Busing To Plitvice

So, I haven't yet written about Split, which was amazing, I was too busy enjoying life and relaxing on the beach. But, while it is fresh in my mind I will write about my day, which again is mostly about travelling, I figured I've written about a train ride, a plane ride, why not add a bus.
My fabulous mother treated me to a hotel for a night in Plitvice National Park. So this morning, I left the  hostel bright and early, with my packed lunch (well, peanuts and boiled eggs haha) and headed for the bus station. Taking buses make me nervous. Not in a, maybe it will crash sort of way, but more in a, you might end up in the wrong place, hundreds of km away from anyone you know. But thankfully, I was going to a pretty big tourist destination, so in the window, it not only said Zagreb (final destination) but also Plitvice. So I was pretty sure it was right. Also, when I got on the bus, I had an assigned seat number, but there was a woman and her kid sitting there. I felt awkward, but showed her my ticket. She moved over and kept the kid on her lap.

Once the bus started going I thought about moving over, and in retrospect maybe I should have. But the bus driver seemed pretty pissed about her having the kid in the first place, so I didn't wanna aggravate anyone by moving away from my assigned seat.

So the bus took from 8:30am to 1 o'clock to get to Plitvice. It was a really nice bus ride, the mountain (hills?) are really beautiful, winding roads etc etc. And the Croatian kid was ADORABLE. I want to be an aunt so badly right now. He kept on talking to me in Croatian, and he was so smiley. He was probably about three or four?  I actually have no idea, he might of been two, but he seemed like he had a pretty good grasp of language from his constantly talking to me and, I think, asking me questions. I think they were going to a mountain, from what I could gather, or something just really big and exciting, if I could tell by his hand gestures. The all time best, when we were at a rest stop there was a petting zoo (I think) with deer, and he kept on saying papa bambi.. soooo cute.

The bus drivers were really nice too. From what I've seen in Croatia, they may not always have both hands on the wheel, and can get in some funny traffic situations. But I really admire how good they are at remembering where you are going and making sure everyone gets off at the right stop. (And giving confused tourists directions after getting off the bus)

So it was pretty easy to navigate where the hotel was once I got to the Park. And must I say, the first thing I thought was.. wow this is NOT a hostel. I have queen bed. So stoked to have a nights sleep without 7 croatians in my room (that was last night). Although I'll note on this trip. that not once have I been woken up by other people coming into the room late at night, even when one Scottish girl apparently had sex at 4 in the morning. I was however, kept awake once, by someone stoned impersonating smeagol, but it didn't last too long.