"During my trip I wanted a bit of time away from my studio and work. To be outside and enjoy nature, long walks, driving around, being away from my screen, and getting inspired. I was planning on drawing a lot on my trip and I brought a new sketchbook, my iPad and gouache to paint with me. While I did manage to make some sketches here and there, but days were mainly full of traveling and seeing new things! And sketching mainly happened in the night or the days after the trip.

The drive to Plitvice was an amazing experience. It almost didn’t look like Europe to me, or anything else that I’ve seen here before. Driving in the mountains while the sun was going down and some fog coming in, it felt very special to me. The very narrow roads make you feel like you’re literally in the middle of nowhere. Finally, arriving at The Plitvice Lakes National Park with its massive turquoise lakes all connected with waterfalls, it was truly nature at its best.

The food was amazing. We stopped at a random roadside café for lunch and because I wanted to watch the Netherlands play in the Euro Championship. The place itself looked a bit trashy and I was expecting mediocre food. Apparently they were famous for their large variety in meat and were serving boar amongst others. It’s hard to be vegetarian in Croatia. Zagreb was such a nice city, very friendly people. The botanical garden was very well taken care of, with interesting architecture of the greenhouses. I visited the Museum of Broken Relationships. It displays objects from former lovers along with brief texts about the objects and their meaning. Very touching, can recommend!

My artwork is based on my hikes in Plitvice. The lush forests in the hills and the stunning turquoise lakes of the park. Being there and letting the surroundings influence me made me realize how loud the city is. It’s always such a good feeling to be in nature without distractions."

Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Traveling

The only place where I can actually read without getting distracted is the airport. Read about ~70 pages of ‘Never Let Me Go’ and I vaguely started to recall that I saw the film. We landed around 23.00, picked up the car and headed to the center of Zagreb.

Thursday, June 13, 2024

First day in Zagreb

The morning started with checking the parking situation. The parking machine was broken and we arrived after midnight and were too tired to search for another solution. Apparently we already got a fine which is the same price as a day ticket, so all good. Had an amazing breakfast (potatoes + oyster mushrooms) with views on a market with a lot of locally produced veggies, honey, potatoes. Bought a wooden toy plane and horse, painted by hand. They look pretty wonky and actually not that well crafted, but that’s what I liked about them.

Visited the botanical garden. Amazing place. Taking pictures of a lot of plants and flowers. Immediately felt like drawing, lots of interesting shapes. The greenhouses especially were very nice designed. Nearby the garden I had a nice local wine at a bar and made some quick sketches.

Unpacked my painting materials. I brought some small tubes of gouache (37ml), my suitcase got checked in the airport because they thought it were nitrous oxide canisters on the scanners haha. The city itself is not that big, but that’s actually nice. Easy to comprehend, people are very friendly.  There is a big tunnel, under the historic neighbourhood, built during World War II. It served as bomb shelter and a promenade. And at some point was also used for raves. Now it nicely connects some parts of the city and is open to the public.  Visited the Museum of Broken Relationships. It displays objects from former lovers along with brief texts about the objects and their meaning. Very touching, can recommend!

After dinner we drove to Plitvice, my next destination, which is roughly ~2 hours from Zagreb. It was a beautiful road, through lush forests and small towns. Ending up in the mountains, the fog setting in and the sun going down. Felt like a scene from Twin Peaks. Happy to have arrived, but very tired. Today was a good day!

Friday, June 14, 2024

We are staying in the countryside, in a guesthouse up a hill. In the morning we are welcomed by some sheep and a dog before we roll down with the car on super small dirt roads. We are only a couple of kilometers from Plitvice Lakes, one of Croatia’s largest National Parks. The parking is already giving some clues of how popular this park is.

There are 16 terraced lakes, joined by waterfalls, that extend into a limestone canyon. It’s definitely one of the most beautiful places I’ve hiked in. But also one of the busiest. Especially the first part is so crowded, it feels like you’re standing in a queue at Disney Land.. Not really what I was expecting from a serene walk in the forest. 

That said it’s insanely beautiful. The water is clear like glass, the color is ranging from azure to green. You can see all the way to the bottom and see fishes all around. The waterfalls are spectacular. Each of the Plitvice Lakes has a story or legend to tell. Most of them are a bit sinister, quite a few refer to people who drowned there.

Saturday, June 15, 2024

We saw most of the lakes, so we just read a book next to the pool. Made some sketches based on things I saw yesterday in the park. Walked a small trail through the hills. There are so many butterflies here. So I had to look it up, 76 day flying species and 245 nocturnal moths are recorded here. Supported the locals (Croatia vs Spain) with two waiters in the corner of an empty restaurant. Not much more to report. 

Sunday, June 16, 2024

Today we had to drive to Ljubljana, a 3 hour drive. A big part of it was on swirling mountain roads. Stopped at a restaurant to watch Netherlands - Poland. Which luckily they won. Had a great lunch, the road side restaurant was famous for local ‘game’. They served boar among others.

We are staying in an old factory in Ljubljana. And had a quick stroll through the city. It’s very green and clean. No car’s allowed in the city center. It looks a lot more like Central Europe compared to Zagreb, it reminds me of Basel. A nice mix of older houses and brutalist building's. Looking forward to explore the city more tomorrow!