Along the Croatian coast

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After my travels through the Bosnian war affected region I decided to spend some time by the sea. I decided to make my way back to Slovenia along the Dalmatian and Istrian coast of Croatia.

Dalmatian coast

My bus from Sarajevo brought me to Split. Split's Old town is a bit different from the other towns in the region as it has besides the usual medieval section also a 1st century AD Roman section (World Heritage site).
I arrived late in the afternoon and went straight into town to enjoy the sunset in the Roman ruins. I had thought to be able to see the whole thing in a couple of hours and hop on a boat the next morning but I wouldn't be doing the town of Split justice.

The next day in the afternoon I took the boat to Hvar Island. A nice little island just off the coast. Perfect for hiking, reading and swimming. On my first night I was walking to the town centre because I was craving for some ice cream. All of a sudden I heard loud screams from all the houses. After a couple of seconds it hit me that Croatia was playing England and had just scored for the first time. I arrived in the main square and somebody had put his television set outside and half the town was watching. I joined them and was able to see the legendary own goal by England. The English goalkeeper kicked very graciously in the air while the ball was slowly hobbling into the goal. Great stuff, the locals went nuts during every of the seven or more replays of the goal.

I left the Island at 6.30 am with all the locals going to work in Split. From Split I got on a bus to Zadar.
Zadar was to be my base for a side trip to the Plitvice lakes but I had the time to go visit town. There are some pretty nice Roman ruins here also. I witnessed another local wedding. A crowd of people was standing outside the church (and in the bars around) waiting for the couple to come out. A band was playing and the whole square was singing along.
Hitchcock (and some other famous globetrotters) apparently called the sunset in Zadar the most beautiful in the world. I had a look myself and must say it was very nice.

Plitvice Lakes National Park

At the Zadar hostel I met Sharon and Kinga who offered me a ride to the Plitvice Lakes. Plitvice NP is a park with hundreds of small and big lakes and waterfalls in all kind of colours. The water was so clear that I could see fish swim at least 3 m deep. Even though the weather wasn't that great it was still very beautiful. The climbs to the look out points were a good work out. Thanks to Sharon and Kinga for the ride and the great time!!

Istrian coast

From Zadar I spent another day driving along the coast. The 7 hour bus ride was very scenic again, especially the Gulf of Kvarner part around Rijeka.

My destination was Pula on the Istrian Coast. Pula's claim to fame is their Coliseum. I haven't been to Rome or Greece so I am easily impressed by ancient ruins. However some people at the coliseum told me that they thought it was more impressive than the one in Rome. The Pula coliseum is almost totally intact, so I really felt like Russell Crow in 'Gladiator' when I stood in the middle of the arena.

From Pula I made some side trips to Rovinj and Porec.
Rovinj is/was a pretty, 'traditional' fisherman's town. These days it gets invaded daily by hordes of tour groups. From the church tower I was able to spot Venice in the distance.

Porec was a bit quieter. I went to check out another World Heritage site there: the Basilica. The otherwise sober church is adorned with a huge Mosaic with loads of gold and mother of pearl. The rest of the day I spent by the sea and went for my last swim in the sea on 16th October.

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Photos

split
Split Old town

split
Split Old town

split
Split Old town

split
Split Old town

hvar
Hvar harbour

hvar
View from the citadel

hvar
Hvar main square

hvar
Hvar sunset

zadar
Roman entrance gate to Zadar

zadar
The most beautiful sunset in the world?

Plitvice lakes
Sharon trying to catch fish ('bloodsport'style) with his bare hands.

Pula
The coliseum

Comments

[Kathleen]

hot
Dag Jan, Blijkbaar stel je het daar goed en gezond. Klinkt allemaal heel aanlokkelijk. Misschien moet je maar voor een reisbureau gaan werken. Je bent trouwens weer een hot item op de Tekukan site... Tot ...? Kathleen

[Jef]

Keep on trucking !
Hey Jan, Leuk te zien dat je weer op je plooi en on the road bent. Geniet ervan met volle teugen en tot in den draai. Ciao Jef

[Ken]

Yooo Jan, ben juist terug van de provinciale training van Sawada, we missen daar een zwarte Tekukan gordel!! Je hebt precies de reisbacterie goed te pakken, geniet van het leven, het ziet er allemaal zalig uit... Ciaokes

[Johan Vertongen]

Aan de wereldreiziger
Jan, al geruime tijd volg ik jouw wedervaren in de verre uithoeken van onze planeet (eigenlijk al vanaf de start). Normaal lees ik geen reisverslagen - zou dat eigenlijk meer moeten doen - maar het reilen en zeilen van een (ex)clublid volgen is natuurlijk weer iets anders. Het Aziatisch gedeelte was voor mij het meest interessante - wegens onze sport waarschijnlijk. Jouw bonefever bewijst dat karate noch ju jitsu opgewassen zijn tegen die kleine beestjes - lees bacteriën en virussen. Deze zomer ben ik ook op reis geweest in Kroatië en heb eveneens Dubrovnik en Mostar bezocht. Vandaar dat dit gedeelte mij ook uitermate boeide. Ik wens jou verder een mooie reis toe en misschien tot weerzien op de mat.