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Published: July 16th 2011
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Today was another packing up day in preparation for our drive to Trogir, a small town near Split. The car has been rested for the past few days and is ready for some more action. This time we will take the scenic route along the Adriatic coastline with its many twists and turns.
But first our final breakfast at this hotel. We sit and wonder what it must be like to some imaginary being looking down on this enormous dining room and seeing hundreds of people scurrying from table to self service areas and back to table. We think it must resemble an army of ants out foraging for food. While we pack the car the people we had seen at breakfast were now scurrying to the seashore to reclaim their favourite spot and enjoy a swim or sun-fry before heading back for lunch.
Leaving the island of Krk should have been quite straight forward but for reasons unknown to us we joined a queue of cars that took about 40 minutes to travel the remaining 5 kilometres to the bridge in temperatures around 38° at 10:15am. Suddenly the traffic cleared and we passed the toll gate without needing to pay
and took the turn-off to Split. Fortunately for us most of the traffic was heading back to Slovenia, Poland, Czech Republic and Northern Croatia so we had a quiet drive south with very light traffic. It would have been unbearable in heavy traffic.
Unlike many European roads we have driven on this trip there are many stopping places to take photos or just enjoy the scenery. If we had stopped at each one it might have taken an extra day or two to reach our destination.
For most of the drive we followed a road cut into the very rocky grey cliffs and the sea below was turquoise blue. We passed many towns and villages either perched on the side of cliffs or tucked into the head of a bay with their own little beach. One of these villages showed signs of destruction with a few buildings without roofs or windows – perhaps as a result of the Balkan Conflict. In the distance there were many off shore islands that looked very dry, similar to Banks Peninsula, New Zealand, in the summer. South of Zadar the landscape was more open with signs of agriculture.
As we approached Trogir many apartment
owners were out trying to entice customers to stay. We later learned from our apartment staff that the tourist trade is a bit slow for this time of year. Following dinner we walked about after the heat of the day and went into the old part of the town. What a sight, with wonderful old buildings, little streets of shiny smooth flagstones and all a golden colour. People everywhere, eating, drinking, just strolling, market stalls set up and a brass band playing “oompah” music! This part of the town set on its own island will certainly get a re-visit tomorrow.
Tomorrow we plan to visit Split, about 25 km down the coast.
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