Sun 01.Nov.2020
California
Imagery - Oct 2007
Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia
Fall Colors
On the Adriatic coast, mid-October might almost still be Summer with fewer people.
A few hours drive inland, the mountains tell a different story!
Here in central Croatia, it is Fall Colors time!
Even on a dull, misty day, the eyes enjoy a feast.
The colors are worth the drive - if I had known about them.
As it was, they were pure serendipity.
When you think you have seen most of what Europe has to offer, come on up
to Plitvice (PLEET-veet-seh) Lakes National Park. The fall foliage is only a sideshow.
Geologically, this is limestone country - a southern extension of the
ridge called Karst. Northwards, in Slovenia, the Karst has vast underground
cavern complexes.
Here at Plitvice, the tops of those caverns are gone - eroded away or something. What is left
is a chain of mountain lakes that cascade, tumble, and fall from
each to the one below.
A bewildering wetlands ecosystem grows amongst all this splashing
and flowing.
A careful system of elevated walkways and electric flatboats enables visitors to
wander though it all without destroying what they came to admire.
A plaque beside one lake marks the site of the 1950's movie The
Treasure of Silver Lake (Der Schatz
Im Silbersee), based on a novel by Karl May.
I think Claude Monet would have liked this place.
Next: More treasure!