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The hotel was not quite like I had imagined it. I have to admit, as embarrassing as this sounds, with me being a computer programmer, 21st century, internet on my phone, yada yada- I didn't look up the website for the place. I know, right?

My soon to be sister in law- this would be my first time meeting her- had done the booking for me. "It's a quaint little place, up on a hill real cute like. All the people in the wedding party are staying there. You guys are gonna have so much fun! You should see what all we got planned!" And she was off, listing all the events that were the reason I'd had to take 2 weeks off work for this wedding.

Would you do it under a waterfall? A myriad of waterfalls, lush nature, transparent rivers... We must be somewhere in South America or Oceania? Right? - Wrong! We are, in fact, in the heart of Europe, a few miles away from Italy and Greece. See video below: The Plitvice National Park is an absolute delight, worth the trip from wherever you are in the world. For birdwatching, be equipped with a good pair of binoculars and a powerful tele-lens. And who knows? - Maybe you'll spot some interesting mammals too?! See video below: There are a few hotels in the area but, whilst we are talking Communion with Nature, go camping with your tent! Have you ever had a shower under a waterfall? - It is said to be a must-do of all your travels before you die. See video below: This is the ultimate survival experience. The jungle waterfall shower will propel you to the rank of a famous adventurer like Bear Grylls.The camping extremists like him would probably say that its not really camping if you don't hunt and kill your own food. See video below: So if you manage to get your rabbit, cook it well, and eat without forks and knives, like in the Prehistoric Times. Then, as you nap and consider the next steps of your travel adventure, remember how you got here in the first place: Bear Grylls survival clothing for your extreme travels to all corners of our wildest world:

Not that I'm complaining, you know. It had been, what, two years, three, since I had taken even one day off. None of my family lives near me, and it's not like I had a whole lot of friends- tact not being one of my many talents- not to mention how tied up I tended to get into my work anyway. I'll admit, when I was boarding that plane, my thoughts weren't on the wedding, or even the trip across the country. No, my first thought was about how much work was gonna be piled up waiting for me to do it on my return. What can I say, I'm a workaholic. I have to say though, the plane ride was amazing. The flight attendant that kept "happening to be" the one helping me was this totally cute guy. I mean, sure, that totally wasn't on purpose at all, right? And the girl sitting next to me wasn't near as shallow as she looked. I saw the fake blonde hair, the perfectly painted nails, the fake tan- I'm sure you've seen the type- and my first thought was "great, now I'm gonna have to spend the whole trip pretending to be asleep"

• Beach Vacations
• Luxury Travel
• London City Travel
• Visit Paris
• Golf Vacations

But no, it turned out I was wrong. Sonn as the plane takes off, first thing she does is reach in that huge purse of hers and pulls out a GameBoy. I'm not even kidding. A freaking GameBoy. Here I was judging this girl for how she looked, and it turns out she's exactly the kind of girl I could see myself being friends with. We spent the whole rest of the flight talking to each other, and, of course, playing tetris against each other. And I'll admit, although not happily, that she totally kicked my butt. I suppose there's a lesson to be learned there, but I don't have any idea what it would be.

Anyway, I completely lost my train of thought. The hotel, that's right. Let me just catch up, and I'll get back to it. Plane lands, cool girl and I exchange numbers, cute attendant and I don't, even though cool girl tires to convince me I should totally ask him. I'm just not that forward though, and I don't even know where he lives, and would a relationship even be possible with him travelling all the time? Cool girl says I'm over thinking it. I tell her to shut up, and she laughs and changes the subject. Brother picks me up at the airport, as his girlfriend is off being fitted for something, or taste testing something,or whatever it is the girl does a few weeks before the wedding. It's just like my brother to not actually have any idea what's going on in his own life. I point this out, and he sticks his tongue out at me. Ah, brothers. That was the first time I had seen him in almost 6 years, and we hadn't had much of a relationship since I moved out of the house when he was 17. So we seemed to be stuck in that whole teenage brother / sister relationship. But that's fine. I love him, and I was proud of him for finding a nice girl and getting married to her.

So we pulled up to hotel. Now, you remember how I told you the bride to be described it? Little cute place up on a hill, or something like that. Picture it in your head. What do you see? Quaint little bed and breakfast? Yeah, guess again. This place was huge, and ridiculously fancy. Think that one hotel in New York City that you walk past every time you're there and wish you could afford to stay in, but you know that short of winning the lottery you never will. Like a freaking castle, you know? So I tried to say something to my brother about it, knowing me some sort of smartass comment about how being engaged has apparently made him rich. But the words didn't come, so I ended up just standing there staring up at the place with my mouth hanging open. He nudged me, and imitated the face I'd been making, and it was my turn to stick my tongue out at him. He laughed, then said, "Come on, wait till you see the inside!"

The inside, as it turns out, was beautiful. The walls were covered with intricate murals of angels and landscapes and happy things. The floor was a beautiful marble in varying colors of blue and purple. And one of the first things you saw when you walked in, was a large spiral staircase leading up.

"Nice, isn't it?" he whispered, staring at it just like I was, even though he had to have seen it before. "Her mom worked here for like twenty years or something. They rented us entire floor for 2 weeks, for free. the 4th floor is ours." I choked. "Are you serious?" I sputtered. It came out much louder than I intended. Most of the other people in the place were talking quietly. I felt my face turn red with embarrassment. And then I heard a squeal.

"You didn't tell me you were staying here!" I turned around quickly, and nearly ran into the cool girl from the plane. She hugged me quickly, then laughed at my face. "Oh, and I have something for you!" She dug in her pocket, came out with a piece of paper. "The flight attendant was all upset about missing you. He remembered we were sitting next to each other, and asked if we were friends. He wanted me to give you his number." She squealed again. "This is exciting! How long are you gonna be here? Where is your room? I'm gonna be here for a week and a half for a wedding, and I'm up on the 4th floor. This is gonna be great!"

And looking at her and my brother, I agreed with her.