allyson and bryan

VIDEO: Donna Summer and Our Croatian-Slovenian Road Trip /

With a nauseating five-hour coastal bus ride behind us and at least 20 hours of train travel ahead, Bryan and I decided to rent a car for five days to traverse Croatia and Slovenia. While in Split -- which we admit to loving more than tourist-filled Dubrovnik -- we found a local agency that offered an affordable one-way deal. After hitting a few city highlights (funky Split is built inside the walls of an ancient Roman temple), we left a set of keys for our never-seen landlord, threw our backpacks into the Renault Clio and hit the Croatian highway.

The first stop on our little road trip was Plitvice National Park, a set of bizarrely colored lakes and waterfalls in northern Croatia. On the way to Plitvice, Bryan got readjusted to the right side of the road while I reveled in a radio playlist comprised of Donna Summer, Men Without Hats, Madonna and The Police. [Overall trip sidenote: The comfort of hearing American music, specifically 80s American music, in every single country around the world is not to be underestimated.] See how homey it feels?

We arrived at our destination, a 35 euro-a-night pension outside the park, at about 4 p.m. that day.

After many a photo and one more night in Plitvice, we fueled the Clio up and headed to Slovenia. The border crossings proved fast and simple, which would have made the whole process a breeze had we not been pulled over at a seemingly random traffic stop right before leaving Croatia. It was 2 p.m. in the afternoon, but as the officer informed us after commanding "documents!" and reviewing our passports, drivers' licenses and rental car agreement:"lights on all day in Croatia!" Bryan quickly snapped them on only to be informed by the Croat in uniform that one of our headlights was out. After some helpless hand gestures and pointing at the rental papers, the officer eventually shrugged, sighed, and directed us on our way to Slovenia.

Once in Slovenia we we checked into a cute-as-can-be room at the Hudicevec Farm Stay with bunk beds, the biggest sink I've ever seen, and an included dinner served to farm stayers at 7 p.m sharp. The reason for our chosen location was today's tour of the Skocjan Caves, a massive underground display of stalagmite, stalactites, roaring water and sqwaking bats. The caves were pretty impressive, but photography was nearly impossible (and actually prohibited) so this one exit pic would have to suffice.

Tomorrow we cross back over into Croatia again to return the Clio before catching a train to Ljubjlana, Slovenia's captial and a place that fellow travelers call "the perfect little town." We're looking forward to it but will miss having our own set of wheels.

24 more days to go!

stars, they're just like allyson @ 12:11 PM  

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