Trakošćan Castle, Croatia’s amazing hard-to-reach destination

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You appreciate something a lot more when you earn it yourself. That’s how our visit to Trakošćan Castle in a hidden corner of northern Croatia was for Masayo and I today – this is somewhat off the tourist trail in the high season, and certainly here on one of the final days of the year in snowy December. We couldn’t even find information online about transportation to the castle from the town we’re staying in, Varaždin, and had to work it out ourselves. Few others were there today; it was basically all for us. The opposite of a quick package tour. As travel should be.

We woke up at Garestin Pansion in Varaždin, where my blood sugar before breakfast was 161. After the dense, day-long snowstorm yesterday, today was bright, sunny, and cold. Everything was covered in thick, smooth pillows of grainy snow, like gigantic dollops of ice cream dropped onto everything from above.

Breakfast was in the Garestin dining room; it was included in the room price (an option I often look for when searching booking.com) and consisted of bread with various spreads, plus ham and eggs cooked just for us. And coffee, of course. I took some Humalog at the table through my Bluff Works pants.

We still had to confirm that we would in fact be able to get to the mountain town of Trakošćan to see its castle. We didn’t know if the regular bus service was running on its usual schedule here during the holidays, and after a huge snow yesterday. We walked through the dazzling morning sun, across snowy parking lots and empty playgrounds, to the bus station.

I spoke with a woman at a window who told me that the bus was indeed running. The next one was leaving at 11:00 am and we could take the 4:30 bus back to Varaždin.

Things were falling into place perfectly.

We took our day packs – I had all my insulin and OneTouch BG meter stuff with me, plus of course some juice and chocolates just in case – and got on the bus which departed on time. Varaždin isn’t large and within minutes we were in the Croatian countryside, large fields covered in snow and the sun shining on everything and throwing blue shadows across the soft white carpet.

We kept stopping at little towns, but there were no stop names or anything. We had no idea how long the journey was supposed to take so started craning our necks at each place, trying to see if we could actually see Trakošćan Castle from the bus so we’d know when to get off. We’ve missed stops before – like in Kuala Selangor, Malaysia, and a few weeks ago as our train shot past Bratislava, Slovakia – and hoped to avoid a mistake that could cost us the castle experience.

We needn’t have worried; as the driver expertly maneuvered the large vehicle over slushy roads, we came upon a straightaway and he told us to get off here. Masayo and I hopped off (into deep banks of snow on the side of the road), and there above us, high on a hilltop, hidden behind some trees but standing bold against the sunny blue sky, there it was: Trakošćan Castle.

At Trakošćan Castle

We didn’t run immediately up to Trakošćan (“track oash chan”) Castle, though: I stopped off to make a snow angel first. This was fun when I was six years old, and it still is. The snow stuck to my flannel shirt, but not the Bluff Works pants. These things are great in all kinds of situations. The snow angel looked pretty good too, if I say so myself.

The path up to the castle is a steep, curvy trail under large fir trees; the snow was especially thick here but it wasn’t too hard to climb. There were few people around and it was quite cold – but quiet and peaceful. The sun would blaze through the occasional opening in the boughs above us.

Even more amazing was the view when we came to one bend and looked down to the valley behind the castle at a large lake. It was totally frozen over, and had a mystical kind of turquoise-white quality to it – opaque, but sort of translucent, somehow. It was arguably the most gorgeous sight we’ve experienced on this trip as yet. I stood gawking, mesmerized and dreaming.

At the top of the hill we entered the small castle grounds and paid the admission – I was impressed that on a cold and seasonal day like today they were open. The audio tour wasn’t working today unfortunately, so Masayo and I wandered the rooms at random and without full context.

Trakošćan Castle dates from the 1300s, though there has been extensive restoration done since the 1800s. It’s mostly a museum now, and an especially good one. The displays and the objects give an excellent insight into castle life from centuries past and the complicated history of the area.

Furniture, big and sturdy, showed the privileged life that the castle’s inhabitants enjoyed, as did the items like games and books that suggested they had ample leisure time. The rooms were numerous and spacious; there was even a gallery of paintings that the more artistically-inclined dwellers made.

Our entire time inside the castle, we only saw maybe a half dozen other tourists. Traveling in the off-season: the only way to go.

Afterwards we hiked down the hill to the lake outside; it seemed small enough to walk around and looked like a stunning walk. We started our circumnavigation, following a wide path that must be for vehicles in warmer weather, until we went around a bend and out of the castle’s view. There was little sound – just the occasional soft crash as the sun melted the branches around us and caused heaps of snow to hit the ground.

On this path I checked my blood sugar for the first time since breakfast; it was exactly the same as it was 24 hours ago, 198. I took a Humalog shot, crouching in the snow, enough to also have a snack, a chocolate bar with the unlikely name Corny Big.

By now it had become apparent that the small-looking lake was actually far too big to walk around – channels and arms shot out in multiple directions and we could see no way to do it within a reasonable amount of time. (A later check of a map confirmed that it was a much undertaking than we thought.)

So we wandered back to the castle and back down the other side of its hill to the tourist center, where we double-checked the 4:30 bus back and went to rest in the little attached cafe.

I liked this place a lot; it was styled like an old mead hall, just a big rectangular room with tables lining the sides. We ordered fruit tea; there were still two hours to go until the bus left. I wandered around outside a little while Masayo stayed and recuperated from the cold exertions of Trakošćan Castle.

Eventually it was time to head back – or at least go wait at the bus stop. It was dusk and much colder now, and the tourist facilities were all closed. There were very few streetlights, and we stood in the bus stop surrounded by deep snow on the side of the road with another lone tourist. And it was only the three of us; the occasional car would pass by but otherwise we just shivered in the lonely, cold blue of the darkening mountain afternoon.

Fortunately the bus came, more or less on time, and we climbed on and paid the driver. The sunshine had been melting the snow all day and I was worried that the water would now be re-frozen into ice under the bus’s tired. As Masayo slept in her seat I nervously watched the roads and tried to detect any sliding from side to side.

And there was some on the occasional turn, but the driver handled it safely. Eventually the roads got bigger, lower, and drier, and I started to relax.

In Varaždin once again

Back in Varaždin we walked back to the hotel, noticing an outdoor skating rink on the way but opting not to do any skating ourselves; our skating in Bratislava and in Zagreb was enough for now.

Masayo didn’t want to go back out for dinner so I went out by myself, trooping through the cold, slushy snow along the dark roads, to a nearby kebab shop.

The guy there spoke English and we chatted. He asked me how “the situation” in the United States was and I said I didn’t know because I live in Japan. He asked about the quality of life there – it’s good, I answered.

He gave me the cheeseburger and kebab pita I ordered and I trudged over to a supermarket to get the rest of dinner: chips, chocolate milk, and a beer for me.

Back in the room we ate our fast food and watched the movie Koyaanisqatsi, the impressionistic and visually spellbinding comment on nature and modern life. Masayo had never seen it and I hadn’t seen it in years.

This was a tough meal to figure out blood sugar for, and three hours later I was up to 229. Not too terrible; a month ago I probably would have been way over 300 so it’s still getting better.

Diabetics have to detect minute pieces of optimism in their lives and try to build on them.

So, needing some corrective Humalog anyway, I took a few extra units and had some more chocolate milk and potato chips. This is the sort of high-wire act that can either wreck overnight blood sugar or work out fine. I’d find out in the morning.

Our day trip to majestic Trakošćan Castle was yet another highlight of the trip – Croatia has been especially nice to us so far. Finding our own way there by asking around and using our heads made it even better. The beauty of the weather and the wintery scenery around the castle propelled the day into legendary status.

We’ll leave Varaždin, and the snow, behind tomorrow and head for the coast, probably still reflecting on the stunning experience of today.

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