The Most Popular Tourist Attraction in Croatia

PLITVICE LAKES – A BRIEF HISTORY

The Plitvice Lakes had become a major tourist attraction in the late 19th century. The first hotel was built there in 1896, and as early as 1893 it already had a conservation committee – the predecessor of today’s national park authority. In 1949 the communist government of Yugoslavia nationalized the lakes and made them a national park. The park was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979 in recognition of its “outstanding natural beauty, and the undisturbed production of travertine (tuff) through chemical and biological action”.

The park soon became one of Yugoslavia’s most popular tourist attractions. However, in March 1991 it became the scene of the Plitvice Lakes incident – the first armed confrontation of the Croatian War of Independence that resulted in fatalities. The park was held by forces of the Republic of Serbian Krajina during the conflict and suffered some damage in the process, with hotels and other facilities being used as barracks. At auto-camp Grabovac there were civilian deaths (three children) from a Yugoslav Army shell in September 1991[4]. It was retaken by the Croatian Army in August 1995 during Operation Storm, which ended the Croatian war.

All of the Croatian people I have met through my years have always talked about the natural beauty of their homeland. I always nodded in agreement because it struck me that most people shared the same sentiment, regardless of their origin. This says to me, that natural beauty and splendor are everywhere. Our planet is a wonderful place and there are countless gems like the Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia, for us to appreciate and preserve.

The Plitvice Lakes National Park was granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 1979. The beauty of the National Park lies in its sixteen lakes, inter-connected by a series of waterfalls, and set in deep woodland populated by deer, bears, wolves, boars and rare bird species

The National Park covers a total area of 300 square kilometers (116 sq. miles), whilst the lakes join together over a distance of eight kilometers (5 miles).

The sixteen lakes are separated into an upper and lower cluster formed by runoff from the mountains, descending from an altitude of 636 meters (2,087 ft) to 503 meters (1,650 feet) over a distance of some eight km (5 miles), aligned in a south-north direction. The lakes collectively cover an area of about two square km, with the water exiting from the lowest lake to form the Korana River.

The lakes are renowned for their distinctive colours, ranging from azure to green, grey or blue. The colours change constantly depending on the quantity of minerals or organisms in the water and the angle of sunlight.

There’s also quite an altitude difference – the highest point is at 1,280 meters (4,200 ft), the lowest at 380 meters (1,247 ft) – although the total height difference between the lakes themselves is only 135 meters (443 ft). Veliki Slap is the largest waterfall, at 70 meters (230 ft) tall.

Sachin Tendulkar's major achievements

A timeline of master blaster Sachin Tendulkar's major achievements in a career spanning over two decades so far.

1989: A 16-year-old Tendulkar makes his Test debut against Pakistan under Kris Srikkanth and scores two half-centuries in six innings.

1990: Tendulkar nocthes up his maiden Test century (119 not out) against England at Old Trafford.

1993: Scores his first Test century (165) in India at Chennai during the home series against England.

1994: Scores his first ODI hundred in his 79th match during the Singer Cup against Australia at Colombo.

1996: Piles up 523 runs, including two centuries, in the World Cup hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Takes over the captaincy from Mohammad Azharuddin the same year after India's tour of England and leads India to victory over Australia in the one-off Test at Delhi which was followed by a Test series win over South Africa at home. India also win the Titan Cup by beating Australia and South Africa under his captaincy.

1997: Leads India to a 4-1 victory over Pakistan at Toronto in the second edition of the Sahara Cup. Also wins the Wisden cricketer of the year award.

1998: Scores an unbeaten 155 against Australia during the third Test at Chennai and helps India to a massive 179-run victory.

2001: Becomes the first batsman in the history of ODI cricket to score 10,000 runs. Completes his 100 wickets in ODIs

2002: Equals Sir Donald Bradman's record of 29 Test Centuries by scoring 117 vs West Indies at Port-of-Spain. In his 99th Test appearance, surpasses Bradman's record of 29 centuries scoring 193, against England at Headingly, Leeds.

2003: Makes 673 runs in 11 matches in the ICC World Cup –- most by any batsman in a single World Cup and wins the player of the tournament award.

2004: Equals Sunil Gavaskar's world record 34 Test centuries. Becomes only the third player in history, after Gary Kirsten and Steve Waugh, to score centuries against all Test playing nations. Also becomes the first player in ODI history to win 50 Man of the Match awards.

2005: Completes 10,000 runs in Test cricket in his 122nd match.

2006: Sets a new world record by completing 14,000 one-day runs. Scores his 40th ODI century at Kuala Lumpur against the West indies during a tri-series competition also including Australia.

2007: Plays his 400th one-day international.

2008: During the CB series involving Australia, India and Sri Lanka, Tendulkar becomes the first batsman to go past 16,000 runs in ODIs. Surpassing Brian Lara's tally of 11953 runs to become the highest run-scorer in Test cricket.

2009: Becomes the first batsman to aggregate 17,000 ODI runs during his innings of 175 against Australia at Hyderabad.

2010: Becomes the first batsman to score an ODI double-century before becoming the most capped player in Test cricket, surpassing Steve Waugh's tally of 168 Tests.

2011: Becomes the most capped player in ODIs with the World Cup opening game against Bangladesh, surpassing Sanath Jayasuriya's tally of 444 matches.

2011: Plays a big role in India's World Cup triumph. He was the highest run-getter for India with 482 runs.

2012: Scores his 100th international century in the Asia Cup match against Bangladesh. He scored 114.

Self Management

ou are responsible for everything that happens in your life. Learn to accept total responsibility for yourself. If you do not manage yourself, then you are letting others have control of your Life. These tips will help "you" manage "you."

Here is a list of things that help you in self management and which will in turn lead you to the path of success: -

-) Look at every new opportunity as an exciting and new-life experience.

-) Be a professional who exhibits self-confidence and self-assurance in your potential to complete any task.

-) Agree with yourself in advance that you will have a good attitude toward the upcoming task.

-) Frequently ask, "Is what I am doing right now moving me toward my goals?"

-) Do it right the first time and you will not have to take time later to fix it.

-) Accept responsibility for your job successes and failures. Do not look for a scapegoat.

-) Do not view things you do as a "job." View all activities as a challenge.

-) Use your subconscious mind by telling it to do what you do want. Instead of telling yourself, "I can't do that very well," say, "I can do this very well."-) Give yourself points for completing tasks on your "to-do" list in priority order. When you reach 10 points, reward yourself.

-) Practice your personal beliefs. It may be helpful each morning to take 15 minutes to gather your thoughts and say a prayer.

-) Make a commitment to show someone a specific accomplishment on a certain date. The added urgency will help you feel motivated to have it done.

-) Practice self-determination, wanting to do it for yourself.

-) Believe that you can be what you want to be.

-) Never criticize yourself as having a weakness. There is no such thing. You are only talking about a present undeveloped skill or part of yourself that if you so chose, you can change. You do not have any weakness, only untapped potential.

-) Be pleasant all the time-no matter what the situation.

-) Challenge yourself to do things differently than you have in the past. It provides new ideas and keeps you interested.

-) Talk to yourself. A self-talk using positive affirmation is something that is common among all great achievers. They convince themselves that they can accomplish their goals.

-) Create your own "motivation board" by putting up notes of things you need to do on a bulletin board or special wall space. It is an easily visible way to see what you need to work on. When an item is done, remove the note. Also keep your goals listed and pictured on your board.

-) Stay interested in what you are doing. Keep looking for what is interesting in your work. Change your perspective and look at it as someone outside your job would,

-) Establish personal incentives and rewards to help maintain your own high enthusiasm and performance level.