July 21 Mreznicki (Day 298)
We woke up to a beautiful blue sky, blue water day! We have a 4 hour drive ahead of us so we had a leisurely morning, breakfast and packing. We drove out of the marvelous medieval village of Novigrad and stopped along the bank of the Karinsko sea for pictures.
The sea has beautiful color and the mountains are storm free!
We then headed for those mountains to take the inland route north.
In the mountains we stopped at this abandoned structure for expansive views of the mountains. Very rocky, with scrubby forest overlay, nevertheless home to a variety of wildlife.
Over the mountains, we descended into lush river valleys, passing the crowded Plitvice National Park and the little village of Rastoke near Slunj, both famous for their waterfalls. Owing to it being high season and dry season, we opted not to visit the parks because of crowds and low water levels. For beautiful pictures of the waterfalls click HERE and HERE.
We continued on to our accommodation in the country near the Mrežnica river and the town of Duga Resa.
A very bucolic setting amid farms on the banks of the river that boasts 93 waterfalls!
We unfortunately did not see any of those waterfalls, they were in the far reaches of the river and we were ready to relax on the patio, enjoying a glass of elderwater homemade by our host, before we headed to the nearby restaurant recommended by her.
Dinner was worth the wait! I had perch in a pumpkin seed crust on a bed of salad with citrus and fennel and pumpkin puree. Robert had grilled trout and fries and a beet root salad that was actually a big bowl of sliced pickled beets! It was all delicious!