The Balkans part 4: Croatia – A Natural Gem

ZAGREB & PLITVICE LAKES

We arrived in Zagreb early in the morning after a hideously early start in London. We weren’t joining the group until the evening so we wandered around the city. Quite nice old part of the city but we did discover that very little is open on a Sunday. As a citizen I quite like the idea of that but as a tourist it does suck a bit. But I am there for only one Sunday so I can’t say much.

The Lakes are quite spectacular – on a good day. When it is pissing down and freezing cold they are not much chop. Such a shame that this natural gem enters the same vault as Fiji and Ireland as being holidays that were not great. At least the Lakes were only one day and the rest of the tour was just fine.

SPLIT & TROGIR

We headed to the coast for the first time to a city called Split. It was an old Roman settlement on the Adriatic Sea and much of the Palace of Diocletian was still there. It was not actually a Palace as it turns out, more of a retirement home for the last pagan emperor of Rome and was pretty impressive to be honest. When the Romans left the locals just moved in and converted the original rooms into houses. I did wonder how title would have worked there. Was it first in best dressed? Was there a hierarchy?

When we stepped into the forum area I did have a moment of “Oh crap, Roman guards in little short skirts and swords, senators in togas and maybe even Constantine himself would have walked around here”. Pretty freaky to think. The old part of the city was pretty cool and to think that there have been 19 changes of ownership in a couple of hundred years with mainly the Venetian and Austrian architecture remaining (apart from the Palace).

Being on the Adriatic I just had to have a swim. There are no waves so it is more like a Balmoral than a Mona Vale but it was still ok. It was great to be in shorts and T-Shirt as well as feeling the sea water all over me again.

Next to Split is the old town of Trogir. Absolutely beautiful. It would have been nice to have come up by boat and pass all of the seaside towns but walking around here was just fine too. Had a coffee that blew my head off. They just offer little shots with minimal milk. I am struggling big time.

KOTOR TO DUBROVNIK VIA KONAVLE VALLEY

On the way to Dubrovnik we stopped in at a little farm where we “helped” pick some veges and “helped” with the cooking of lunch. This place was my kind of heaven. It was a slightly larger scale of what I had imagined if I bought a property up north – massive vege patch, chooks, fruit trees. All of the food we had was from the farm or at least from the village. There was a real old world feel about it. I came out of drinking retirement for a glass of their home made wine. It just seemed the right kind of setting and vibe for a drink.

Dubrovnik is a Croatian city that up until recently was cut off from the rest of Croatia. The reason is that the free state of Dubrovnik gave some land to the Ottomans in what is now Bosnia in a way to protect itself from the Austrians. Eventually Dubrovnik became part of Croatia despite no land link to the rest of the country. Today there is an impressive bridge connecting the 2. There’s Europe for you. The greed and the turmoil resulting in some very odd situations.

As walled cities go the one in Dubrovnik is very impressive. The wall is complete and stretches for about 2km and it offers magnificent views down to the city inside them as well as the surrounding coastline and nearby islands. It’s quite amazing to realise that people still live inside the city. There was one lady sitting at her open window just watching her part of the world go by. On the walk around the wall you would occasionally see into someone’s lounge room or get a clear view of their washing out on the line.

Sadly, during the 1992-95 war the aggressors decided to shell the old city. I enquired if there was a military strategic reason for the shelling but it appears there was none other than to break the spirit. The sad bit is that Croatia is a Christian country. It was simply something they could do and they cared not for the history they were destroying let alone the lives. As with Sarajevo there were scars of the attach in the city. Fortunately enough they have been repaired and the glory of the city remains.

Being on the coast we just had to have a swim. We decided to take an all day boat trip visiting 3 islands. Had a swim at the first one, a nice little fishing village. The second island was even sleepier and we managed to get a half decent coffee with a 5 star view up the bay to the Adriatic Sea. Quietness. Coffee. The sea. The simple. I was in paradise. The final island was the larger and we caught a golf cart over to the other side to a gorgeous beach. Had to pay Euro25 for 2 deck chairs and an umbrella but was well worth it. Managed a few swims there despite the lack of waves. It was really a magic part of the world.

The Balkans are beautiful but also very tortured. The setting on the Adriatic is magic, the islands were striking and the architecture was impressive. Most of the people were so friendly but there were times when they got a bit brash but you get that in every country.

Then there’s the history. Always controlled by a foreign power, always under pressure from outsiders, religion changes depending on the current ruling powers. And then there was the turmoil and assassination that was the trigger to WW1. And then the incredibly tragic 1992-95 war. How could something so tragic take place so soon after WW2. But I still believe the saddest part is the lack of optimism about the future of Bosnia. There is a not lot of confidence that the ethnic/religious disagreement is over. The Serb part of Bosnia appears very nationalistic and could well be looking for the “right” person to lead them again. The fact that there are 3 leaders in Bosnia (Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim) that rule for 8 months at a time. Clearly there is no agreement regarding living together.