Trip of a Lifetime! (Part 2)

So last I left you we had just finished an exhausting but oh so fulfilling day in Florence, Italy.  We took the train back to Venice where we immediately went to bed on our 5 inch foam mattress in the Hotel Bologna (let's just say the bed felt like I was camping minus a rock in my back but there was no bouncing on the bed in this hotel).

Venice

We woke up early and took a short train from Mestre to Venice and then boarded a Vaporetta (water taxi) to go to the opposite side of Venice at San Marco Square and work our way back to the train station on foot.  The views were breathtaking as we approached the square itself and my level of excitement increased as I supposed this would be an experience like Florence all over again.  

 After all, before me lay the Doge's Palace

 and one of the most incredible cathedrals I had researched!

 

Well that is until I realized the crowds...no crowds doesn't quite do this justice...the teaming hoards of people jostling to look at the same thing as I was.

We snapped our 2 minutes of photos of the scaffolding covered cathedral and what we could see of the palace.  We tried to breath as we moved through this mass of people that was quickly taking on the feeling of a giant beast breathing in and out, in and out, pulsating, ready to overtake us if we let our guard down.  Sometimes it is good to be tall, and we are, so we dashed (quite literally) into the maze before us without a second glance back.

I have to give it to Venice once you left the main plaza and entered the confusing dank corridors the crowd was diminished.  B and I began to wander, her stopping at every cheap Murano glass ear ring shop and me at every church, they were equally as numerous.  We split up for two seconds as B backtracked to a bridge so I could snap this shot.

I told her I would meet her on the other side just up the street thinking, stupidly, that it would join up a block or so only to wander and then heartbeating walk to a fast paced trot of "where is she? where is she?" only to see her up ahead calmly shopping in, you guessed it, a Murano glass ear ring shop.  We didn't split up again for my sake.

We really just walked the city as there wasn't serious stuff that we knew had to be seen other then the city itself.  We walked down tight claustrophobic alley ways.

Ate at Italian Pizzarias run by Asians (who knew)

Took photos in front of funny statues

and stumbled into beautiful courtyards of hidden chruches.

We started to feel like the pioneer children who sang as they walked and walked and walked wondering if we were ever going to reach Zion (which the train station was rapidly becoming in our eyes).  We saw the Rialto bridge

 and took a classic shot of Venice with the lone gondala on the canal but don't let this fool you...

 that living breathing hoard had found us so we did all that we could and scurried back into the maze leaving the bridge far behind us.

B and I both said we are so glad that we saw Venice and saw it together so we never have to go back again.  It was nice, it was an experience but it was no Florence.

Croatia
Rovinj

 

 After Italy we met back up with my parents who picked us up in Trieste and we traveled over to the Istrian Peninsula in Croatia that is in the Adriatic Sea.   We checked into our modern hotel and decided to take a walk down to the old town to get a view of what we had been told was a jewel on the sea.  Old town used to be an island where the Venitians would come on vacation and to escape the plague but over time the gap got filled in and now is a peninsula that juts out into the sea.  You enter Old Town through a gate and begin your climb to the church on top.

 Along the way there a little shops and artists selling their wares.  So we climbed and shopped not really find much that we needed along the way.

 Every once in awhile you would catch a glimpse of the church tower looming above you as a beacon calling you from the shaded claustrophobic streets to it's salvation and views ahead.  

The views were breath taking with exactly what you would imagine in a place like this.

 

We rested for a few at the top and then contented ourselves with returning to our hotel to rest and play cards.  All in all Rovinj was beautiful but it could have been a stop on the road for an hour or two rather than a whole day experience.

Plitvice Lakes

 This had to be one of the most beautiful places on earth to visit but wasn't the most convenient of places to get to.  Never mind that it is in the middle of nowhere and that you have to drive through village after village down winding roads and tight switchbacks.  The memorable delay to us was when we came around one such bend to be stopped dead in our tracks with a line of cars parked and their occupants all standing on the road ahead of us.  B and I wandered up to the front of the line to see what the hold up was, only to be greeted by tape across the road and a wooden sign painted with a skull and crossbones.  Upon asking a German couple at the front what was going on, they told us that some unexploded landmines from the war had been found and needed to be exploded and we would need to wait for 45 minutes until they exploded them and it was safe to travel again.  So we waited, what else can you do?  We got out our Skipbo cards and played a game on top of our car until we were let through...it was worth the wait.

We arrived at the park and took a shuttle to the top of the lakes and then proceeded to walk roughly 8 miles down the mountain on a wooden plank path no wider then a sidewalk.  It would be an understatement to say our breath was taken away at the beauty of what we saw.  At least a hundred waterfalls, each magnificent on their own pouring over moss covered hills into crystal clear turquoise tinted water below.  Had I not been there I'm sure everyone would have thought they had died and entered the Celestial Kingdom but seeing me they were comforted knowing I wouldn't be there if it was.  The lakes and waterfalls were surrounding by towering century old forest.

 This forest reminded my parents of the Fruska Gora that they drive through at least once a week as they travel between Sremska and Novi Sad.  It reminded me of the Sacred Grove and you could feel a spirit there. 

Everywhere you turn there were waterfalls and you got so used to the sound that once we moved away from the park it seemed so silent because there wasn't that roar.

 

The water was so clear that in this next photo you see the duck on top, the fish in the middle and the log resting at least 15' down on the bottom of the lake.

This was such a great way to balance all the cities we had been in with a great dose of nature.

Zagreb
Our last stop before returning to our home away from home was the now Capitol of Croatia.  We didn't spend a lot of time in the city but drove by the mission office and mission home clicking photos out of our window.

 

 We stopped at the Zagreb Cathedral which was impressive if not only in size but in detail.

 It all looked too good to be true that this Cathedral has stood through the centuries in such good condition.  That is when we saw these...

The one on the left is the original spire showing all the decay and wear over the years whereas the one B is leaning against shows the same spire restored to its original grandeur and detail.  They are slowly repairing the entire Cathedral stone by stone and it is incredible.  

Serbia
Sremska Mitrovica
Back "home" in Sremska we lugged our bags up the 3 flights of winding staircase to my parents apartments.  About an hour out of Sremska my mom spoke my thoughts by saying "you are already dreading the stairs aren't you" and I was.

 We unpacked all of our goodies and set about doing our laundry to pack for the trip home.  Doing laundry in Serbia is no easy task as the washer is only big enough to wash a few items and pauses several times during the cycle needing to be reset so it takes several hours to wash those few items.  B was practicing her hand modeling skills in this next shot to give you and idea of the small size of the washer.  I told her it is a good thing that she has a husband to support her because she lacked the flare necessary to be a hand model. 

We ate dinner and tried to not think about parting ways the next day.  B and I tried to do dishes whenever we were able to give my parents a break as it isn't as easy as loading a dishwasher and walking away.  Think doing dishes when you are camping and you get a general idea of what we had to do.  I had to kneel because although people in Europe are supposedly tall this apartment was made for hobbits.

The rest of the night we packed and played Skipbo together as I drank myself silly on Fanta Lemon because I loved it and knew I couldn't get it in the states.  

 My dad gave me and B father's blessings which I needed and will cherish.  He blessed me that I came on this trip to prepare me for a future where I needed to understand other cultures and the struggles.  I thought either I'm getting a dream job in LDS Philanthropies or I'm going to work for the D.I. 

Right before I went to bed I snuck out to my favorite spot on my parents patio and looked over this little town, breathing in my gratitude to my Father in Heaven for letting this all be possible.  For my parents courage to serve and say "I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord" never thinking Serbia.  For the people in Sremska who love and take such care of my parents.  For the woman by my side and that answered prayer.  Thank you Serbia for everything.  You will forever be a part of me and I'm better for it.