waking up to the morning sun, so we decided to stop in one of the villages to get coffee. Until we realized that we had no cash. We looked for ATMs and some guy told us that there is no ATM in the village. We thought maybe the coffee shop takes card payment, but of course they didn't. We came back to the car to see if we have any coins in the compartment, and found exactly 15 kn (around €2). We had hopes. We got back to the coffee shop and asked how much was an espresso. 7 kn. There we go, two espressos and a great view. Long story short, we arrived in Zagreb safely that day, around midday.

As for the car, we're upgrading to Citroen Cactus. It's bigger and twice stronger, should give us spacious feel even with two child seats and a grandmother in between sometimes. Babygirl asked me already twice today where our car is, as she saw her carseat in our living room waiting to be put into the new car. I know she loved the Spark as much as I did. But she will go to more adventures with the new car, together with her little sister, who's going to be called Iskra, meaning Spark in Croatian :)

Eating Vienna, with a toddler

So my husband and I met when we took a Master study together in Nice, France, seven years ago. We both graduated in summer 2010 and are still in contact with some of the friends we studied with back then. Several months ago we agreed to all meet in Vienna for a weekend in July this year. Friends were coming from all over the world to meet up, so we decided to drive to Vienna for a weekend getaway on the 9th of July.

Unlike our Paris trip (read here) this Vienna trip wasn't personally designed for babygirl. An itinerary was offered by a friend and we followed his lead (which was great, but is very different from our usual toddler-friendly plans). And because the idea of the trip was to see and talk to people we hadn't seen in a while, sightseeing was not our focus. We wanted more of conversations-over-drinks kind of thing. And we ended up eating all the time :)

We left home early on Saturday, around 5am. Babygirl was asleep so I just moved her (in pajamas) into her carseat. My husband arrived home the night before around midnight from Brussels, so he was completely sleep-deprived and he made me driving mostly.

Taking a little break from driving

We made our only stop after we passed Graz, in a rasthaus somewhere 100 km before Vienna. Babygirl woke up and she needed to go to the bathroom so we decided to stop to have breakfast and coffee. The rest area has a cute little playground so we spent some time to play.

After driving for another hour, we arrived in the hotel we were staying in at around 10am. All our friends were already there so we had another coffee, talked, caught up a little, and decided to walk around the city. We stayed at the AllYouNeed Vienna Hotel 2 by the Danube at Schwedenplatz, so we crossed the bridge and walked all the way to Stephansplatz. After spending some time in the city center and enjoy the sight of Stephansdom (which was being renovated), we decided to go eat lunch at the Museumsquartier area. We had Wiener schnitzel (the Viennese steak -very thin breaded pan fried cutlet of veal) and some refreshing lemonade while babygirl (and another toddler of our friends) playing in the green area in front of the restaurant. There were some fountains the kids enjoyed, but surprisingly no playground. She didn't enjoy the veal steak so we ordered her (an overpriced) baby-sized spaghetti napoletana (spaghetti with basic tomato-based sauce).

After lunch our friends were going somewhere (I'm not sure but I think they might have gone to Belvedere?) and we decided to split with them in front of Hofburg palace and get ourselves back to the hotel to check in. After sleeping three hours straight (all the three of us!) we met our friends in the hotel lobby and went off for dinner. Our host (one of us in the group, Austrian) promised us a very traditional Austrian dinner in an old place called Heuriger 10er Marie.

Our great dinner place: Heuriger 10er Marie

We took a metro from our hotel to Ottakringer, which was extremely exciting to babygirl (remember her impressions from Paris metro?) walked a little, and there we were! A beautiful old family-house-looking restaurant with friendly staff who sat us all (thirteen of us!) in one cozy table in the corner of their garden on the side of the house. Foods were amazing! We ordered wiener schnitzel (AGAIN, of course!) this time the chicken version, at pretty cheap price (€9 with side dish included, huge portion). This time around babygirl enjoyed the steak! The side dish are served in buffet we can choose by ourselves, I took corn and bean salad and my husband took potato and onion salad. We all drank wine spritzer like real Austrians (mixture of white wine with bubbly water) which is kind of funny because it's actually also a traditional drink called gemišt (basically adapted word from German word gemischt -means mixed) in the region where my husband comes from in Croatia, Zagorje.

The restaurant has huge garden with some empty area where the two toddlers play football and climbed fences (there was no swings or slides meant for children whatsoever, weird, right?) until around 11pm when we decided to leave because babygirl wanted to go to bed.

The next morning after enjoying breakfast at the garden of the hotel, we went to the Alte donau where our friends enjoyed the Danube with the pedal boats and went swimming. Babygirl refused to go on the pedal boat so we stayed at a bar on the river bank and let her play around. By the lunch time they're back, and we walked toward the Donauinsel (the Danube isle) across Ponte Cagrana and had lunch at a Greek restaurant called Taverne Sokrates. Rather nostalgic to our Greek trip last year, my husband got chicken souvlaki with greek salad, while baby girl and I got greek lamb chop with grilled vegetables on the side. With great view of the Danube full of swans, the lunch was excellent, at just around €13 per main course.

Babygirl and her dad on coordinating jumps

After the great lunch, we said goodbye to all of our friends, then we let babygirl jumped her energy out on the floating trampoline on the Danube (which cost €3 for 10 minutes -but the lady let my husband jumps along babygirl), and went straight to take our car at the hotel and drove straight home. We didn't make a stop because babygirl was deep asleep the whole ride, so we made it from Vienna to Zagreb in one leg in less than 3 hour, with our beloved little Chevrolet which by today, is no longer ours :)