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Published: June 26th 2008
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WK1 - Hello Croatia!
Hi all, Col reporting from Croatia - apologies for the delay in getting this blog up and running, we’ve had a few issues getting decent internet access, but we’re sorted now!
Well, had a nice relaxed start to the trip, stayed in the Yotel! At Gatwick airport - can recommend it, compact “space age” cabin rooms, but right in the heart of the airport. Bags checked in the evening before, so a nice stroll through security with hand luggage only, an uneventful flight, and 2.5hrs later we’re in Split. Our transfer is waiting for us, so onto Apartment Ruza, where we are staying for a week before we get out on the water for our sailing course the following Saturday.
The apartment was really nice, balcony with a view of the Adriatic (also helpful later in the week, as it gives you an early view of any rain heading our way!). The area we were staying are known as the Kastels, a row of 7 small towns that line up along the coast towards Split, so we spent the reminder of the week exploring them (i.e. finding nice cafes and restaurants to spend time in...).
The weather was a bit up and down, as you can see by some of the photos showing the floods we had in the middle of the week - The Rain Curse of Col & Jen Strikes Again! But as the week went on, things settled down a bit, started to warm up again, about 25 degrees by the time we went sailing.
As for Croatia itself, this area is really nice, not touristy at all, groups of old men sat out in the evenings catching up on the days events, lots of women’s hair salons for some reason (called Frizerski’s over here), and virtually a bakery on every street. After conducting a comprehensive round of tasting the local beers (pivo), we’ve agreed that Karlovacko seems to be the best local brew, so we’ve invested some Kuna in ensuring the brand stays in business...Food wise, Croatian cuisine pretty much looks across the Adriatic to Italy for inspiration, so every restaurant offers a variation on the pasta, pizza, fresh seafood theme, with varying degrees of success, but overall the food has been pretty good.
It has been a strange experience again coming to a country, or at least this
area, where English is not spoken that widely, and where German is the preferred second language, so a lot of communication is through a mixture of pidgin German/English - Croatia has been Germany’s best kept secret holiday destination for years, and so everything is geared towards them really. The upside to this is that there are no “Irish” bars or “English” pubs here, which is an achievement in this day and age. The Croatian tourist board have got a slogan of “Croatia - the Mediterranean as it once was”...it’s true actually, and as you read on through our blog, I think you will all get the idea that we both love Croatia already...
So the first week has really been about us just catching our breath, and trying to get some rest before we start our week of sailing training on the Sunday, more of which in WK2’s blog! It still hasn’t really sunk in at this point that we’ve got 9 months of this to enjoy, it really does feel that this is just a normal holiday - I think once we get past the 2 week stage, and we realise we don’t have to go home, then it
will really hit home.
We hope you all enjoy following our travels, and if any of you have any queries, comments or suggestions for us, please get in touch, it’s great to hear from you all!
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