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Florence, Italy It has been said that, “If Italy were the Mona Lisa, Florence would be her smile.” For centuries,...
Skradin, Croatia
Berkeley East is a “blue water” boat. She is heavy, with a deep keel, a strong “Beast” made for ocean passages. So the idea of taking her up a river in Croatia to see a waterfall seemed a little odd, especially when we realized that there were bridges over the river, one that was just 10 feet taller than BE’s mast. But we had heard that the experience was fun, so the Beast became a riverboat.
We stopped at the town dock in Sibenik, a quaint little place with great views from the fort. Dinner was one of the best, mussels with leeks followed by grilled white fish, at yet another restaurant recommended by Fi and Eddie. We are eating well in Croatia.
The trip up the river was nice, except when we had to go under the bridges and then it was heart-stopping stress. Regardless of how much clearance you may have for the mast, 10 feet or 50 feet, it always looks like the mast is going to hit the bridge. With just 10 feet of clearance on the first bridge, we had to be dead center with no surge.
Oh, and also no bungee jumpers. We could not believe out eyes as we approached the bridge and a person came flying off the top in the center then dangled there making our passage impossible. We proceeded slowly hoping that they would pull the jumper up before they became an unplanned passenger on Berkeley East. They did, just in the nick of time, so all we had to worry about was keeping the boat centered, and that the bridge height measurement, as well as our feet to meter calculation, were correct. The second bridge was easier, more clearance and no jumpers, but we still held our breath until we were through.
The waterfalls are in the Krka National Park. It was nearly August, we knew there would be crowds so we chose to go early when the park first opened. The waterfalls were beautiful and we thought we would take a swim after a trip further up the river.
But when we came back just a few hours later, the serenity of the falls was gone, replaced with the chaotic scene of hundreds of visitors. Good thing we went early.
We headed back to Berkeley East, and then on to a restaurant under the bridge where, once again, we had a terrific lunch of scallops and clams.
The trip back down the river was more relaxing since we had already gone under both bridges. It was early morning this time though and as we went under the bridge with just 10 feet of clearance, we wondered if the river had tide changes.
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Linda and Mike
Oh my gosh! How beautiful!!