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Published: March 21st 2020
Beach at Mlini
Enticing water but still chilly After more than ten hours of sleep, it was the alarm clock that woke me. I had set it to get up in time for breakfast, and to adapt to the nine hours of change.
Breakfast was buffet style in the restaurant. I chose muesli, apple juice, deep-orange fried egg, an unknown sausage, bacon and light rye bread. Although the bacon was terribly salty and apple juice was made from a concentrate in a machine, I enjoyed the meal. The manager came by part-way through, greeting all the patrons with bonhomie and urging us to come to the sea-side restaurant for lunch. He told me that the season was just starting – they had only a hundred rooms occupied today, but by tomorrow that would be up to four hundred!
Indeed, on my walk, most shops and some cafes were closed. Everywhere was construction – improving roads, remodelling buildings, and extending restaurants. This string of towns is all about tourism.
After breakfast I did a short exploratory walk, then returned to my room to prepare for a long walk around the bay. Most villages and developments were to the right of the hotel. In certain places, unexpectedly, the
St Rocco 15 -19 century
Built against the plague cars and the pedestrians shared the same path/roadway - very small cars do have their advantages. The closest town,
Mlini, was distinguishable by a huge, conserved
plane tree, planted in 1769. Close by were two large wheels from historic oil presses. The olive mills and grain mills gave the town its name, Mlini or Mills. Across the road/path was the tiny Church of St Rocco, built to protect the people from the plague in the 15 century.
Strolling along in the spring sun was a pleasure in itself. The washing of the sea to one side and light breezes spoke of this mild location.
Away from the sea, in Srebreno, I caught sight of the grocery store Toni, at the hotel reception, had mentioned to me. Konsum (obvious enough name) was part of a shopping complex. I detoured and explored. Most of the stores were designed to appeal to tourists, particularly those with grandchildren or vacationing children. H&M was one of the brand names I recognized. Clothing and toys definitely predominated. The grocery store was full of junk food (chips, dips, cookies, soft drinks), presumably because, if you were here for a couple of weeks in a hotel or
apartment, this would be your indulgence. As suited to an Adriatic country, the deli was huge, featuring many kinds of sausages and cheeses in great quantities. Liquor was there, too, although not in an especially great quantity. Vegetables and household items were also stocked.
Back on the path I meandered on until I reached the end, at the point the bay joined the Adriatic Sea. One fisherman laconically tended his line. Since it was after 1:00, I sat on a bench (lots of these along the walking path), and ate my emergency peanut-butter sandwiches from home. A coffee would have been nice, but no services were located at this far point. The walk that took about ninety minutes out took only about twenty-five on the return.
A nap seemed a good idea. Unfortunately, that was soon interrupted by the cleaning staff, and once resumed it was interrupted by Elizabeth’s arrival. We immediately plunged into conversation. About 4:00 we went swimming – so refreshing! After that, we still had over an hour before meeting the other tour members.
What an ideal amount of time for a drink at the sea front bar! I had a local beer; we
Idyllic!
Astarea Hotel took photos; we asked a family to take our photo. We luxuriated as the sun sank into a distant hill and we recalled travels and philosophies.
Our tour group of eight assembled on time in the lobby. Our guide, Manka, greeted us with friendliness and ushered us into the two vans. (Fortunately, the vans accommodate only six, thus two vans for the group.) Dinner was at Rozmun (Rosemary), a modern bistro. Service for us was family style, letting us choose what we liked and in the amount we liked: charcuterie board as appetizer, some kind of white fish with fabulous spinach and potato, two varieties of mashed potato, charred vegetables, and a choice of desserts. Mine was chocolate cake made with ground almonds, not too sweet. A deep Croatian red completed my delicious dinner.
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Isabel Gibson
non-member comment
Stunning
Beautiful locale for this town. I was wondering whether I was looking at houses roughly comparable to Santorini, but "washed" in more colours than blinding white. Sounds like a lovely jet-lag-adjustment day.