People always refer to "love at first sight" in regards to meeting someone for the first time. Your heart starts racing, your palms get sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy.... oh wait, those are Eminem lyrics. But they totally apply to love at first sight, or a stroke. My husband and I have been to quite a few UNESCO World Heritage Sites, but nothing quite beats the magnitude and overwhelmingly stunning National Park that is Plitvice Lakes.
Climbing this high when you're out of shape is a genuine pain in the ass, but LOOK. Plenty of worth it.
With its majestic views from above looking down into deep lake canyons, to the calm, stagnant glass like ponds & lakes which only moved when tiny bugs Jesus'd across the water, it felt like we were transported to a time where Adam & Eve were still on God's Things To Create To Royally Fuck Up This Beautiful Planet list. Also, them waterfalls. I was constantly humming the Rivendell/Evanstar theme song whilst exploring Plitvice Lakes and staring wide eyed at the waterfalls as I felt like Bilbo discovering Rivendell for the first time. Gorgeous, untouched scenery where there are skinny walkways you cannot stray from, and you feel like if you touched a leaf, it would immediately die because you are naturally gross and nature is not.
Legit glass lake.
You are not allowed to touch the water. And when you are walking around a dense forest for 4+ hours in over 40 degree Celsius with 739% humidity weather, you want to Scrooge McDuck yourself into the water. We have never seen such inviting, clear pools of water EVER. It was like we were surrounded by a mirage that stretched on forever. We couldn't touch it, and it didn't seem real, but there it was in front of us. Even the trees looked like they were stretching their limbs over the walkways, dying to touch the forbidden water.
The road goes ever on and on.
Even though there were tourists everywhere, it's like there was an unwritten rule about wandering through the lakes. Rule #27: Shut The Hell Up. And everyone did. Everyone walked in silence, stopped for pictures, apologized quietly for making you stop in the path for said pictures. Everyone wanted to hear what nature was trying to tell them: Chill out. Breathe deeply. Take in this natural wonder in silence because the real world is waiting for you when you step out of this place. It's full of exhaust, loud noises, and wifi. You can't get that here so take this hot sweaty moment to chill out.
The only sounds you could hear were the birds chirping, the insects buzzing, and the waterfalls falling.
Hey there sexy.
Just like the feeling of love at first sight and Eminem describing what it's like to be white in the rap industry, sitting on the edge of a cliff billions of metres (accurate measurement) above the water was thrilling in a vomity kind of way. It was so quiet. So serene. It was so intoxicating looking down at the blue water that resembled Alizé, then moving our gazes upwards towards the sky where the clouds silently billowed around us. We were too busy getting drunk off ~~life~~ to remember we asked a stranger to take a picture of us.
Please don't steal my camera, sir.
The love I have for Croatia hit me real hard when I clumsily stumbled off the Death Ferry (THAT is another story) from Italy to Croatia and landed in a goddamn paradise. "Ja te volim Hrvatska" means "I love you Croatia." Say it with me now, because once you visit this gorgeous country with all the beautiful landscapes you can think of in a 34.8 mile radius, you'll be saying it too.
Plitvice Lakes is not to be missed.
Also, I'm pretty sure this place is a professional photographers wet dream.