Croatia: land of sun and sea. The plan was to spend 5 days on my own on the mainland before boarding a boat that will sail the Dalmatian islands. The stoney faced natives are a beautiful tan people who sound like they are speaking Italian (musical lilt) with a strong Russian accent (hard consonants). Croatia is a long, thin country with mountains on the East and the Adriatic sea forming the long coastline. Most of the cities are perched on the thin strip of land between these two natural barriers, so you have good views of both at all times. According to my host in Split, his land is also blessed with 250 days of sun per year. I flew into Split, spent a day in Dubrovnik, and circled back around to Trogir where I met the rest of the boat crew and set sail.
Prepare yourself for a long post because I am in love with this country.
Split actually ended up being my favorite stop, despite the fact Dubrovnik and Trogir are unquestionably more beautiful cities. It is because of the people I met there. Let's start with Josco. Josko is the owner, host, chef, driver, Croatian encyclopedia, and tour guide extraordinare all in one person. He makes it his personal mission to ensure everybody walking through his hostel's doors is taken care of and treated like family. His reviews all attest to the fact that he is very very good at his job. Because of this, his hostel attracts other fun loving people, like Kathryn, whom he introduced me to within seconds of walking through the door. Another Texan, Kathryn and I enjoyed a lovely night on the town, after delicious Croatian food and bottle of wine, we join the crowd ringing the main square inside Diocletian's palace, drinking wine on the steps and singing along to the music of a guitarist late into the night. It was pretty perfect.
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| The harbor of Split |
The next morning, I set out to see the city by daylight. Diocletian's Palace contained many wonders, and has recently gained fame as a set for the Game of Thrones HBO series. Locals dressed as Romans in togas or armor walk around and pose with tourists. Tourists wander everywhere, taking pictures and forever eating ice cream.
The remains of this extravagant Roman palace are side by side with Mideval architecture and any gaps are filled in with modern buildings owned by the locals. The palace is built from white stone from the island of Brac, which reportedly is the same island that supplied stone for our White House in Washington D.C.
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| Men started singing in this round room with perfect acoustics. The Kalise may have also released her dragons here. |
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| Entrance to the temple of Jupiter Lions and Sphinxs were imported from other countries for the grand hall |
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| Views from the bell tower |
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| The famous statue of Gregorius of Nin. Make a wish while rubbing his toe for luck |
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| Views of Split from the bell tower. The park in the background was my next stop |
I then head to the huge park that Josko has advised me is a good hike and provides good views of the city. There are a few pebble beaches in the park, and cliffs you can jump off of into the sea. Beaches sounded boring. But I was on my own for the day so I packed a couple of books and some water and set out on the hike, thinking I would curl up somewhere with a good view of the sea. Instead, I ran into Arnaud shortly after starting the climb. We spent an enchanting and hot afternoon hiking all around that park, admiring the views, crystal clear water, and exchanging traveling notes like "Why don't the Croatian people ever smile?" At one point, I joined him swimming in some of the most beautiful water I have ever seen, even though I had to go in with shorts and a T-shirt because I was an idiot and didn't pack a swimsuit.
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| Views from the top of the park |
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| Some of the most beautiful water I have ever seen until I got to the islands |
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| Exploring Krka waterfalls |
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| Josko and Hana |
The next morning, after "Grandma" cooks us breakfast, Josko piles us into his car and we set out for Krka. I will describe this very cool National Park in the next post, but again, it was the people made this day a great one. Josko brought his daughter, Hana, along for the first time and she turned into our 5 year old mascot and adventure leader for the trip. She was bubbly, cute, talkative (as long as it was in Croatian) and eager to show Josko every inch of this national park she was visiting for the first time. If all kids like this, everybody would have 10 of them. Josko, for his part clearly dotes on his family and he had eyes only for Hana, which was really sweet to watch. The 7 of us walked the boardwalks, swam at the foot of the grand waterfall, laughed at each other as we wobbled across the slippery travertine barriers underwater, and wandered back into the forest to find more hidden falls and crystal clear pools. We had a blast. On the way home, Josko takes us by an old fort that also has been the backdrop for the Game of Thrones series. It offered splendid views of the city at sunset. We get back just in time for me to catch the bus to Dubrovnik.
It was an action packed two days!
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| Do you see the guy doing a swan dive? |
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| The fort by sunset |
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| Everything is Game of Thrones here |
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| Nick, Cornelia, Beatrix, Ross and Julie |
Will I ever see these people again? Unlikely. I could meet up with Kathryn again since she lives in Texas. But the rest will probably remain happy memories. To all of them, thanks for the adventures!
The next stop was Dubrovnik, the favorite stop for almost everyone else I have talked to who has visited the Croatian coastline. I only got to spend a day there. The walled city is almost entirely intact, and the marble streets are thronged with tourist 24-7 . . . truly. I arrived after 1 in the morning and there were still tourists everywhere when I went to bed at 3:00. A day later, when I woke up at 6AM to get pictures without the hords, they were already unloading from buses as the vendors set up their shops. And this apparently is better than peak season June - August! Dubrovnik was already a beautiful walled city, a Unesco Heritage site, a cruiseship stop, and a popular destination in for summer tourists. Now it is also the backdrop for Kings Landing in Game of Thrones and there are Game of Thrones tours everywhere. No wonder the city is exploding.
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Dubrovnik, unlike Split, has retained its oldworld construction, untainted by the modern buildings and clotheslines strung across the old city in Split. The streets are polished marble and you can walk all the way around the city just by climbing the city walls. All 3 cities that I visited, including Dubrovnik, were highly prized because of their proximity to key shipping lanes. For that reason there were many countries that claimed them in the last few centuries, including the city-state of the Venetians. The Northern Italians conveyed a lot of their culture with their rule, and you can eat traditional Croatian risotto and admire the Venician windows set into churches here. It makes for a beautiful destination.After catching another bus to Trogir, where I met my crewmates for the next week, I got to spend a day in the other Croatian National Park, Plitvicka. Suman and Sarah ended up being my companions on that tour - again, see the next post for more details.
Trogir was a pretty and walled city in a similar style to Dubrovnik, but much much smaller. It also seems to cater to a higher end tourist, perhaps because it is a popular jumping off point for the many sailing expeditions that cruise the islands along the coast. It is the reason I was there, and I found it to be charming. The mega-boats that rafted up at Trogir riverside on Friday night showcased how many sailors flow through this city every year.
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| Trogir Cathedral Entrance |
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| Views of Trogir from the bell tower |
Trogir is also the first stop (but certainly not the last) where I got to experience the gourmet culture here in Croatia. This country creates ham, gelato and wine like Italy, olives and seafood like Greece, and in general really knows how to cook a very good meal. I enjoyed a wine tasting there with another new friend, Margaret, at a lovely family run restaurant in my last night before getting on board for a tour of the islands.
At this point in the trip, I have spent 5 day in this country and am already in love. And this is without seeing the islands that everybody says are the best places to visit.
Next stop: the Dalmatian Islands
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