Sunshine, Saltwater & Seafood!

---

The smell of salt water & fish is definitely the first thing that springs to mind to describe the air along the coast of Croatia. It was warm and sunny (almost hot), and so very different to the weather that I had left behind in smelly soggy London.

A week spent exploring Croatia and its islands sounded to me like a perfect place for a holiday...and it was!

I arrived in Split, a small city, which was originally built around the Diocletian palace (a palace/fort built for the retired Roman emperor Diocletian) where the locals sought refuge centuries ago. Wandering the historic center of Split you can still clearly see the Roman walls, squares, and temples. Recently, the main street or centre walkway of Split was fixed up and modernized...much to the locals disapproval but I liked it!

I only spent a few hours in Split, as I was going to be staying there for a night or so later on. Instead, after some ice cream and a sit in the sun, I boarded a ferry to the Croatian Island of Hvar.

Hvar was an amazing old world and cute little island about 40 minutes by ferry off the coast of Croatia. Hvar is very much an island of rocky mountains, gorgeous beaches with tiny pebble inlets and secluded coves, fresh seafood restaurants, boutique markets, and a vibrant nightlife all on medieval streets.

I was met at the ferry by a lovely Croatian woman, who owns a cute little B&B type accommodation. She took me to where I was staying for the 2 nights. It was only a short walk from the ferry & town and had views down onto the main streets that looked over neighbours backyards which were full of orange trees, vegetable gardens and chickens.

I spent my time on the Island exploring an old castle fortress, laying in the sun near the pebble beaches and eating lots of seafood! On the last day, I made my way by bus across to the other side of the island to a small town called Starigrad (the oldest town on the island) which was very small and quaint. Here I had lunch and waited for the ferry to take me back to Split.

It was sad to leave the little oasis that I felt I had discovered, however, also great to get back to Split and discover more about Croatia. After staying in another local family’s B&B, I boarded the bus for Dubrovnik, a larger coastal town at the other side of Croatia.

In order to get to Dubrovnik, the bus needed to drive through Bosnia. It was quite an experience to see how the two countries interlink and appear very similar along the coastline. We were stopped at the boarder for a moment to have passports checked, and then continued on our way.

I decided to splurge a little on this part of the trip and stay in a resort type complex for the 2 days that I was here. Cocktails by the pool while laying in the sunshine was my idea of a holiday...so I had to make sure that I fitted some R&R into my Croatian expedition before heading back to work. Despite this, I did find time to drag myself away from the pool and venture down to the Dubrovnik old town which was beautiful! Such a quaint medieval village! It was sad however, that it had received recent bad press due to the female Aussie backpacker going missing, but I did enjoy the town very much and felt safe while I was there nevertheless.

I flew out of Dubrovnik to head back to London very upset that it would probably be the last time that I see the sunshine until Christmas. It is now very dark in the UK as our clocks changed this weekend and so it feels like night time at around 4pm…and if the sun comes out…it disappears again very quickly.

I have 3 weeks off over Christmas and will be flying home to spend this one with family before returning to the UK for a couple more months. I am not sure if I will have another travel adventure until then, so if not, have a Merry Christmas and I may see you or speak to you all soon!

---

Comments

[andre george]

interested in starting the same type of business
Hi there, can you tel me what route to go and where els in the world does this exist. Are there patents out on this idea?