A late start – 8.30am which allowed a bit more catching up on the computer after breakfast before heading out to Kumrovec, the birthplace of Tito.  Our local guide this morning was Velyko, very informative & passionate about Croatia.  He told us the history of Croatia, from the tribe that left Poland just south of Krakow, to the present.  His story of Tito was very interesting, we had no idea about his interest in women.  Titos’ birthplace village has been preserved & restored in parts, with lots of old kitchen, blacksmith & farm tools & implements around in their original locations.  We were impressed by the original horse drawn hearse & the restored fire pumps.  The old village is very rustic & is surrounded by the rest of the village with people carrying on with their normal lives.  The drive to this place was so beautiful & the village is very well presented to the tourists.

The lunch stop was on top of a hill at Gresna Gorica (we had to hike up a very steep hill for our meal) in a rustic restaurant that served delicious local food, all locally grown.  We were greeted by the owner with a tray of home made cherry brandy, bread & salt, a local welcoming tradition.  The salad & meat dish (smoked sausages, meats, capsicum, chilli, cabbage) we all thought was the main meal, it was so nice & there was so much of this, however, this was followed by a big platter laden with roast duck, beans & potato plus another local specialty, a flat pastry noodle, baked then boiled.  Plus a large bowl of fresh salad, washed down by local wines or beers. Then, to top it off, apple strudel that was as good as Tereza’s mother made, it was THAT good.  We all struggled to stand up, our bellies were straining from the delicious feast we had just had, it was great that it was a downhill walk to the bus.

Off again through the rolling green farming countryside, enjoying the views of the farms & the quaint farm houses & spotting the odd wild pheasant in the fields.  Our afternoon stop was at the town of Karlovac where there is a memorial to the recent Croation & Serbian civil war.  The drive to Plitvice National Park got better the closer to the park we got, some of the villages are tucked into gorges with very pretty waterfalls running next to the houses.  The park is lovely with fresh green leaves on the crowds of overhanging trees.  The hotel is no Hilton or Sheraton, but its not too bad at all considering it’s remote location.