Advertisement
Published: August 6th 2009
Priceless Primosten
The pic says it all.We don't have regular internet so are relying on Internet Cafes every couple of days to keep our updates. Cheers
Our final morning in Dubrovnik, we walked the walls of the old town, something that can’t be missed for the views and historical perspective (do it early in the morning or in the evening light). We then set out for Split but we were not sure if we would make it there today. Some of the adventure of travel is finding new and wonderful places to stay. With a family of 5 and accommodation being relatively expensive and in short supply, this part of the adventure turned quite quickly into angst (not yet the Worry word) for us as we worked our way up the coast. The Bosnian Border was crossed twice as we traveled across this unique section of Bosnia that bisects Croatia down to the coast for about 10 kilometers. This is obviously the Bosnian opportunity to use the coast for recreation as well as the commercial seafood aquaculture industry that was prevalent in this area (both on the Bosnian and Croatian sides). The gun toting guards present an aura that is unnerving given the recent history in
Matt in Omis
Chilling outside the room. this area but as tourists in transit, it was a very matter-of-fact wave through at each border.
We ventured inland a bit to try and save some time on their new massive highway project. This would have been a great strategy had the highway been completed in this section and not still under construction. Our 1 ½ hour detour did allow us to see some of the interior part of the country including a couple of very fertile valleys (much of the rest of the country we had seen coming up from Dubrovnik away from the coast was quite desolate and sparsely inhabited). We also got to travel on the new toll section of the highway for 45 minutes and the European drivers were passing us doing 180 while my conscience struggled to keep my speed up above 150 (conscience and ego were battling it out there). We left the highway and descended towards to town of Brela which we had been told was quite special. What we hadn’t been told was that the cheapest room we could get in this European destination place was $200 Euros a night (that is $370 CA). This was not really within our
Blue Lake
1000 ft cliffs down into Blue Lake in Imotski budget. We also noted, as we were driving out, that the beach had 30 cm of room between each person’s towel and the kids were not really interested in smelling their neighbours arm pits while sunbathing (Courtney’s quote). Having struck out there and with 5pm slowly passing us by, we decided to try our luck in the next town north, Omis. Arriving at 5:30pm, we were immediately taken by the town as it seemed much more like what we had experienced in our Greece/ Turkey travels. Marla was dropped off with a mission to find a place while Trevor tried to navigate the crazy one way streets that seem to be prevalent in every Croatian seaside town. The mission proved to be successful as she secured a little room attic two stories a beautiful vine-covered spiral staircase just off the main drag (Mina’s Apartmani). It was small, extremely clean, and was going to be 60 Euros a night ($100 CAN). This was exactly what we had been looking for and the Connor spirits soared. We forgot about the stress that goes with not being able to find a place and the kids were being prepared to have us sleep on
Nice pic in Nice light.
Connor's on the shore in Primosten. a beach (now they are convinced that might be a nice adventure so who knows if it will happen). Omis is not even mentioned in Lonely Planet and only given a cursory paragraph in our other book but we have been struck by our stay here which has included walking the wonderful European flavoured tight backstreets with all of the stonework reminding us of the Old town of Rhodes, having dinner on the street watching a traffic cop wear out a whistle and his arm, and attending a great “Pirates” festival in the harbour (this area was known for all of its Pirate activity and even the Pope was not able to “clean” it up during the 12th century so there remains a great pride in this part of the region’s “heritage”). Our full day was spent day-tripping up the Celina gorge with its incredible Karst cliffs (the kids loved the zig zag z-turns where only one car could pass at a time) and driving all the way to the interior town of Imotski where we had read about a couple of cool holes in the ground. These massive collapsed caverns had formed lakes which were approximately 1000 ft from
Cliff fun
Connor's in the air. the cliff to the lake surface and then another 900 and 1600 ft respectively to their lake bottoms. The Karst (porous rock) topography allows the lake to fill up in the rain season but then acts as a drain in the dry season. We spent the day climbing down into the Blue Lake and proceeded to enjoy the clear crisp water with an afternoon of floating and cliff jumping (now becoming a staple in every Connor stop). This was obviously were the Imotski crowd spends their hot Saturday afternoons. What an amazing time was had by all. The famished troops decided to try out a road side burger stand as we were making our way home through the quaint old town. This part of Croatia has relatively little English spoken so we manouevred our way through sign language and pictures and managed to order the most delicious hamburgers we have had in a long time. Our evening was spent kicking back and soaking in the surroundings from our deck that overlooked the main street of Omis. This day rated very highly on the kid-enjoyment scale.
The decision to move on was not made lightly as we had not secured
Imotski archetecture
Quaint town in the hills accommodation in Primosten where we were heading but a certain place had been recommended to us so we thought we would take a shot. Primosten is located up the coast just north of Split which is Croatia’s second largest city with a population of approximately 250,000. We cruised through Split navigating with our very simple Lonely Planet map and the one given to us from the rental company. We are now realizing that we should buy a map as we are never quite sure what signs say and our maps are not really explicit with respect to smaller roads. This is a longwinded way of saying that we got somewhat lost in Split resulting in a 45 minute drive taking us upwards of 2 hours. Practicing our Amazing Race capabilities, the driver and navigator communicated with respect and without anger the whole time. The result is that we arrived in Primosten shortly after noon with the name of a quaint little place in hand. The day continued to be somewhat of a struggle as everyplace that Marla checked had no rooms for the night. We have just learned that most of Italy starts their holidays this weekend and the roads
Primosten shore
Typical shoreline in Croatia spent enjoying the afternoon sun. are going to be full of Italians making there way in cars down the coast of Croatia. Short story long, Marla’s perseverance and prayer paid off for the 2nd time in 3 days and we were taken to a 2 bedroom apartment with a balcony overlooking the bay for $175 Can so we considered ourselves lucky. The rest of the afternoon was spent jumping off rocks, floating in the ocean and reading books on a very slanted slope (this will become a much repeated pattern over the next week and a half). Primosten is a beautiful little town that is pretty much like most that we have seen so far in that it is situated right on a bit of a peninsula with an old section of town that is vibrant with restaurants and rooms for rent.
We ventured forth the next day to explore Split. This has some of the most well preserved Roman ruins in all Europe. The old town originated as a retirement palace for a Roman Emporer around 300 A.D.. Diocletian was known for creating the most saints in his time - ie. putting to death the most Christians. What is little known about him
Serious sports in Croatia
Like previously mentioned, water polo takes place everywhere at anytime. Great evening action in Primosten. however is that he was a self-made man, born to slaves in Salona, and rose through the ranks of the army finally becoming Emporer. Under his leadership, the Roman Empire thrived with its boundaries extending all the way to Great Britian, down through France and Spain, along Northern Africa and back up through present day Turkey and Greece. It really is quite amazing, given the modes of transportation at the time, the expanse of this authority. The Roman technologies are a marvel even today with the water transportation and sewer disposal systems.
The Diocletian Palace (approximately 30,000 sq. metres) became a place of refuge for the people Salona fleeing persecution in the late 7th century. The “palace” remains inhabited to this day with over 3,000 of their descendants living within the walls and numerous stores and restaurants filling the upper level. It is simply astounding to walk around the alleys and courtyards imagining the history that has taken place. The city boasts the “smallest road in the world” (two people walking have to squeeze by each other to pass - kids were disappointed with this as it seemed more like an alley after the long search to find it)
Croatian Flag
Rising above Diocletian's palace. along with some wonderful mazes of streets and shops alive with locals and tourists. This was a great afternoon spent exploring and playing within the “palace” walls.
The evening saw us make amazing sandwiches (the best avocado we have ever had) and then taking a stroll down to a quaint cove and where the girls swam, Matthew read and Marla and Trevor sat looking out at an incredible view from Bau Bar with their 3 favourite people enjoying themselves around them. Marla was again pushed towards remembrances of travels gone by in Thailand. Needless to say, life was bliss and then we got the coup de gras with lightening entertaining us for the next hour or so (without the rain).
Kids corner
Matt: I can’t wait to travel with my friends. I never thought I could laugh so much with my sisters.
Sydney: All those European men in speedos is a really disturbing thought. I really need to work on my tan.
Courtney: Working on my 8th day of of the 4 P’s (pizza , pretzels, pop and pancakes ( crepes))
All three kids: Its there another jumping spot around?
Advertisement
Tot: 0.07s; Tpl: 0.024s; cc: 12; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0357s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Dolores
non-member comment
WOW
You just have no idea how much I enjoy your travels. It is such a treat to see a new blog with all the pictures and comments. I don't know if you can, but IF you can save them all and put them into a book to read when you are my age, it would be a wonderful treat. Thanks for sharing. Love to all.