Kotor and area, Montenergo

Kotor was a great spot to set up base camp for a few days while J and A explored the nearby sites.  Kotor lies at the southern end of the innermost arm of the Bay of Kotor.  Nestled between the bay and the slopes of Mount Lovcen lies Kotor’s  Stari Grad or “old town”.  Although this quaint old town pales in comparison to Dubrovnik, the old fortifications stretching up 1200m to the remnants of the Castle St. John make a sensational sight.  A and J took the 1350 odd steps up to the castle and were not disappointed.  The next morning they rented yet another hot rod car (a Suzuki) just for the day.  A drive up the back route to Lovcen National park and the town of Cetinje awarded breathtaking views of the whole bay.  Cetinje, the old capital, is home to one of the most interesting relics J and A have come across.  Stowed away in the Centinje monestary in a secure and ornate casket is the mumified hand of St. John the Baptist and a piece of the Holy Cross (supposedly). They were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of these rare artifacts when the local priest opened the casket. Apparently, this is very rare. Unfortunately, J and A were too chicken to take photos. Next, they travelled back down to the coast to see the very famous Sveti Stefan Stari Grad (which unfortunately has been bought up and is now being turned into a huge resort for the rich and famous) and to lie on the beach.  A late stroll through the old town in Budva finshed off the tour and they returned to Kotor to catch a bus to Zabljak the next day.  This little tour also yielded one of Jeff’s favorite quotes for the trip.  As J and A zipped past one of the many beaches on the coast, Anelia suddenly leaned forward in her seat exclaiming, “there's a camel on the beach! Oh.. nope.. its just some woman.”

Pictures 1. Beach of Sveti Stefan   2. Sveti Stefan old town   3.  Budva beach   4. Anelia and St. John's casket   5.  Cetinje  6.  Njegos Mausoleum  7.  Bay of Kotor   8,9,11.  St. John's castle walls  10. Kotor's old town  12. Kotor

 

Dubrovnik, Croatia

 

The trip to Dubrovnik started out with a spectacular sunrise from the ferry.  The city of Dubrovnik was equally stunning, the only catch is everyone in Europe knows it and congregates there in hordes.  Despite the masses and difficulty finding decent accommodation, Dubrovnik left a lasting impression.  Jeff’s highlight of Dubrovnik was the city walls which enclose the entire old town and are among the finest in the world.  The walls are over 2km long and 25 metres high with numerous towers and a large fortress overlooking the Adriatic sea.  Absolutely sensational!  Anelia’s highlight was the undeniably best pasta she had ever had. Little did Anelia and Jeff know that Italy (just across the Adriatic) has greatly influenced Croatian cuisine.  As a result Croatia is home to excellent pasta.  Anelia’s other highlight was the kremsnite, a Croatian crème cake that was to die for. In fact, after gorging on pasta, pizza, bruschetta, salad, wine, and half a loaf of bread, Jeff and Anelia almost did kill themselves by seeking out and forcing down yet another piece of this Croatian heaven.  Jeff had to undo his pants for the walk home. Dubrovnik was a great way to end our time in Croatia. 

Pics 1. Anelia eating her Croatian cake  2. Dubrovnik's walls   3. View of old town from city wall  4. Outpost of castle   5. Old town street  6. Ceiling of church   7. Dubrovnik's walls   8.  Traditional Croatian musician  9. Sunrise on ferry to Dubrovnik

The Dalmatian Coast of Croatia

The island of Hvar has many small towns to stay in, the most popular being Hvar town on the East end of the island.  Jeff and Anelia chose this as their destination.  As one of the most popular destinations for tourists in Croatia, Hvar can be expensive and jam packed.  However, Jeff and Anelia arrived at the tail end of the season and the town was next to deserted.  That did not prevent the “vultures” from waiting at the dock.  After some negotiating and checking out apartments, Jeff and Anelia found a full apartment, dirt cheap, with an amazing view of the harbor.   On the second day they caught a boat taxi to a nearby island where they found a little section of private beach to spend the day. 

Korcula, the second island Jeff and Anelia visited seemed to have it all. In order to experience this bountiful island they rented a scooter and scooted through the countryside.  Objective one: tour the vineyards in hopes of sampling the local specialty wine known as Grk.  Grk is produced in only one place on Earth, Lombardi on Korcula island.  The name Grk originates from the word Greek as the Grk grape was brought to Korcula islands by the Greeks.  At some point in history an insect was responsible for destroying all the Grk vineyards in the area.  In Lomabrdi, the sandy soil prevented this insect from infecting the vineyards and thus remains the only Grk vineyards.  True story.  The wine they sampled was delicious!  It’s a good thing too cause it took forever to locate the wineries.  The next day they took a ferry to Orebic, on the southern coast of the Peljasac Peninsula. There, they bathed in the sun on a mostly deserted sand beach. In the evening, they walked the old town, went out for local cuisine and sampled the octopus salad (which they promptly gave to the British seafood lover at the next table).  Jeff and Anelia are still working on acquiring a taste for seafood.

Pictures: 1. Town of Korcula on Korcula island  2. Grk Winery  3.  Anelia's scooter   4. Orebic beach  5.  Suntanning on Hvar island   6. Hvar town   7.  Anelia on secluded beach  8.  View from our apartment on Hvar island!

Movie:  Jeff and Anelia touring Korcula island scooter style!

 

Split, Croatia

Second largest city in Croatia, Split is a unique and exuberant city which balances tradition and modernity.  After circling the old town for what must have been 2 hours and running dangerously low on petrol, Anelia and Jeff finally stumbled across the one kilometer square area of the old town. It only took asking for directions twice! Jeff doesn’t seem quite so good with the map as he claims to be says Anelia.  Jeff would like to remind Anelia of an ill-advised left hand turn when he said “we probably should just stay on this road” (which led to the old town).  Anelia would like to point out that the sign said “tourist info left”.  Anelia would also like to remind Jeff of another quote of his: “ I think we are getting close”, where after he soon realized they were headed out of town on the same road they came in on.  Needless to say Split's city council should invest in street signs.  Imagine finding an address in Millwoods without any street signs or addresses. Yup that sums it up.

            Split was very cool.  A magically lit up wharf , Diocletian’s Palace, and cobblestone streets full of restaurants, shops and cafes.   It truly is a city of tradition mixed with modern living.  The only difficulty was fighting through the crowds.  Split is quickly gaining popularity with Europeans as a vacation destination.  What started in Dubrovnik in the south of Croatia has quickly spread up the coast.  Ferries to the Dalmation islands of Hvar and Korcula have made Split a very popular base from which to begin ones fun in the sun.  It also makes it tricky to find reliable accommodation.  The “Vultures” meet you at the bus station or ferry, throwing signs for rooms for rent in your face, each trying hard to out-sell the other in a mad housing frenzy.  Luckily for Anelia and Jeff they arrived via car and missed much of the pack.  However, they had to park at the bus station and the stragglers at the back of the pack quickly picked up their scent and headed their direction.  J and A beat a hasty retreat towards the nearest tourist agency; which will also help set you up with private accommodation.  The rooms are reliably more clean and in good order but often cost a little more.  Unfortunately for Anelia and Jeff that price was a little hefty.  They decided to head back to the vultures when they were approached by a man offering rooms.  They bartered for the price of an apartment and came to an agreement.  He took them on a short walk through the old town to a small run-down apartment crammed into a back corner next to an equally crammed apartment housing a large family, screaming baby and all.  Jeff told him this would not do and made to leave.  He conceded he had other rooms and showed them next to a ladies house where the room was much nicer, the bathroom was new and there was access to a fridge.  Just what the doctor ordered.  Interesting that this place was the same price as the other yet he showed the other dive first.  Sometimes it pays to be choosey.  The stay in Split consisted of just one day where Jeff and Anelia toured the old town and enjoyed a steak dinner.  Why steak?  Jeff and Anelia needed a little reminder of home.  For desert, Anelia finally found the allusive "Pepper cookie"; a Croatian traditional pastry.  Check out the video.  How were the cookies?  Two weeks later we finally threw them out.  Not so good.

Pics: 1 - Cathedral of Diocletian's palace  2 - Anelia on the Seaside  3 - Cylindrical entrance to the palace  4 - View of Split  5 - Gregorius ( religious leader)  6 - Fish market

Pepper Cookie take 2

The road to Split

Yes folks its been a while since the last posting.  Unfortunately wireless internet has been limited over the last few days.  I guess that’s what happens when you head out on the islands of the Dalmatian coast.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  Since last they posted, Anelia and Jeff (again I don’t know why the third person but we might as well be consistent) left Plitvice National Park for the Adriatic coast of Croatia.  A quick stop in at Zadar yielded little in the way of incredible, jaw-dropping sights but was still a nice break from the road and it had a few interesting moments.  The most interesting was the only sea organ in the world.  The organ is constructed underneath the pier and as the waves of the Adriatic come crashing in, air is forced up through the organ making a multitude of odd and somewhat “whale-like” sounds.  Also on the pier is the Sun Salutation, a large circular collection of multileveled glass plates embedded in the surface of the pier which collect sunlight during the day using the same wave power that “powers” the organ.  During the night the Sun Salutation displays trippy light show meant to simulate the solar system.  Unfortunately Anelia and Jeff were not able to stick around for the light show and had to settle on walking the old town cobblestone streets and having an ice cream in one of the numerous cafés. 

 

Rested and ready to continue, the next stop on their tour along the Adriatic coast was Sibenick.  Sibenick is a World Unesco Site, home to the ancient Katedrala Saint Jakova, (1431-1535).  It was built entirely from stone using unique architech techniques and is decorated with 71 sculptured faces of men, women, and children, also illustrate the successful fusion of Gothic and Renaissance art..  The city’s old town is a collection of vary narrow streets and staircases winding up towards the Tvrdava Sv Mihovil (the remains of a roman fortress which look out over the city).   After ½ a day sightseeing, Jeff and Anelia caught all the sites and carried on the next day to Trogir.

 

A quick stop in Trogir was all Jeff and Anelia could afford time for, however, the quaint town with medieval walls and seaside promenade was well worth the stop and probably should have been afforded more time.  Again, Jeff and Anelia found themselves wandering the knotted and maze-like streets of the old town, stopping visiting another world heritage site cathedral and enjoying a Nescafe along the seaside promenade.  Oh how life is tough!

Pictures- 1: Anelia at Zadar on waterfront  2. Sun salutation   3. Sibenik's castle   4.  Sibenik's central market 5. Katedrala Saint Jakova   6.  Jeff on top of Sibenik castle wall   7. Streets of Trogir   8. Trogir waterfront

Video-  World's only Sea Organ

Plitvice National Park, Croatia

The quote in the park brochure said it best: “There is water, waterfalls, and lakes but Plitvice is unique. You simply have to see it”!  The park was absolutely stunning.  Wood plank trails lead you through the park zigzagging around and across a series of tiered lakes and ponds each connected by  waterfalls and streams.  Canyon walls rise up to lush vegetation and great birch forests hugged the shorelines.  The park receives 12,000 visitors a day in peak season so Anelia and Jeff showed up at opening time to beat the masses and were very glad they did. As they were leaving the park the tour buses were unloading and hundreds of people were flooding the initial park trail.  It was truly a unique experience and one that should not be missed. Advice to anyone traveling to Plitvice NP, arrive early to beat the masses and also for the best photography opportunities.  

The Road To Plitvice National Park, Croatia

After a relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable time in Rovinj, Anelia and Jeff hopped on the bus Rejika in hopes of obtaining their own set of wheels. Upon arriving in Rejika their first job was to locate the Alamo rental car agency (Alamo is the only agency to accept Airmiles, thus making the care rental “free”).  The nearest tourist info, which wasn’t too far of a walk from the bus station, kindly showed them where Alamo was located, about a 20 minute walk through town.  With no intention on staying in town, Jeff and Anelia, in full gear, set off straight to Alamo.  After the 20 minute walk, searching up and down the every road and back alley, and asking numerous Croatians (who had no clue where Alamo was located), a helpful bartender was finally able to inform them that the agency had gone under. This seemed odd to Anelia and Jeff as this was not congruent with the information on Alamo’s website. Nevertheless, they pressed on walking the opposite direction another 15 minutes to National car rental only to find that National and Alamo were the same agency and both locations were closed. By this time, the backpacks were getting heavy and Anelia was losing her cool. They took a break at a nearby restaurant that locals seemed to flock to. The atmosphere and waitress were nice, unfortunately the food did not follow suit. After the dissatisfying meal they continued on foot another 15 minutes to Budget rental cars which to their delight was open!!!!  Anelia and Jeff asked for an economy car to which Budget replied "sure! In 3 days".   They left Budget, broken hearted, and proceeded on foot to Hertz car rental… which had moved to a new location.  Luckily, Anelia and Jeff were able to find the new location on foot as well as the sign posted on the shop window explaining that the employees were out delivery rental cars and no one was able to rent cars at that time.  Pressing on once again, on foot, to an unfamiliar car rental agency, they found that the building was under renovation and the agency was not renting cars.  Their final stop took them back to the bus station, where just 2.5 hours earlier they had been dropped off.  The gentleman at Thrifty was kind enough to supply them with an economy vehicle and the trek to Plitvice National Park resumed. The moral of the story, call ahead to book a car.