Croatia and Slovenia

Dobrodošli natrag and Dobrodošli nazaj. I have just returned to Cambridge after travelling to Croatia and Slovenia with Embark Inclusive Travel. Although it was not a formal Threshold trip, we had a great time with many alumni. We had a small group (15 people, including the staff) and I got a twin/single room for the price of a triple/quad room. A woman named Rebecca Stern and I were the only travelers under 30 years old and we were roommates for the first two nights. After that, the staff overbooked an extra room so they gave us each singles — although there were two other twin rooms — likely given to us because we didn’t know each other as well. We did so many things that it’s hard to narrow it down to some highlights but I’ll try.

After approximately 11 hours of travel, including a connection in Munich (and a 6-hour time difference), we arrived in Split, where we met Tea, our tour director. It was a casual night and we had dinner at a restaurant. Our group had set menus instead of a la carte and everyone got a drink included with each meal.

On Friday, July 18, we had a bagged breakfast because we had a long day touring three different islands. We got to see the Blue Cave, Vis Island, and Hvar. I had been to Hvar previously, but it was my first time in the other two islands. We got a boat tour through the Blue Cave, followed by a walking tour of Vis. Hvar was where we had lunch and since we were a smaller group, we all sat together at a restaurant. We even got to jump off the boat at the blue lagoon and swim.

On Saturday, July 19, we headed to Dubrovnik and took a cable car up to a museum dedicated to Croatia’s independence from Yugoslavia. Most of us were more interested on how it impacted the city. From there, we broke into groups during our free time. Katie, Natalie, David and I walked the City Wall with Diane and Krista and the others went to an art museum with Cara and Josh.

On Sunday, we took a guided tour of the city where we learned about various important landmarks in the old town. From there we traveled back to Split and took a guided tour of the city. The highlight for the group was visiting the Domecia Palace, which has been around for longer than the United States. Today, it’s filled with various shops, restaurants and even some apartments. Something I noticed is that the squares don’t allow cars, likely because they are so old. Later, during our free time, I picked up some lavender for my friends and an ornament for mom and dad.

On Monday, we traveled to Troig and Zadar for a couple of hours before arriving in the Lika region. Our first stop was in Troig and we had a bunch of free time there. I loved walking around, once again the very old square. Travelling from Troig to Zadar, there was a small car accident that caused the driver to speak to the police so we lost a bit of time. This city dates back to prehistory and we had a guided tour of the city.

On Tuesday, we spent the day in the Lika Region. We started at a deer/horse ranch called Deer Valley and then continued our journey into Plitvice National Park I was told the Lika region is the most rural in Croatia, and I can understand that. The hotel room looked more like a bunk or cabin that you would find at a camp in the States. There are so many lakes in the national park and we hiked the lower part. Some of us even hiked the upper part but I was not up for it. The day was capped off at a media center learning about some of the oldest or extinct animals in Croatia. At dinner there was a surprise because it was Katie’s birthday and she had a cake then we went down to a camp fire.

On Wednesday, we headed to Zagreb, which is the capital of Croatia. We started with a guided tour, which included a high school. There were a couple of secret surprises included, and we even rode the tram. One of my biggest takeaways from this tour is there was a massive hurricane in the city and many buildings including St Mark’s Cathedral had to be rebuilt. In the afternoon, there were four museums that travelers got to choose between — unfinished art, laughter, chocolate and illusions. Since I go to museums with Eli a lot at home, I wanted to do the most unique museum. I ended up picking the chocolate museum with Krista, Natalie and Liz.

On Thursday, we said goodbye to Croatia and headed into Slovenia. This was a new country to me. We started deep underground in the Postjana cave that we got into via a tram. It was a lot of steep walking and There were many remains of now-extinct animals within the cave. From here, we continued to Ljubania, the capitol and largest city in Slovenia. We had a guided walking tour and then some of us went on a boat ride and others to a castle. I chose the castle group, which was the smaller one.

Friday was the last full day of our trip, and we traveled to Bled, a lake region in Slovenia. Part of the tour was inside the bus due to rain and it was the only day that I had an umbrella. We got a boat tour with a local and it was family-owned since the 5th generation. The island had a church that we got to make wishes to. From there, we headed back to mainland and visited the Bled castle. We then headed back to Ljubania city center and checked out a market on the main square.

Yesterday, we made our journey home. Our flight from Ljubljana to Frankfurt was delayed and we had about an hour to kill between flights. From there, we flew to Boston and, even before clearing immigration, it felt strange to be back in the good old USA. Once I had my bags, Aunt Erin and Uncle Jamey met me outside customs.

I really enjoyed this trip to Croatia and Slovenia — my first time in Europe since 2019 and hope that Rena and I get here at some point.