Marija Mance

Highlights:
* Day 1 -Our Hotel and view from our room in Dubrovnik was amazing! The many options for meals (which were delicious) and the beautiful views from those areas were great! The beautiful pools, and the safe places to jump into the Adriatic and swim was really exciting!
* Day 2 - Our friendly local guide, Alberto, was SO knowledgeable about the history and people of Old Town through the centuries. He shared great tips for our own self-touring that afternoon. An extra highlight was that we were able to meet
Marija, in person that a.m. as she was there with another group and made a point of finding us to meet in person. That was a fun surprise.
* Day 3 - Marija planned our seamless arrival of our rental car and we were on our way to Split. Our local tour guide, Ivana, met us at our boutique hotel and it was a convenient walk to Diocietian's Palace. Ivana, who grew up in Split, was a great guide and pointed out the amazing features of the Palace, as well as sharing her experiences as a young girl growing up during the 5 year war.
* Day 4 - We had a beautiful drive to Krka National Park. The waterfalls there were spectacular and this day was a highlight of our trip! On to Zadar where we checked in to the Hotel Bastion, with views of the harbor nearby and easy
walk to experience the Roman and Venetian ruins on the Old Town peninsula. Lots of restaurants to choose from as well!
*Day 5 - Drove to the most famous National Park in Croatia, Plitvice Lakes where Marija had already provided tickets for
us to tour the area. Again, the waterfalls were stunning, and were so worth the walk, in spite of the cloudy day! Then on to
the capitol, Zagreb. We had another seamless transfer to our hotel after dropping off our rental car. Our driver was a great young man who shared his perspective about the 5 yr. war (at my urging). He had been a "celebration baby." His
father had survived the war, married his mother and he was born. He shared that every year they go back to the city in Eastern Croatia, where his father had fought alongside other Croatians to remember those who were lost, such a poignant story.
*Day 6 - Met up with our local guide, Josie, at our hotel and got a great tour of the center of Zagreb. Josie is a vibrant and energetic young woman who loves her city and was so excited to show the many highlights and learn from her about Zagreb's history..... from the City Square, to the famous Cathedral of Zagreb, St. Marks Church, the Dolac Market (amazing daily fresh produce, meat markets, bakeries, wine/olive oil specialties galore!), and riding the Funicular Railway from the upper town back down to the lower town. It was a FUN last day and we topped it off with having an authentic Croatian dinner where the locals go to have a great meal (one of Josie's favorites that she recommended to us). We were not disappointed!!! The BEST local food and great people!
*Day 7 - Marija arranged for our on-time driver to pick us up at 4:30 a.m. for a short, relaxing drive to the Zagreb Airport.
We had plenty of time to relax, buy a few more souvenirs and talk about what an AMAZING trip we'd had.
THANK YOU MARIJA!!!