Plitvice Lakes - Raw Croatian beauty

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL! Jumping back onto the blog bandwagon is a necessity, as we have just returned home from our incredible Christmas trip and have only added to our backlog of holidays to share with you. I am so, so very excited to post our Christmas and New Years adventures, as we had an enchanting time shared with some of our closest friends. Sydney mates, Jonny and Lauren, arrived in London on the 18^thof December and have helped us to create some unforgettable memories of our first white Christmas!

Hence, our summer journeys from July need to be quickly retold in order to catch up with our recent expeditions! We last left you with our stunning time in Split. After our amazing first half of the trip with Israel and Ali, we continue our adventure towards Plitvice Lakes, a National Park and World Heritage treasure in the north of Croatia. With increasing interest in what we were setting out to do, we discovered that Plitvice Lakes attracts over 1.2million visitors per year and is one of the first natural sites worldwide.

I was so excited to spend some time trekking around the park and getting active, after our week of sun soaking. With a 5-hour walk ahead of us, we began the day with a hop in our step and some high expectations for photo ops.

We weren’t disappointed… turquoise, silk lakes and enchanting forest filled landscapes; we were awed by the natural wonder. The weather was pleasantly warm, with the only limitation of not being able to jump into the perfect, tempting water. Definitely a highlight of our summer shenanigans! Enjoy the beautiful photos, although they do not do the real thing justice. And as always… make sure there is a cuppa in hand! Wishing you all a very adventure filled, joyous New Year. We look forward to catching up with you soon. Love T&S x

Split - Final destination for our travel companions Iz & Ali

Split, Croatia. This is probably one of my favourite places to reminisce, for many of the same reasons as our previous locations. However, this one has so many perfect memories attached: memories of amazing friends, in a city of grand history and stunning views.

The first treasure of the trip was the catch up that we managed to orchestrate with the inspiring and ever encouraging Tim Belcher. He only enriched the gorgeous town even more, as we dined and caught up on our adventures. The nightlife was an absolute buzz! Crowds of people were swarming the main strand as we weaved our way through to find some of the best gelato after our European dinner. It didn’t take long to locate the gelato, however, it did take a little longer to choose the flavours… there were so many!

Scouting out a perfect swimming spot is a refined skill that I believe we have now mastered, after proving ourselves along the coast of Split. We found ourselves this abandoned concrete surface with a small bridge providing us with a jumping/lookout platform. The day could not have been more enjoyable. Hours of soaking in the sun, laughing our heads off, and trying too many times to capture golden moments. It was totally worth it – we got some cracking shots on the camera. These are in particular some of my favourite photos, as for once my husband actually features in them, rather than being the man behind them (unashamed self credit for the glorious photographs).

No doubt, it has evidently become expected that I will eventually go on to describe our dining experience… this one was bloody good! We were recommended by our accommodation hosts to go to a particular restaurant that was hidden in the backstreets of the Old Town. After getting lost in alleyways, we finally stumbled across a stunning little open restaurant that was subtly complimented with fairy lights, purple checker tablecloths and art pieces hanging on the concrete walls. We forked out a little more for this meal, but I would do it all over again, and again, and again!

The mouth-watering seafood that was cooked by the open fire was presented just in time, before the amazing aromas drove us to starvation. We feasted and then raved about the fantastic feasting for the remaining of the night. It did not end here. Nay! The insatiable appetite of my husband and the sweet-hearted/sweet-toothed Ali decided that they were going on a “dessert crawl”. We went from one dessert stand to the next on the main strip, and purchased the aromatic cinnamon doughnuts, Nutella crepes, coconut and hazelnut gelato….

Summer loving, at its best!

Unfortunately, this was the last destination that our amazing travel companions Iz and Ali will be joining us on.  From here we dropped them at the airport in the morning and said our goodbyes :( and continued on our coastal road trip to Rovinj.  This next post is a real treat!!!