Venice, Italy

Day 13
Ciao Italia!!
Ok, I realize it's been awhile, and the details are getting fuzzy (which is what I was afraid of!) but I'll do my best. Hey, vague is better than absent.
We had an overnight train from Zagreb to Venice that left at 9.30 pm and was supposed to reach Venice around 8am. What we didn't know was that the train from Zagreb was actually headed north to Austria so we had to switch at a platform in the middle of the night. Not only did we have to switch we also had to wait about 2 hours for the next train in a deserted train station. Then, to top it off, we missed our stop. We had to decide whether to stay on the train until it reached Salzburg and then travel back down (which would've taken AGES) or get off at the next horrifyingly deserted stop in the dark of the night and wait for the next train in an hour. We decided to stay safe and just go ahead to Salzburg but that would mean missing out on a lot of Venice. In a last minute change of mind, we jumped off the train at the next station.
And thank goodness we did. It was cold, and a little over 3 am. Our train wouldn't arrive until close to 5am so I waited outside with all our bags, while Afif looked around. He found out that our train was already there, just waiting to depart in two hours and that we can board it early. We got into our room and passed out! They even woke us up as we neared our destination with a breakfast tray :).
Venice!-City of Love
Venice truly lives up to her reputation and hype! Her old world glamor and charm captivates visitors. There's a seeming fusion of regality and bohemian chic. The narrow cobbled alleyways, rustic pastel buildings and plentiful canals will take you through Venice's own love story.

All sorts of pastas! The pastas are all home made and fresh so naturally Afif and I had to dive right in. We shared seafood pasta and a large pizza slice between the two of us.

Venice is a pedestrian city so cars and roads are substituted with boats and canals. Truly a marvel to witness such a large area car free!

These rides were ridiculously expensive- 80 euros per half hour!

We spent the evening at Piazza San Marco and decided to take a tour of the impressive Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale)

Bright ol me in front of Piazzo de Marco (St Mark's Square).

 

 The Palazzo Ducale, or Doge’s Palace, was the seat of the government of Venice for centuries. As well as being the home of the Doge (the elected ruler of Venice) it was the venue for its law courts, its civil administration and bureaucracy and the city jail. The building embodies the highest expression of the city's cultural, artistic, military, political and economic history. Much smaller than say Versailles but a labyrinth nonetheless. All the various stages of the Palace's past are represented here, in an extraordinary accumulation of architectural and decorative features and we had a great time wandering its corridors and educating ourselves on Venice's sociopolitical status.

 

A final evening stroll through Venice as the sun sets and I am obsessed with these narrow canals and pastel building!

Plitvice Lakes, Croatia

Day 12 
Our train departed from Zagreb at 9.30pm that day so whatever we did, we had to make our way to Zagreb in time for our train. Afif and I felt like we've come so far to miss out on Plitvice (I think he also had vivid memories of how I cried after missing the cable car in Dubrovnik) so we called our cab driver friend Peter to negotiate a price. He agreed to our budget and off we went.
The lakes are truly stunning, a national gem.

Scenes from paradise.

Zadar, Croatia

Day 11
Our last day in Dubrovnik and I thought of squeezing another trip to old town before our bus across Croatia to Zadar. I so badly wanted to make the trip up the cable car for an awesome panoramic view, unfortunately, it ran every 30 minutes and I would've missed my bus. I actually teared on our bus back. Completely heartbroken I had to miss this view:

It was such a clear lovely day. Bye bye Dubrovnik.

The bus ride to Zadar took almost 8 hours. Apart from almost being left behind at a rest stop in Bosnia and the American lady in front of us who just could NOT stop talking, the bus ride was rather uneventful.
The sun was setting when we reached Zadar and we met a young energetic cab driver who offered us a ride to the hotel. He also told us the only bus to Plitvice Lake is at 2.30pm, making our original day trip plan not possible, and offered to drive us instead. We took his card and said we'd think about it. The villa we stayed in was amazing and we stumbled upon a grogeous Thai restaurant for dinner. I have a video of the villa that I'll upload later if I can find it but we took no photos.