Plitvice Lakes National Park was our first milestone. Due to its significance, it was an ideal starting point for an UNESCO's World Heritage themed trip with our guests from University of Central Florida and DePaul University (USA).

Waterfall

We met at 7:00 am behind the dormitory in Varaždin, settled in our bus and started the engine in the next 20 minutes. The drive was long as it took 4 hours to arrive to Plitvice Lakes. For us, those 4 hours had one single purpose - gathering strength for the 5 hour long adventure ahead of us. It was a true adventure as I am sure that none of us is used to such long walks with no sitting breaks and no amount of sleep could have prepared us for the tiredness and aching feet. Adding that we are a very culturally mixed group paints this experience with even more challenging tones.

However, it may be that all the beauty and wonders of Plitvice Lakes have made all possible challenges and pain complaints disappear. The only things we witnessed were our tremendous awe toward natural treasure surrounding us, curiosity, broadening of knowledge, breaking cultural stereotypes and building new friendships. 

Plitvice Lakes Group Photo

Tired, but happy as we achieved our first milestone, we headed for Split where we will continue to explore UNESCO's World Heritage sites.