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Published: March 26th 2010
Once again, apologies for the delay in our blogging adventures, but as we're now in Thailand Nemo is too hot and busy to do anything. So we still have the rest of Italy to update you on but in the interim we're going to skip forward a couple of weeks and I'll update you on the Croatia chapter.
The ferry to Split from Ancona is an overnight trip, leaving Ancona at 8.30pm and arriving in Split at 7am. You can choose from a whole bunch of accommodation options (dorm room, single room, inside shower, shared WC and so on). As usual we went for the cheapest option: 'airline seats'. Usually €46 per person, I found a special for them that was €20 each - for all the way across the Adriatic! On the top level, there are rows of reclining airline style seats that you can sleep in, however we only found one person that actually set up camp in them - people were settling down for the night all over the boat, on couches, chairs, floors and so on. We decided to ensure a good night's sleep by making our first stop the bar, with a couple of bourbon
Arrr! There Be The Ferry!
Ancona, The Marche, Italyand cokes the number one priority.
We sat around on the extremely nice lounge chairs, reading books and watching movies on the laptop and then we were hungry and went in search of the restaurant. One look at the prices on the menu sent us straight back to the bar, where a couple of ham and cheese rolls were to be our dinner for the evening. Fairly sure that when we get home, we'll be off the ham and cheese sandwiches for several months at least. Don't care if it's iberian jamon, prosciutto, jambon cru or any other fine pig related product. Except for bacon... delicious sweet bacon... We started to ready ourselves for bed, but typically the couch we chose to crash out on was the one that we got kicked off of at midnight. Oh well, we traipsed upstairs to the airline seats, and as there was no one there, we spread the sleeping bags out on the floor and fell asleep quickly.
As we'd set the alarm we woke up at 6.30am, and went straight out onto the deck to get our first glimpse of Croatia. Dozens of small islands were all around us as
Gregorius Of Nim & Fishy
Split, Dalmatia, Croatia we slowly made our way into Split at dawn, and compared to what we'd seen all through the rest of Europe the countryside was so wild and free of lights. The ferry docked into Split and we chugged off with all the other punters, through customs and out into the wide world once again. And typically, just as we were about to start off into town to look for accommodation, it started to rain.
We had been expecting heaps of old ladies at the dock selling rooms, but there was only one and her price wasn't right so we waited for the rain to stop and then made a break for it. We walked all of the 300 metres to the Riva (sea side esplanade street thing), plonked down on a bench and proceeded to take turns running around the town and trying to find somewhere to stay.
An hour later we were still no further ahead.
And we were hungry.
And the Fish was getting cranky.
And the tourist office was closed.
And all the hostels were full due to a huge French group in town.
We were getting followed around by
a few oldies, trying to sell us a room and apparently this is the way to go in Croatia. Sadly all their prices were exorbitant though, so we had to keep saying no - it's low season anyway! It's meant to be a bargain! As always seems to happen, miracle of miracles, I stumbled on a hostel that was full but had a random studio apartment in town that was clean, had a bathroom and a washing machine and was just the right price. The whole time we were in Croatia, we were paying 200 Kuna per night for our accommodation - about $40 Aussie. Hooray! So by 9am we were sorted, had dropped our stuff off and were ready to hit the town. Well, first I had a cat nap, but then I was ready to hit the town!
As in most towns we'd been to, we made a beeline for the markets and I have to say that these were some of the best markets we'd seen in Europe so far. There were a few touristy shops but on the most part they were local markets full of fresh winter produce, clothes, flowers, bakeries and delis. It
was noisy, colourful and had a brilliant energy so we stopped and had a beer at a little cafe in the middle of the markets and just watched the people going on about their business. Just next to us there was a woman with a knife sharpening stall and copper pots and pans (a tinker!), old ladies selling walnuts, dried figs and prunes and other ladies selling pots of honey and lavender sachets.
We followed the markets, through the flower stalls and down to the waterfront where we strolled up and down... and up and down... and then up and down again. It's a lovely waterfront and the sun was shining, buskers were singing and we were already decided that Croatia might just be a really awesome place to be. The sun set as we strolled around the harbour side and the entire bay looked like it was filled with liquid gold. We ended the night with some shopping at the local supermarket buying supplies (wine and food), went home and cooked some dinner, drank some wine and crashed out ready to explore some more the next day.
Croatia was to be our (almost) last destination in
Europe, so it was time to start ridding ourselves of all the excess baggage that we wouldn't need in Thailand. On the most part our warm clothes were getting past their used by date. We had 2 sets of everything - jeans and jumpers and such, and so most of it was set for the rubbish pile after countless washes in industrial machines. Nonetheless there were some things that we wanted to keep and so we decided to send a package home. The chargers to all the stuff that was stolen, the speakers to the iPods we no longer had, my winter boots - it all needed to be posted off. So first thing in the morning (which was probably about 11 to be realistic) we headed to the post office. What was potentially going to be a traumatising experience turned out to be a total selling point on Croatia.
Most Croatians that we met during our time there spoke at least some English. The post office staff were no exception, but their language was anything but fluent. No matter - 2 staff were dedicated to the puzzle of how to send a package to Australia. First: the cost.
We asked for the cheapest option, which is 3 months sea snail mail. 368 Kuna. Cool. Then we had to buy the box to post it in. Sweet - cheap and cheerful. Then we had to figure out how to put the box together, which the guys also helped us with. Before we knew it, we were done and dusted, packaged and posted and had so much help from the staff there that we were both a little in love with Croatians in general. And as a side note - the package took not 3 months but 10 days to get home!
It was raining so we searched for indoor entertainment and headed to Diocletian's Palace - the underground remains of the old palace that dominated the inner city walls of Split. The walls are still mostly in tact, but the palace was a series of monstrous caverns underground and containing a few relics. Overall it was quite spooky and we roamed around for a bit and then headed back to the apartment and chilled out watching movies for the rest of the day and called it an early night.
After our restful previous day, we were keen
to head out and get a good day of exploring in. As there had been so much rain around, we didn't head to the national parks as we'd wanted to. We'd heard marvellous things about waterfalls and wild woods, but it would have meant being knee deep in mud, so sadly Krk was given a miss. Next time we're in Croatia though, it is definitely on the hit list.
To give ourselves a good start to the day we breakfasted on burek - a local pastry that is filled with either white cheese (a little similar to ricotta) or meat, and is usually eaten with some plain drinking yoghurt. While it was absolutely delicious, we had trouble getting through a portion each as it is so incredibly heavy. I can't say I'll be eating it again in a hurry, though maybe one piece shared would have been a better idea as it was really tasty. Then it was back to the markets to buy another umbrella. One small one wasn't cutting it with the frequent rain we were having and we no longer had the van to hide in. We strolled around town, heading to a second hand bookshop,
then another bookshop, used the internet and then bailed home as it was, once again, raining. An interesting thing to keep in mind about Split is that the lovely white marble that paves the streets is very pretty but horrifically slippery when it's wet as Nemo found out, much to the disappointment of his butt. Was our whole trip destined to be marred by torrential rain? Everywhere we went people were commenting that the rains were some of the heaviest that had been around for years. Brilliant timing on our part.
We read our books and drank local beer until the sun came out and it had dried up a little, and then went on a mission around the harbour to a tiny lighthouse where we had a spectacular view over the whole of Split. Feeling like we were finally onto a good thing, we headed off to a restaurant called Fife that had been recommended to us by one of the hostel staff. The food was awesome and very Croatian. I had a goulash and Nemo had a beef dish that was meat rolled with spices and then pan fried and served with gnocchi (more like Polish kopytka
actually). The food was delicious and the local wine was great as well so dinner was a complete success. Except for when we left and it had started raining. How is it that I was still surprised?
Next day was a go day, meaning that we were going somewhere! To be more precise, we were heading to Hvar, the biggest of Croatia's islands. Although we really wanted to check out some of the smaller islands, it was low season and everything was closed, from accommodation to attractions. So we spent the morning packing and sorting out our options for travel and a place to stay. After checking hostelworld, I found a place called Luka's Lodge and I gave Luka a call to see if he had some space for us. He said no problem and that he would meet our catamaran coming in. The cat wasn't leaving Split until 4pm, so we trundled over to the pier and set up camp in the sun, reading our books and feeling gloriously warm for a while.
The trip was short and sweet and Nemo slept most of the way while I looked out the window and read a bit more.
Water Like Mercury
Split, Dalmatia, Croatia Ironically, the fast catamaran is much cheaper than the slower ferry (22 Kuna versus 40 or so) and we got into Hvar town at 5-ish. True to his word, Luka was down at the dock waiting for us and he then set a cracking pace, leading us back to the lodge. He mentioned that he was actually closed at this time of year, but as we'd called him directly, he'd prepared a balcony room just for us. This is the essence of Luka which we were to discover over the next few days. The guy will do almost anything to guarantee that his guests have a good time, and his internet reviews all rave about him for good reason.
It turns out that it was Luka's birthday that day, so as we took our gear up to the room he invited us to come to dinner downstairs at his place that night for a celebration with some of his friends. So we settled in and cleaned ourselves up, checked out our balcony with the most magnificent sunset views over the bay, and then trundled down to the party.
It turned out to be a gathering of 8 of
The View South
Split, Dalmatia, Croatia us, and happily there was plenty of English spoken. Everyone was so welcoming and Luka immediately greeted us with some of his home made grappa. It was a heck of a lot more refined than a lot of the other home made hooch we'd been drinking, but he accidentally poured my glass really full, and I was pretty much drunk by the end of it! But if we thought the grappa was good, we were in for a huge treat when Luka brought out his wines. Wow. Double wow. After having spent the past few months travelling through the world's wine capitals we didn't expect something so heavenly just here in Croatia. His white wine was fruity and dry and had a little natural effervescence. His red wine was an absolute treasure - smooth and rich and really flavourful. I'd love to be able to bring a few bottles home with me.
We feasted that night - a treat after countless van meals. All the food was so soulful - starting with a filo pastry dish with white cheese. This was so light and fluffy compared to the burek we'd had recently. Then there was salad, potatoes and roast
lamb for the main course. Everything was cooked with Luka's home made olive oil, which we sampled drizzled over bread. And lastly, dessert was a phenomenal home made baklava. See, the chef for the evening was a friend of Luka's from Bosnia who was cooking foods typical of her region which results in a mixture of Mediterranean, Slavic and Turkish. The baklava was sweet and filled with walnuts. We were smitten, and mentioned as much. This got us an invitation for breakfast in the morning.
The next day we trotted downstairs to Luka's where we were greeted with strong, thick Turkish coffee and some of the leftover baklava. It was a breakfast made in heaven and we were really enjoying the new flavours - so different from the ones we'd recently been eating. As it was raining, we hung out in our room for a bit and caught up on some blogs, skyping and other such admin. Eventually it was dry enough to venture out and so we bolted into town to the supermarket for groceries. We managed to get ingredients for pasta, and after getting lost in the tiny town we headed back to our room, cooked food
and killed time while the downpour continued. Sadly, it continued well into the night. And into the next day.
Luka was mortified at the fact that we couldn't see or do much due to the weather, and so the next day he took us with him over the other side of the island where he had a dentist appointment in Stari Grad. We walked around this gorgeous little fishing town for a couple of hours, and watched the tide rise to alarmingly high levels where it actually began to seep over the edge of the marina. It was still drizzly and so we could only imagine the shades of turquoise that the clear water would take on if the sun was out.
We met up with Luka after his appointment and he took us out on an adventure along the scenic road in the north west of the island. Starting with the village of Jelsa, we wandered around for a bit and then jumped back in the van and moved on the next village, Vrboska. Quaint, small and filled with men standing out the front of bars and drinking beer, these places were gorgeous and would undoubtedly be
full in summer but had no more than a quiet buzz about them in February.
Luka showed us around some of the traditional outdoor ovens (like a pizza oven) and then drove us out to the middle of nowhere where he has his family lavender plantation. This was an absolutely incredible treat - we hiked up to a vantage point where we could see down the terraces of the acres of lavender plants that were just starting to come into bloom. Luka told us about growing up and harvesting the flowers and how they convert them into pure lavender oil. There was even a shelter, built out of stone by Luka's great grandfather, where they would hide if it rained when they were harvesting. It was a magical experience and was followed by a visit to Luka's olive grove. We wandered around the trees which had recently been pruned back and were still hand harvested. Finally there was a quick trip to Luka's family home in Brusje. It was a really beautiful experience, and gave us a great insight into the lives of the locals.
Happily, the sun had started to peek out at this point, and as
Luka dropped us back home we bolted for town to have a more fruitful walk around in the sun. There is a coastal walk that goes for a few kilometres to the north and we wandered along enjoying the serenity of the empty resorts. The sun was soft and the colours were vivid and it was a spectacular afternoon of strolling around and appreciating the natural beauty of the island. We topped this off with a glass of wine on the balcony while watching the sunset, and began to consider that Croatia might just be top of the pops.
Luka again invited us to dinner where we had roast chicken, potatoes and onions and salad, accompanied by more of Luka's wine. He decided to give us a degustation of liqueurs, among which was a 25 year old dessert wine that his parent's had made and he had recently unearthed. Back then the wines were aged in old barrels, which occasionally would get a bit stinky, so they would wash them out with sea water. This gave the wine a really interesting but subtle salt flavour and we really loved the chance to try it.
With all of this
The Little Markets
Split, Dalmatia, Croatia preservative free wine, we were waking up feeling fresh as daisies, and we were up the next morning ready to head off to Luka's Bay House (another property that he rents out) to help him out with a couple of chores and see yet another part of Hvar. We took a gigantic frozen fish with us to defrost in the sea water near the house, and which was my squeamish responsibility to check on and change the water. Nemo helped Luka pump some water from one reservoir to another and then, leaving Luka to some other chores we hiked back to Hvar town. It was a lovely hilly walk, and we were surrounded by busy bees buzzing around the blooming rosemary and lavender bushes. It took about an hour until we got back to Hvar and ventured up to see the mid 16th century Spanjola Fortress that looms over the town. Even though it was closed, we had incredible views over the cathedral (13-18th century), theatre and town hall.
As it was our last night in Hvar, Luka had organised for his cousin to cook the fish I'd dutifully defrosted in a traditional local style - stewed with tomato
and onion and served with polenta. It was a lovely night with lots of red wine, and we finished up, packed our bags and went to bed ready for an early start the next day.
We woke up at 6.30 so we could make it down to the 7.30 ferry back to Split. In the summer, we could easily have made it to Dubrovnik by ferry but in low season it was easiest for us to go back to Split by catamaran and get the bus. Luka had recommended a mate of his named Nikola who ran a hostel in Dubrovnik for us to stay with, so we gave him a call to make arrangements while we waited for our bus. Finally, at 10am, we were off.
The drive down the west coast of Croatia is stunning - cliffs that slide into the aqua waters of the Adriatic and loads of islands dotted all around. We ate the chocolate and rolls that I'd bought for the trip and sat back in the air conditioning that was only just working and enjoyed the scenery passing by. I'd been warned that we needed our passports on hand, as the route
the bus takes briefly goes through Bosnia. Awesome, thought we, more stamps! Sadly, this was not the case - we went through border control where our passports were checked, got out at a rest stop to eat, pee, smoke and so on, got back in the bus, back through border control and back to Croatia. No stamps. Still, it was a novel experience and the countryside in Bosnia was really pretty. Which was fortunate as by this stage the bus was about 160 degrees and we were cooking alive.
Just as it all almost got to be too much, we got to Dubrovnik soon after 2pm and Nikola met us at the bus depot and whisked us off to his place. It was another really nice, neat and clean hostel, but it was about a 40 minute walk from town, and a 10 minute vertical hike back to the hostel from the supermarket. It did however have gorgeous views over the harbour from the kitchen balcony. But Nikola said that part of the service is that he will drive you to and from town at any time, day or night. Now that's customer service. So we took him up
on his offer and got a ride into the old town part of Dubrovnik, where we swanned around just checking out what there was to see. We had a couple of beers and watched the sun set over the city and then called Nikola to come and pick us up. He kindly took us to the supermarket where I bought everything we needed for some salad and we got home, ate salad and proceeded to chill out for the evening.
The next day was yet another wet one, so we kept our exploring to a dull roar, heading to the supermarket, sending postcards, blogging and watching Top Gear courtesy of the free wi-fi, while a phenomenal lightening storm pulverised the sky. Seriously - the sky was purple for most of the night. It was so impressive and we were delighted that we weren't out in it.
Croatia came through with the goods once again on the 27th though, with clear blue skies and t-shirt temperatures. Nikola drove us into town and we proceeded to do as much of the touristy stuff as was open. We started off with a coffee and then hit the town walls. Dubrovnik's old
town is completely surrounded by the medieval town walls and you can walk along the ramparts. Many of these took a battering during the war, but they were still standing and are a magnificent way to see the town and nearby coast. It was quite expensive, but totally a must do on a nice day.
Next up we headed to the pharmacy - apparently the 3rd oldest continually running pharmacy in the world. A random guy was standing nearby and opened the place up especially for us, and then only charged us half price for our entry! Happy days I say. It was also really worth seeing - there were old medicine bottles, scales and other tools on display as well as some religious icons that were also worth checking out.
We then wanted to see the old synagogue (closed) and the inside of the churches (also closed) so we went to the supermarket and bought some ham and cheese rolls and cherry pastries then sat in the sun, eating lunch and feeding the birds and having a nanna lie down on the benches. As much as we adored the old town, it takes about half a day
Another Classic Hvar Shot
Stari Grad, Hvar, Croatia to see everything there is to see when it's low season, so after strolling about for a bit longer we decided to walk home and not bother Nikola, especially as we were enjoying the sunshine so much. After a shower and change, we headed out for dinner to a place called Belvedere, which Nikola had recommended. We'd been walking there already, but Nemo called Nikola to confirm that it was definitely the place that he had suggested earlier. Not accepting that we were nearly there and could easily walk, Nikola jumped in his car, picked us up, drove us a block to the restaurant and organised with the waiter for him to call and organise our pick up when we were done. Nothing we said would change his mind. We feasted that night on truffle ravioli (truffles are a big thing in Croatia and they produce them) and quatro formaggio pasta with white wine and salad. The meal was divine and we thanked Nikola profusely for his recommendation and fell happily into bed.
Next day was yet another go-day. We packed our stuff, got our internet stuff done and met Nikola at 2.30pm, ready for our scenic transfer to
Boats: Bored
Stari Grad, Hvar, Croatia the airport. He drove us to a view point high up above Dubrovnik town, and with views not only over the whole of the old town and surrounding islands, but all the way to Bosnia and Montenegro! Wicked! What was even more wicked was the drive up there, where I was sure that we would go off the edge of the cliff at regular intervals. We got to the airport in one piece, and Nikola gave us some unexpected gifts. We couldn't believe it - I got a crocheted tablecloth and Nemo got not one but two bottles of hooch. One was a sweet and quite nice fortified wine type drink, and the other was a spirit that may have been capable of peeling paint. Nonetheless we were extremely surprised and grateful, and we packed our bags with the booze and headed over to the airport and onto our very uneventful but delightfully comfortable BA flight to London.
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