After our first night at Šipan, we motored to the island of Mljet (not a typo). As Iviča said, this was not a very large town… (“You look here , you can see house, house tree, church, house…the is all”). We took a taxi to the other side of the island, then a short boat taxi across an inland lake to a pretty monastery hugging the lake’s edge. The monastery wasn’t spectacular and a tally pretty dull compared to most of the others we’ve seen, but the trip made for a nice walk and some sightseeing.
After the monastery we took the taxi boat to another small, inland salt lake where I took a swim. The interesting thing about this lake is that is connected to the adjoining lake by a small channel, and The current I’d the channel changes directions twice a day depending on the tides. We sat in the sun by the lake for a while watching fish, sea urchins and sea anenomies in the shallow water.
The highlight if this stop was dinner. There was a restaurant near where we docked that serves up a traditional Croation dish called peka. Peka is typically lamb, veal or octopus, cooked in a wine and garlic sauce with potatoes and vegetables. It is cooked on an outside fire or grill under a bell shaped dish, for up to three hours. Mark and Bernadette ordered lamb and Alyssa and I ordered the octopus. The octopus was the most tender, deliciously rich and flavorful I have ever had, and the lamb got similar reviews. If you ever come to Croatia make sure to put this dish on your “must eat” list, and remember to call the restaurant at least three hours ahead of time so they can get it started cooking before you arrive, otherwise you’ll have a very long wait.
Outside the restaurant as we left we met a very cute and spry mustached man at the grill names Stephan who had been our cook. He told us about how he liked to go out and fish by himself and how our fish was caught earlier that day.
Croatia
We were not scheduled to arrive at our boat until 3pm, so we had all morning to sight-see in Dubrovnik one last time. Here is one thing that can be said about old town on a weekend, it’s crowded…really crowded. The cruise ships pull on in the morning, and tour busses drop tourists off from anywhere within a few hour’s drive, and the streets were packed with tourist (including us). If you come to this town on the weekend, do everything you can to get get out and about between 8am and 10am, or after 7pm. Of course, everything is relative, it’s probably no worse (or better) than Venice, or Paris, or Times Square, but it was a big change from the relatively calm streets from the day before.
And finally the pearl In the oyster of our Croation getaway, our boat! Our boat is a 22 meter Gulet boat with 6 cabins.
It is a wooden ship with two masts, and loads of space for lounging up top. The stern has a table large enough to comfortably seat eight and two lounging beds able to fit two people each, one I each corner. The bow has a deck with lots of room for lounging in the sun, or if the afternoon is too hot a shade can be unrolled from the boom to create some shade. There are five guest cabins down below (cramped quarters, not unlike camping), and one cabin for the skipper, the other two crew members sleep in a hatch on the bow that they share with some of the boat’s equipment. This is no luxury cruise, but it right up our alley, and the small size and only three crew members means we really get to know everybody really well. Here is a run down of who we will be Sharing our boat with for the next 7days:
Leah and Michael from Australia
Cheryl and Tom from South Africa (Tom originally from Ireland)
Ken and Linda from Florida
Our crew, Robert (first mate/assistant), Ivan (cook), and Iviča (skipper).
Croatia
We had an entire day to explore town, so after our morning cappuccino at bikers café near out apartment ( nicknamed smokers café because of the cigarette smoke cloud that filled the place), we walked down to old town to check out the photo museum that was at the top if our to-do list. This was the war-photo exhibit, which showcases photos from the 1991 Croatian war and the war in the Ukraine from only last year. The photos were stunning and powerful and emotional. It puts a lot into perspective when you can see some of the effects of a war that happened In The very place you’re standing, after talking to people who have lived through it. This is an absolute must-visit for anybody who comes to this town.
We wandered town a bit and headed back to our apartment in the afternoon for some cheese and wine and relaxing patio style.
For dinner Alyssa and I split from Mark and Bernadette. They headed out to enjoy some fine dining on the wall of old town overlooking the harbor at a restaurant named 360 (which they gave high praise for, most notably for the view, atmosphere and service). Alyssa and I started out by taking the cable car to the top of the nearby hillside for a panoramic views of the entire city, sea, and nearby islands. The view was quite stunning, but whether or not it was worth the $15 price tag to get up there may be questionable.
For dinner, we decided we were getting a little worn out from the traditional Mediterranean cuisine (yes, we actually needed a break from whole, grilled fish and octopus salad, as delicious as it is), and headed toward a small place along the south wall named Azure that specialized in Asian food and curries. It was lovely and I would recommend it to anybody in town.
As we were leaving, it was after dark, and we happened to be walking at a particular point in the street where we had a view of the harbor in a break between the high wall surrounding old town, and above it the wall where Mark and Bernadette were just being served their final course for dinner, fireworks started to fire from the harbor. This apparently happens the last weekend of the month, and we found ourselves at the right place at the right time to see the sky light up with the city walls silhouetted in the foreground. It was a great endcP to an amazing day.
Croatia
The old town of Dubrovnik is one of the best preserved walled cities in the world, and is a UNESCO world heritage sight. Since it was build over 1200 years ago it has seen many rulers and wars, and remains an impenetrable fortress even up until the Croation war in 1991. One of the first things we did here was to walk the walls, which do a 2km loop around the town. This walk gives amazing views of the orange roofed stone buildings on one side, and the Adriatic sea on the other.
After the was we made a stop for a cold drink at cafe bar Buža. To get there, you literally enter through a hole in the city wall and come out on the rocks lining the sea-side of the wall. There are umbrellas and tiny cafe tables along the rocks, and stone steps going down to the water where you could take a cool swim in the turquoise waters.
We continued walking around the old town for a bit. Like Rovinj, every corner holds a visual treasure of narrow alleys with stone steps, cute sidewalk cafes, Cats sunning on window sills and locals pinning their laundry up on lines stretching across the 3rd story windows. Main Street was a bit of a crowded mess of tourists and cruise board passengers, but the back neighborhoods were full of gems.
We had dinner at a restaurant on top of the hill named Lady Pi-Pi, (aptly named after a stone sculpture by their entrance of a lady peeing). The food was good and the night view beautiful, but we discovered that as soon as the sun goes down the wind picks up and it was a very chilly meal. The staff had blankets at the ready though and it became one more in our list of unforgettable meals.
Croatia
The majority of this day was mostly uneventful as it was spent in a car driving south to Dubrovnik. I have to sat though that the coastal road between Split and Dubrovnik is stunning! Even better than Hwy. 1 on the West coast? There were winding cliff-side roads, islands dotting the coast with local fishermen working oyster nets, mile long tunnels built through mountains, and small orange-roofed villages nestles into sides of hills and calm bays.
We stopped for lunch at a beautiful restaurant just outside of Dubrovnik named Orsan. The tables sat feet from the water, close enough to take your socks and dip your toes in ( the water is cold!). The interior was built out of a 17th century boathouse with an arched stone ceiling, and the seafood was incredible.
We got to our Dubrovnik apartment and mer the owner, Katica, and her husband. They lived in the house for thirty years I. This house, raised a family, survived the recent war, and were maybe the cutest couple I’ve ever met. Out apartment is great, with a large sunny terrace covered with grape vines overlooking the Adriatic. I can definitely handle spending the next few nights here.
Croatia
If you’re into waterfalls and emerald green lakes and beautiful hikes and some mother-effing nature in your face, then this wonderful place, a Unesco World Heritage site that is under the radar for most Americans, is the place for you. This is what we spent four house driving over a mountain to see, and it was worth it. While a picture could never do this place the justice it deserves, it does better than words, so I’ll let some photos tell the rest of the story.
Plitvice National Park in Croatia
Croatia
Today we packed our bags, loaded up into our rental car, and drove to our next location, Plitvice National Park in central Croatia. Our day can be divided up into three distinct, glorious stops.
1) in the morning, after coffee #1, we went down the street and found an amazing “secret garden” location along the rocks lining Rovinj’s border. It’s easy to miss, but if you pay attention as you walk down one of the narrow streets, you would pass a small archway squeezed in-between two buildings that opens up to a glorious patio of rocks along the water’s edge dotted with cushions and pillows for lounging in the sun, sipping a cappuccino or a glass of prossecco, and watching the sailboats pass by headed out to sea. The owners of this magnificent oasis are a brother and sister team, Jasmin and Jasmina. The brother runs the bar on the sea side and sister runs a cute gallery upstairs on the alley side. We really, really wanted to sit there all day, but our schedule dictated that we pack it up and hit the road to our next home.
2) We had several hours of driving ahead of us to get to our next stop. We opted to take the longer route along the coastline to enjoy the drive a little more. The roads were in great shape and the drive at times was not unlike some of the winding roads in California along highway 1. We decided to stop for lunch in a small town along the way and just drove around until we found something that looked decent. We stopped at a place that looked questionable at first. When we walked in, things started looking up when we saw that the seating area was a covered patio overlooking the sea. Our waiter was Mario (who lived just up the hill with the chef). We ordered a plate of muscles and the “fish for two in the oven”. What came out 30 minutes later was some of the most glorious face-on fish ever! It was a whole sea bass basted in some sort of magical broth stewed with potatoes, onion, mussels, squid and other tasty morsels. The mussels were streamers in a white wine garlic sauce. This was certainly the best seafood we’ve had so far on our trip, and the fact that we stumbled upon it randomly makes it even more magical.
3) the rest of our drive included two hours up and down a very narrow, winding road over a mountain. One particularly beautiful stretch was a narrow road about the width of one car winding through prairie-like tall grass high enough that we couldn’t see around corners. It was slow going but well worth the time for the “scenic” route. Our final stop was “grabovac tourist park” where we has reserved a modern style “mobile home”. This was basically a cabin in a campground, but it was brand new and clean and pretty cool. It was so new that I think we actually may have been the first people to stay in it. We got ourselves settled in and prepared for our next day at Plitvice National Park.
Croatia
Some bullet points of the day today (photos coming soon)
We woke up pretty early on our hotel in Buzet, are our free hotel breakfast, and hit the road north towards Italy.
Border crossing through Slovenia (couple extra passport stamps, that’s exciting)
Booked it the rest of the way to Venice, parked the car on the edge of Town and took train in. Walked around a bit. Canals were beautiful. Gondola drivers. Houses right to the water with doors opening up above the water for boat parking. Cute narrow alleys.
Ate an amazing Italian lunch of wood fired pizza and caprese with the freshest tomato and mozzarella di buffala you’ve ever seen.
We went to the grand canal, looked around a bit, took a few photos and got the hell out of there because it was completely overrun with tourists and cruise boat passengers on their day trip.
Stopped for some gelato and cappuccinos and people watched for a while
Being in Venice, we knew we couldn’t leave without going for a spin around town in a gondola, so we hired a gondolier named William who gave us a lovely paddle through the canals of old town. This will be a memory I will certainly not soon forget.
On the way home, we planned to stop in the town of Prossecco to drink some Prossecco. We couldn’t really find an good restaurants in that little town though so we went just a few miles further to Triste for dinner, where we found a little, local family style restaurant, where Bernadette ordered the largest $8 dish of pasta carbonate I’ve ever seen. Had it been the only thing we ordered I think we still would’ have been able to polish it off. Alyssa and I, of course, ordered more pizza (we just can’t get enough!)
Croatia
After a couple of very rainy days, we decided to wake up and follow the sun for the next couple of days. Equipped with overnight bags we headed north with vineyards as our number one mission. We stopped in the tiny village of Groznjan on the way, known for its local artists and only 24 people actually living in the town. The hilltop town was abandoned for 500 years before being reinhabited by these 24 brave souls, and, despite the tour buses in the parking lot, it feels like stepping back in time. After some wandering and amazing pizza at the one pizza joint in town we headed off for our cellar and vineyard tour at Kozlavic Winery. After touring the grounds we got to taste many of their delicious wines with a platter of cheese, fruit and nuts. The cheese from Pag was amazing! Must find more of that.
The drive through the Istrian countryside was amazing. Abandoned castles and small hilltop villages stick out from the rolling hillsides covered in vineyards and small farms. We drove past a shepherd and his flock on the side of the road. He was wearing a cape and had a staff and the picture in our minds will last forever and was straight out of the Bible.
After the crew was imbibed with Kozlavic wine we headed to another adorable hilltop village called Motovun, which means mountain in Croatian. It seems this was a military post since it is built on the highest point around and walled in on all sides. You can almost hear the clip clop of roman soldiers’ horses as you enter through the main gate to the city.
We were lucky enough to be seated at a table with a view when the skies finally opened up poured on us. The sun attempted to make an appearance after that, but it was still elusive. DP said the view from Motovun was one of the tops of his life.
Off to dinner at Zigante Restaurant. Black truffles shaved on each dish by Zora, our white gloves server, was endearing. Mark said it reminded him of the fine dining of 15 years ago. Food was good and after a full day of wine country we were ready for bed. We found a place in Buzet to stay and wait for the sun to announce where we would go in the morning.
Croatia
Today we woke up to the sound of rain. Not great for motivating us to explore, but we strapped on our rain gear and headed out to discover what Rovinj has to offer. What we found were the best strawberries we’ve ever tasted, covey beaches just waiting for the sun to reappear and the romance of an old European town with nothing to prove.
Wandering around Old Town in the rain.
With these two.
#nobikelocksinthistown
Croatian beaches in the rain.
And this is how we end a magical day, chocolate mousse in our faces.
… Some bullet points from Paul to add in eventually…
Coffee on the harbor. Fishermen untangling nets. Pastries from the bakery.
Walked around in the rain and circled the little peninsula. The tiny, winding cobblestone streets are really romantics. Very reminiscent of Italy. Cloths lines stretching between buildings overhead. Locals sipping espresso on sidewalk cafés and pastel pinks, greens and yellows for all of the buildings.
We stopped by the local market and purchased the most delicious, juicy strawberries I’ve ever had. I didn’t know you could get this sort of sweetness out of a berry without soaking it in sugar for an hour.
We had dinner at a really cute place named Ulica. Our server brought us (3 of us at least) our first sampling if mistletoe grappa. Our crew had mixed reactions to it, but I think I discovered that I an a secret Grappa lover.
Croatia
