Hanging Out in Hrvatska

Croatia - now get that out of Hrvatska. Not that easy, at least for me. You are supposed to be able to. Hrvatska is the name of the country after all. A lady in Austria pronounced it for me but I had no hope of copying her. The only effect for me is one a little like the one a lot of Chinese blokes are looking for first thing in the morning. I have to say that Croatian does not seem to be the most romantic of languages and, in this and a number of other ways, it is similar to the other Slavic languages I have heard. Of course I hasten to say that I have had no opportunity to have anyone say anything at romantic to me so I really have no basis for that statement.

Croatia is one of those place that we have all heard about. Some of us went to school with kids who had come, or whose parents had come, from the place. Others will remember it from recent history as the former Yugoslavia tore itself apart during the last 20 years. Others, and especially Europeans, would know the place as a great place to come for a holiday. The coast of Croatia is rugged and beautiful. Bays, harbours, but very few beaches, all along the coast from Dubrovnik to Rijeka - about 600 kms of coast..

You could wonder, looking at the mountains along the coastal area, how these people survive and seek to prosper. There is very little land along this strip that could reasonably be described as productive. True, every house has its vegetable garden and these are all well tended but there is no large scale agricultural production apparent. The sea is there of course but it doesn't seem likely to be able to support a population of this size. No immediately apparent large scale industry. Tourism is really the only answer. On our first few days at Slano which was our base for the Dubrovnik visit there were very few tourists around. On the day we left Slano, though, we spotted three cruise ships heading for the wharf at Dubrovnik. Two very big ones and one of those smaller, more elite ones with what look like fake masts. I suspect that you would need a lot of these to come by regularly and get plenty in along the roads to keep the place ticking over.

We stayed one night in Umag not far over the border from Slovenia. The place seemed pretty full of wealthy tourists. These gravitate to the casinos and the larger hotels. They hang out in the flash restaurants and bars along the waterfront. Luckily for us the not so wealthy ones hadn't arrived yet and we found zimmer/sobe/rooms that were comfortable and clean for the night. There are plenty of these around and they offer a pretty good alternative to the hotels that all seem to be expensive and heavily focused around casinos.

We didn't have long to spend in Umag but did get to visit a local restaurant on the waterfront. Million dollar location but luckily the price tag for the food dropped off a lot of those zeroes. Lovely lady owner and as an introduction to Hrvatska it created a good impression.

From Umag it was down towards Dubrovnik. This is no inconsiderable drive. We wound our way to Rijeka at the top of the peninsula then on to the motorway which runs most of the way to Dubrovnik. Didn't stay on it long though. There was a view, held by all, that we didn't come here to see motorways so we hung a right and headed for the coast. A fine plan but, and only a small but, it would have been nice if we hadn't selected a logging road currently in use by logging trucks to take us through the mountains to the coast. We made it though, eventually hit the road that closely follows the coast and rolled down as far as Zadar.

It is hard to see much in heavy rain so from Zadar we headed back up to the motorway and let that take us down past Split and on to the end of the motorway about 150km from Dubrovnik. The work on this motorway is continuing and one would think it will be all the way in a year or so. It is a massive undertaking in such moutainous country. Back onto the coast road for a while, after the requisite wind through the mountains, and on to Slano.

We are perhaps becoming overconfident in our capacity to pick good spots, or perhaps that there are just no bad spots to find? Slano maintains the record. We had booked a couple of small apartments on the net through one of the holiday home search engines. They were not perfect but they worked out well for us. There was a reasonably secure place to park the car, clean and well kept apartments that had all of the appropriate amenities and for a price within our budgets. Slano is a small town about 30 kms from Dubrovnik. It is basically a small bay with houses and one large hotel perched on the small area of land between the mountains and the sea.

Dubrovnik, well, there is a reason that they all tell you to have a look at the place. The ads tell us that Dubrovnik is the Mediterranean coast as it was. Dubrovnik is obviously more than the old city - the stari grad - but it is definitely the old city that is the attraction. Reading notes on the history of the city you could be forgiven for concluding that the place was built by a bunch of people who were basically pirates or brigands. They built a fortress that looks as though it would be close to impregnable. Using Dubrovnik as a base the inhabitants could raid along the sea lanes and scuttle back in relative safety. Of course, many cities have had beginnings that could be similarly described. They built a great place to visit and the current occupants are surely very happy that they did.

The current inhabitants would also be pleased that so much money became available for the re-building of the old city after the neighbours dropped in to lob bombs on the place during the wars in the Balkans that went on during the 1990s. There is still some bomb damage but most has been repaired or tidied up. Of course, there are still plenty of reminders about that it all happened.

Up the coast, Split is another top tourist place and one to which the tourists have clearly returned. We had an apartment just a few minutes out of the main tourist area that, again, is the old town. The palace of Diocletias is the key attraction - or at least it is supposed to be. We found ourselves on our own walking through the underground areas of the palace that have been opened up to provide a view of the way the palace was developed during the time of Diocletius himself. Not so alone out on the promenade or in the bars and restaurants. We didn't venture into any of the shops in any major way, just the green markets and a supermarket.

But don't take that as a negative recommendation. Split is a great place to kick back. You work out, after a few false starts, that cafes sell grog and coffee but not food, other shops sell food but not coffee or grog and restaurants sell both but tend to be a bit more expensive for both. You can, of course, buy your grog at a supermarket - 2 litre bottles of beer and 1 litre wine both of good quality - and take it home to drink. We adopted that strategy for a couple of meals.

We travelled from Split to Plitbicka on a great motorway with a hairpin bend in it that you can take at 130 km/h no less. Would make any old roadie weep with envy.

And while I am here, just a word or two on motorways. If I was to write a post on Europe as a whole, and keeping in mind that I have only travelled through some of the continent, I would use a title something like “Through Europe With a Black Audi Up My Rear”. There are a lot of black Audis on the road. They seem to be all over the place but you can be assured that, if you pull out into the fast lane to overtake that slower moving vehicle and even if you are moving at the speed limit or above, within moments there will be a black Audi, lights flashing, desperately trying to get you out of the way. We have developed the theory that all purchasers of black Audis receive, as part of the purchase, a free up-grade in aggression and love of speed.

We did notice that the police in Croatia drive black Audis, unmarked ones. Spotted a black Audi being pulled up by another one with one of those dinky little blue lights on top. They don't worry us of course. We sit on or about the speed limit most of the time. This is another one of those new experiences.

Plitbica lakes is well worth a stop on the way to Zagreb. If you have the time then it would be a good place to spend a few days hiking around all of the lakes. We spent a few hours and walked around lakes that are crystal clear and beautifully coloured.

Zagreb? Perhaps you could imagine Prague with buildings that have not been scrubbed up, but that isn't really all that honest. It is a reasonable city. We certainly had a good apartment in a nice suburb about 3 or 4 kms from the center. There are museums, shops, restaurants and bars in abundance. We spent a few hours in the Botanical Gardens and they were worth the time.

I am probably one of the last people who should comment on the buildings but the impression I was left with is that they are, generally, heavy and sombre. The colour is generally a shade of grey or charcoal. This is not paint but more the natural colour of a building in a city that is subject to the smoke of the ages.

Out of Zagreb to take a run along the Sava Valley towards Belgrade. The traffic is not great along this road after a while. Not a lot of people are on their way to Serbia. I found out where the food comes from. The valley and then the plains they open into are some of the most fertile about and every inch of available land is put to use. We took a little detour up to Vukovar and then across into Serbia.

Croatia is an interesting country. There is a 'European' feel to the place, even though in every apartment we had there were only pots for making Turkish coffee. It doesn't seem to be as prosperous as Slovenia but does give the impression of greater prosperity than its other Balkan neighbours. After a while you realise that there are very few people with any colour up. Everyone is looking for a tan and a bright sun is the signal to get as much of your gear off as you are decently able. Tan is good but the naturally tanned don't seem numerous. The people we met were very friendly and helpful. We felt safe in Croatia and found it to be an easy and interesting place to travel.

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