Come along to Croatia

Today’s update on Croatia features something new and different – partial support from a guest writer who is sharing the red clogs. With all good intentions, I had planned to write brief posts from each country that we are visiting on our Around the World in 86 days adventure. And just like that – I’m now 3 countries behind.  So with full rights to his content, I am leveraging a bit of my husband’s weekly email updates to his Men’s Coffee Group so that I can attempt to catch up!

Croatia had been on my radar for quite some time given my Viennese grandparents honeymooned in Dubrovnik about 100 years ago. And when I finally found myself there a few weeks ago, travelling on the road from Zagreb to Rovinj via Opatija (a vacation spot for Austrian Kaiser Franz Josef), I realized that I HAD actually been there before! Except at that time – the mid 1980’s – it was called Yugoslavia.

During our 12 days in the country, we drove about 650 miles from Zagreb in the north to Dubrovnik on the Dalmatian Coast, and also ventured into Bosnia.  It’s hard to sum up it all up because each destination was radically different (in part based on how many tourists we encountered.)  Croatia is one of the top travel destinations in the world at the moment. We saw undeniable evidence of this in Split and Dubrovnik and the Plitvice Lakes national park. But in Rovinj, Zagreb, Zadar, and Mostar, it was a very different story.

Here are some highlights:

Rovinj is a quaint old town on a small peninsula jutting out into the Adriatic Sea. The locals we encountered were genuine, friendly, and actually seemed to be from there, typically for many generations. We stayed in a centuries-old building, cleverly converted to a boutique hotel, while maintaining the beautiful stone walls. The old town is pedestrian-traffic only and you can quickly lose yourself on the narrow cobblestone streets which wind their way up to the cathedral at the highest point. Slivovitz (local plum brandy) tasting helps with the ascent! The views are picture-perfect and shops featured crafts from local artists (as opposed to the Made in PRC tchotchkes we keep encountering!) For me, Alysa, reflecting back on nearly 2 weeks in Croatia , Rovinj was unexpectedly one of my favorite places in the country.

 Plitvice Lakes National Park required a 3+ hour inland drive on small and windy roads. It’s a UNESCO world heritage site with unique geology that has created thousands of lakes, pools and waterfalls which flow artfully over tufa dams and travertine.

The park has gentle raised pathways winding around the many levels to explore the breathtaking falls. It was literally a walk in the park – a full day of it! So nice to have a peaceful day in nature and rack up close to 10 miles of walking amidst the rush of water and stunning green pools.

Split – A charming seaport city with a lively waterfront promenade. The real attraction is the Old Town, which was actually the retirement palace and fort of the Roman leader Diocletian, built in the year 305. As it is yet another UNESCO site, this area has been wonderfully preserved and restored. It was built with reclaimed stone and features fabulous pillars and statues looted from Egypt that are between 2000-3,000 years old.. We climbed over 300 steps to the Marjan hill vista spot where we also found a 400 year old Jewish cemetery. We also took a boat trip to BraÄ, one of 1244 islands in Croatia. But the best part was the gelato at Emiliano’s. This became a twice daily affair. My favorite flavors were peach rose and salted peanut but the dark chocolate with sea salt was a strong contender.

Mostar, Bosnia – With a completely different vibe than Croatia, this part of Bosnia feels like a communist country; it started immediately with the Bosnian border guards who barked their orders for documents at us very gruffly.  En route to Mostar, we wound our way through little towns that seemed forgotten from another time.  Once in Mostar, we walked to the main attraction, the Old Bridge (Stari Most), which divides the city into Muslim and Christian sides. The picturesque and historic bridge was heavily damaged during the Bosnian War and thankfully, lovingly rebuilt using the stones that fell into the river.  Today it is also a famous spot from which local divers jump into the river for a few coins.

The buildings and cobblestone streets in the old city and souk feel a bit like Morocco. In contrast, the “newer” city is a mix of modernish and ordinary buildings interspersed with destroyed, hollowed out or bullet-ridden hulks from the War. 

 I hadn’t expected much from Bosnian cuisine, so I was pleasantly surprised by delicious food which included Bey’s Broth (chicken okra soup good enough for a Bey or Sultan), fresh salad with soft white cheese and a very sizable grilled meat platter with decadent fried potatoes. The next morning I feasted on perfectly ripe green figs.

Dubrovnik – A masterpiece of an ancient walled port city, Dubrovnik was so well-designed, constructed and defensible that it was able to maintain its independence for over 500 years. After the devastating earthquake in 1667 it was restored but unfortunately then bombed mercilessly in the 1990’s Yugoslavian war. You can see the visual impact where 80% of the roof tiles had to be replaced and since they could no longer locate the original yellow color, they used the red tiles that are visible today.

With up to 7 cruise ships docking at Dubrovnik daily, tourists flood the ancient streets. This, combined with diehard Game of Thrones fans ensure that the place is always bustling. Yes, there’s a GoT museum and Tshirts galore. Yes, we saw the famous staircase from the Walk of Shame scene (right near our apartment). And yet the locals do a great job keeping up the smiles and friendliness. Our tour with a local whose family has lived in the walled city for over 300 years was a great way to hear the stories one misses by just walking around (and climbing the ancient city walls) with the masses.

Up next – we go to Greece and then it gets even more interesting. Stay tuned!