It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas (Friday, October 7, 2011)
Early mornings have never been my thing. But this morning we managed to get everyone up at 6 am to get on the road by 7:30-ish. We were headed to Croatia, to visit Plitvice Lakes National Park. If we got there early enough, we could still spend the afternoon at the park as well as part of the next day. So off we went. None too happy, for the most part, but packed and in the car. We drove out of Hungary and into Croatia. We hit our first border crossing of the trip, which required stopping at 3 different booths and having our passports stamped a couple of times--once to say we were leaving the European Union, and once to say that we were entering Croatia. Okay. No hassle, and we were on our way, though the double stamping is symbolic of some of the bureaucratic nature that we have seen. In Hungary, when we checked into the apartment, we had to pay three fees--the rent, a deposit for the key to the garage, and the cost of parking for 3 nights. I had about the right amount total for a...