Hidden Treasures: Plitvice National Park

Frustrated by a fruitless wine tour of the Istrian Peninsula, Dad and I piled into our 4-door Fiat and left Croatia's beautiful Coast. We had had enough of empty vineyards, vacant hotels and grumpy locals. We wanted wine, there was no wine; we wanted beautiful countryside, everything was brown; we found the coast, and no one was on it. Time to move on.
Luckily, this decision came on the 2nd day of our trip to Croatia, my father's 3rd day while visiting me in Europe. Instead of sticking around the unexpectedly vacant coast, we reverted to our original plan: Plitvice National Park. The first shot of the Serbian war was fired in the park, killing a ranger. That was 15 years ago, and, to our delight, most Americans still think the war is going on. Over 10,000 visitors a day during the summer aren't afraid of the park, its maze of waterfalls and dense forest, or the sound of water crashing on the rocks below the 70 meter Veliki Slap waterfall. Although we drove through several old warzones(complete with bullet riddled houses, buildings with half the frame gone from tank shells and one outdoor display of heavy armor, including a MIG, modified Sherman Tank and some Russian armor)
, Croatia is probably one of the safest countries I've been in.
But Plitvice is an amazing treasure, mostly undiscovered by Americans and Western Europeans. It reminded me of something between Yellowstone National Park and Niagara Falls. It didn't have the dramatic fall or breadth of Niagara, and lacked the buffalo, bubbling mud pits and grizzlies of Yellowstone, but I could have spent another 2 days hiking and exploring the huge network of waterfalls, emerald green lakes and beautiful birch forest.
What really made our morning arrival special was the thick fog. We had to stop at a hostel the night before, forced back before the park due to thick fog, and the next day was no different. We drove to Hotel Jezero in thick fog and hiked the main network of lakes in heavy blanket of white fogginess. Loved it. The forest was a thick, soupy consistency 100 meters in front of you, and every lake ended in white.
Favorite moment: hiking past Veliki Slap, the tallest waterfall at 70 meters, and finding a spot hidden from the roar of the waterfalls. Just on the edge of one of the lakes, we were behind a hill, hidden from all the noise, so quiet all we could hear was the running water and the Croatian ducks flapping their wings above us. Dad and I agreed it reminded us of Boy Scouts, hiking long days and sitting in the tent late at night when all that we knew were the stars, the wind and our own whispers. Of course, what good is silence if not enjoyed with a cuban cigar and Croatian wine drank from a plastic water bottle? Not any good at all.
We enjoyed a delicious dinner of Croatian trout(the waters are teeming with them, but fishing is forbidden in the park. Damn). We also met a large group of Americans, on tour in Croatia; another couple of Americans from Venice, on vacation for their anniversary; and another couple, Barry from Virginia who was working at the US Embassy in Moscow for the State Department, and his fiance, Nina, who had the most contagious laugh ever and worked at the Embassy in Sarajevo. She said it was beautiful, I'd like to go.
Both mentioned working for the State Department, and I must say that it sounds quite appealing. Traveling the world, expenses paid, working for the government. I have been bitten by the travel bug.
Croatia is beautiful, I highly recommend. But no one beats Poland.