Interrailing- The Plitvice Lakes

As a few rays of watery sun break through the dense blanket of cloud which has been our constant companion for the last few months, I can't help but turn to thoughts of summer time. As each year goes by, summer becomes less about  having week after week to laze in the sun and more about where you're going to work next, find your next internship or generally about ways of starting your future career off in the best possible way. While in some respects this can be exciting, in others it begs nostalgia to come and pay a visit.

Two summers ago I went interrailing. For those unfamiliar with the term, it's where you buy a train pass that transcends most the borders of European countries, pack a rucksack with the bare essentials and travel across Europe in the aim of visiting as many places as possible. It's especially popular amongst those who have finished their A levels, those on their gap year and Australians (although in regards to the latter, I'm not quite sure why), and is a guaranteed way for you meet a million people, experience the finer aspects of communal living and remind yourself just why you love your mother's cooking quite so much. It's also just about the most fun you can have while trying to survive on the smallest budget imaginable.

Sunset from a train

One of my favourite places my friends and I ended up was the Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia. The lakes has to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The water was an impossible blue and so clear that you could see the sandy bottom as if you were doing nothing more than looking through a pane of glass. The vegetation was so green and luscious that it was easy to imagine you'd stepped out of reality and into Eden.  The scenery was breathtaking.

You walk around the path on specially built walkways as it's a protected area, but this doesn't hinder your ability to appreciate your surroundings. Every time you turn a corner you're faced with another waterfall or expanse of water. We went on a stunningly hot day which made it more and more tempting to make a break for it and jump in a lake, but we managed to just about restrain ourselves!

The Plitvice Lakes are really worth a visit at some point in your life- I can promise the beauty of what you'll see is hard to forget!