Crashing Croatia

After escaping Trieste, we headed into Croatia, land of limestone and tree covered hills. Now any caver can tell you that lotsa limestone means lotsa caves and sure enough, the Rough Guide directed us to the spetacular Skocjan Caves. I could not have been more happy we made the effort to see them. I've been to lots of caves in my life, from Kentucky to Texas and places in between, but the Skocjan Caves are among the most impressive. The sheer size and beauty would make Peter Jackson reshoot scenes from Lord of the Rings in envy. They wouldn't let us take pics inside (but you can find some on the web of course!) , so here's the exit:

Look close for the Hobbits

Luckily we made the tour of the caves in time. We weren't so lucky with lunch. Given the time restraints and one waiter to handle everyone, we only had time to order some fried potatoes. I asked for some ketchup, at which point Chesse told me I'd have to pay for the packets (God Bless America and Free Condiments!). Sure enough, he was right. Also, Croatian Ketchup is a little different than what we're used to. In fact, we'd probably call it 'mayonaise'. This little mix-up didn't keep Cheese from slothering it on his psuedo-fries.

At one point in the cave, you are several hundred feet above a river cutting through before it disappears even deeper into the earth. At one point in the cave's history, someone thought it would be a good idea to dam up the river. Turns out it wasn't a good idea and the local vally got flooded. Now they just give tours of the place. Standing there in a cave larger than the Horseshoe, I could not imagine the amount of water that had been contained, and the damage it must have done when released.

There's a map of the cave system. Here's a view of the church depicted on the map, as seen from the cave exit.

As close to Church as we got on the trip.

After the caves, we headed onward until we hit the city of Pula on the coast. I was super excited to finally see a real Roman Coliseum, the inspiration for more modern sports complexes (such as The Horseshoe). Pula is blessed to have a fairly large and well preserved one:

If I knew HTML, this would look better

There were relics of the Roman era scattered throughout town. Old buildings, gateways etc. Most had seen better days, but I still loved looking at their intricate details and imagining Roman times.

A funy thing happend to the forum: Acid Rain.

We decided to stay in the more touristy beach area rather than downtown. So after yet another delicous ice cream treat we headed out to the island-like outcroppings on the outskirts and scored a really spiffy hotel room. Spiffy, except that the blankets had been washed not in water, but in perfume. Nasty 2-dollar hooker perfume. I had to throw mine out on the balcony in order to sleep. Cheese can sleep through anything after a big enough ice cream. The place was beautiful dear reader:

Morning in Paradise

I really want to go back so I can do things like this:

Afternoon in paradise

Now I won't lie to my good friend, I am the hot-blooded Aries, but really, look at the following picture. All I caught was her foot! I didn't even know she was topless! (at first anyway) Still I didn't know how to say "I only got your foot" in Czech so I tried to indicate I was Canadian so impressions of Americans wouldn't take another hit.

Despite the lack of upper-wear
Girls are not so Gone Wild in Croatia