50 Shades of Blue: An Adriatic Adventure in Croatia
Croatia Summarized
Smells: Figs, grilled seafood, lavender, ocean air
Looks Like: Cats, orange roofs contrasting turquiose water, fig and olive trees
Sounds Like: Waves lapping against the boat hull, cicadas, Buena Vista Social Club
Currency: Kuna (about a 5 to 1 conversion to Canadian dollars)
Split
Split feels very much like a port-town, with big, bustling patios sprawling out onto the port-front Riva boardwalk. Pirate ships and family owned yachts cruise in and out of the harbour while street vendors sell everything from Roman gladiator helmets to engraved seashells. The streets, although hundreds of years old, glow like marble - made of the white limestone found across Croatia and smoothed by frequent trodding of the large tourist crowds pushing to get to Diocletian’s Palace or to the nearest gelato stand.
Get off the beaten path, down some of the narrow alleyways and you’ll find cats and kittens by the dozen, dozing wherever they can find shade or a cool metal grate to sprawl across. Initially introduced to the town to combat a small vermin problem, the feline friends have become a permanent installation themselves and a friendly, albeit wild one at that.
On the north-west end of town, closer to Marjan Hill, incredible smells waft out of small family-owned restaurants, where the maitre d’s smoke sullenly on the terraces. Twenty-somethings walk slowly by, hair bleached by a summer spent in the Adriatic sun and curled by the sea salt. I had my first Croatian meal here, at a restaurant around the corner from the one I had originally wanted to try but couldn’t get in to. I ordered gazpacho and sea bream with a pea puree. It was to be the first of many seafood dinners in this seaside country.
After dinner, I took a walk through town and ended up on the pier where I watched the sun set. It was so magical - the starlings in Croatia seem to convalesce over the city at the golden hour every night. It is pretty spectacular to watch them swoop and dive above the burnt orange rooftops of ancient Italian settlements, with the mountains in the distance and the waves at shore.
As for accommodation, we stayed at a comfortable AirBnb, not too far from the Old Town, with an absolute orchestra of cicadas to keep you company on the short walk home. Although the building certainly was reminiscent of the country’s socialist past, the apartment itself was a lovely, Parisian-inspired spot. The host was very gracious, as he picked me up from the airport and educated me on the differences in processes for olive oil preparation (he prefers to soak the olives in sea water to remove the bitterness, rather than picking them early as is the preferred method for extra virgin olive oil).
Nearby Split are several national parks which are quite popular with tourists and locals alike. Krka Falls is a gorgeous waterfall, only about an hour away, although the scene is somewhat ruined by the onslaught of Instagram-keen crowds, from what I’ve heard. We made the trek a few more hours north to Plitvice Lakes - another national park with lakes the colour of blue koolaid and big koi-like fish. It was a great day trip and highly recommended as the drive is quite lovely too. Pro tip - forgo the sandals in favour of running shoes. There’s some great hiking to be done so I wouldn’t want your footwear to get in the way (I was less than wise in this capacity).
Omis
When planning for our trip, we debated the pros and cons of renting a car to jaunt around on our own, or to join a Croatian tour group equivalent - a yacht week. After a bit of research, yachts were the clear choice - a chance to meet new people, to see Croatia the way it really should be experienced (at sea and with Croatians), and a quick way to see lots of islands with minimal travel logistics, accommodations and two meals a day provided.
We went with Sail Croatia, on the cheaper end of the spectrum, although there’s a variety of ship and route options. There are lots of other great companies as well (Top Deck, Katarina, Sail Week, Yacht Week). It really just comes down to what you’re looking for - I preferred a larger boat so we could meet more people. Our boat accommodated thirty and was comprised entirely of Aussies, save for myself and four Canadian friends. With three floors, the boat was spacious enough… the rooms are definitely tight quarters but who cares when you spend the majority of your time in the water or sunbathing on deck. The food was excellent, prepared by a Croatian grandmother - breakfast was a Continental spread, although I ended up eating pretty much the same thing every day - fresh bread, Emmental cheese, hot salami, fresh tomatoes, coffee and fruit. Lunch was a three (and sometimes four!) course meal, with soup and salad to start, an entree, and dessert. We ate everything from fish to chicken to meatballs to stews. Many of the dishes reminded me of my Italian grandmother’s cooking. However, the best part of the tour and where I spent the majority of my time was in the crystal clear, turquoise Adriatic Sea. With a hot sun, cool drinks and tepid water, it was dreamy.
Our first day on the boat was spent in Omis, a gorgeous riviera tucked between two cliff faces and famed for its history as a pirate hotspot. We hiked to the lower of two fortresses, Mirabella. From above, the town’s orange roofs stood in stark contrast to the sea which looked emerald green from our viewpoint. Dinner we enjoyed at a beachside restaurant, drinking Aperol Spritzes and freshly grilled calamari with seasonal vegetables (including my favourite - sauteed rapini!). The next day was spent swimming and later, river rafting on the Cetina and cliff jumping along the river. Along the river, we would see the most interesting shacks and campsites where people lived for the summers - full showers built into tree branches and the like. If you have a chance to do so when you visit Croatia, definitely add this to your list - it was a highlight.
Makarska
We unfortunately didn’t have much time in Makarska although that’s not to say we didn’t make the most of it. Dinner was a serendipitous event, as we happened upon a street festival celebrating a Croatian war victory, from what I gathered. Fresh seafood was barbecued along the port, with picnic tables set up and fairy lights strung, setting the mood for the festivities. Grilled fish, likely swimming an hour ago, calamari, prawns, crab, ceviche, mussels by the pound and anchovies were all on the menu. The evening till early morning was spent at Makarska’s famous cave club, Deep.
Stari Grad
The next morning we set sail early and a little worse for wear (which is why I sadly have no photos of this day) from the night previous. Stari Grad, a small fishing town on the island of Hvar, offered a lower key day to recover. Stari Grad is well known for its wineries, including a vineyard designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Lavender is also a trademark of this small town. Everything from ice cream to pasta was made with a lavender twist.
We wandered through town, enjoying the slower pace of life and contemplating what it would look like in the winter. In the town, there’s a popular historic site called Tvrdalj Castle, a fortified home to a 16th century poet and nobleman who took in the local populace when Hvar came under attack by the Ottoman Turks. The home has some beautiful gardens with an amazing koi pond. As you step inside, you can imagine life several centuries ago in this beautiful place and it makes you a bit sad for the pace at which we live now. As one of the inscriptions inside the house reads, “Alas the days flow by like waves and do not return.”
Hvar Town
Hvar Town is the Montecarlo of Croatia. Mega-yachts are overshadowed by super-yachts which look like toys next to the jumbo-yachts, all likely chartered by European starlets and oil tycoons. Everyone is tanned and stylish, wearing their best 2018 Resort espadrilles and kaftans. Everyone except us that is. We hiked, sweaty and red-faced in the 36 degree heat, to the fortress lookout which also happens to offer perhaps the best view in Croatia. The blue harbour is streaked by white wakes trailing the boats, with little round islands acting as natural wave breaks, protecting the port from the wavy Adriatic.
Dinner was on the terrace of a lovely little Italian restaurant - nothing special but then again, I ordered Pappardelle Bolognese so my comfort zone was well occupied. The pizza looked great. In the later evening, boats typically split their time between two clubs - Nautica and Carpe Diem (worth about 200 Kuna to get in, 40 dollars Canadian, but apparently one of the better clubs in Croatia). In case you are a party dusk till dawn type, I’ve also heard good things about Hula Hula - a sundown beach bar in Hvar. After some very restricted breathing and dance moves limited to head bobbing in Nautica, my boat decided to opt out of Carpe Diem and find a less crowded locale. We took over a small dive bar on the main strip and danced to late 90s and aughts classics until the early morning.
Korcula
Korcula was one of the most gorgeous towns along our route. The water is a thousand shades of blue, with mountain ranges rising in the background and blooming pink flowers everywhere you look. In the town centre, there’s a gorgeous cathedral, St. Mark’s, where you can climb the belltower for a 360 viewpoint. How Croatia managed to stay under the tourist radar for this long and with views that spectacular stuns me. We spent the better part of the afternoon strolling down small alleys, searching for the best gelato flavours, and taking a quick swim stop to refresh ourselves before dinner.
Mljet
Mljet roughly translates from Greek to honey, which is apropo considering it is an island largely populated by bees. Within the island sit two saltwater lakes, one at a slightly higher elevation than the other, lending itself nicely to a natural lazy river of sorts. Mljet was perhaps my favourite spot in Croatia. It is quiet and peaceful although the whole island seems to hum with the crowds of honeybees (which generally leave you mostly to yourself, for the buzz-averse).
We dropped anchor at a small cove off the island and floated around in calm, deep blue water for a few hours before docking. On shore, the island was steamy, reaching upwards of 36 degrees. Grabbing a bag of fresh figs and armed with GoPros, we set off on rented bikes to explore. Crystal clear blue lakes aside, riding around Mljet felt a lot like riding around Canada, with tall forests of coniferous trees framing the water.
For dinner, if you can get your hands on a jar of locally made capsicum dip, do so. We had a barbecue on our boat that evening with local delicacies including Cevapcici (a sausage, which tastes a lot like a hamburger in roll form), sauteed vegetables (eggplants are a staple of every meal), and the capsicum dip (which I proceeded to slather on bread, chicken breast and just about anything else I had on my plate).
A must-do on Mljet is star watching. Far from the light pollution of any major city, the stars are unfiltered and will take your breath away. A few drinks, some snacks, a small boombox, four old friends, a dozen new ones, and about five shooting stars made for my favourite memory of the trip.
Dubrovnik
As we sailed into Dubrovnik’s harbour on our last morning on the yacht, a huge white suspension bridge, connecting the town of Lozica to Dubrovnik greeted the eye. Not unlike the other towns we had visited before, Dubrovnik was hot - the heat radiated from the limestone streets. The natural response to hot weather when you’re in Europe is gelato. In the old town, along the main pedestrian street known as the Stradun, there is a fabulous gelato shop with dozens of flavours piled high in the glass casement. This is the best gelato in Croatia and I ate a lot of it, so I feel a certain level of expertise was achieved.
Walking through old town with a mint chocolate cone in hand, scenes of Game of Thrones play out in front of your eyes. The Jesuit Stairs in the centre of town are filled with tourists Snapchat mimicking Cersei’s Walk of Atonement, pointing at strangers or friends, yelling “shame” (a GoT Season 5 reference for the newbies in the crowd). Silicone Jon Snow models stood in souvenir shops, keeping guard against the white walkers and tourist hordes.
Similar to Paris, Dubrovnik restaurants often offer Happy Hour specials including half-priced drinks. If you’re looking for a good spot and a cheap drink, we had yummy radlers and Moscow Mules at a cute patio called Troubadour Jazz Cafe before grabbing dinner at Bona Fide Mex Cantina, just off the Stradun (counter-intuitive cuisine choice but delicious). For your evening entertainment there are lots of great options - we went to a bar called Skybar which, ironically, is underground. It is kind of grungy and a bit smokey but they have cheap bucket drinks if you’re into that kind of thing. If you have a few extra Kuna try Revelin, Croatia’s premiere club and a hotspot for international DJs.
The next day was a sad affair, as we said goodbye to our new friends, checked off the boat and into our new AirBnb. Who knew airconditioning, a full size shower and enough room to open your suitcase in your room could feel so luxurious? After a long shower and a quick nap, we were ready to head back into Old Town. Our first stop was at a lovely bar just off the Stradun, called The Bar by Azur. Their menu is in a cool spin-the-bottle type format, however we just stuck with a couple sparkling lemonades. Dinner was at a really cute restaurant just along the harbour, called Lokanda Peskarija. With the boats sailing to and fro, fairy lights strung, and an excellent people-watching perch, it was a lovely spot to spend a night. We shared a seafood dinner and salad and I could not recommend the seafood enough. The prawns were unbelievable, even after a week of delicious prawns.
After dinner, walk around the wall to a beach where you can watch the sunset and see the island of Lokum, just beside the water polo courts. It is a really nice spot to sit and relax. Fun fact - from here you can see a large rectangular building on the shore. Turns out that is the Europe’s first ever quarantine, built in the time of the plague to hold travellers for forty days before allowing them into the city (Get it? Quarantine... quattro?). Later that night, as we were walking through the town, a huge explosion went off. Along the street people froze, unsure what to make of it. Instantly I started panicking and searching for the source of the noise, as well as the nearest escape route. As people started rushing to one alleyway, phones in hand, I grew confused until I saw the sparkling remnants of a firework above the roofs. Within small alleyways, in a city of stone, noises reverberate exponentially louder. It gave me an appreciation for how frightening it must’ve been to live in Dubrovnik during the wartime Siege of Dubrovnik when the Yugoslav People's Army bombarded the town. It also made me sad that these days we are so accustomed to stories of terror and violence that it is not altogether unsurprising to jump to this conclusion first, rather than something far more peaceful and exciting, like fireworks. In the end, it was a really beautiful conclusion to our night.
The next few days we endeavoured to check a few final items off our Dubrovnik bucket list before heading home. The first stop was the City Walls. Apparently Dubrovnik is one of the few European cities with its original fortification walls still fully in tact. The walk is about 2 km and offers full sun exposure, so either go early morning or late afternoon, or go at the height of the afternoon and just wear white so no one can see how sweaty you get, as was my approach. From your elevated position you’ll see Buza Bar, a beach bar built into the rock face on the outside of the walls. After lunch at a shrimp streetfood shop called Pink Shrimp, Buza was our next stop. It’s a special watering hole, for locals and tourists alike, where you can enjoy a cold Karlovačko beer while watching the brave souls cliff diving from incredible heights. Dinner was homemade, in our AirBnb kitchen, with fresh produce from the market. Quick tip if you’re planning on cooking for yourself in Croatia - produce is best in the morning. Unlike in North America where grocery stores replenish the produce throughout the day, in Croatia what is delivered in the morning is what they have for the day. Try going earlier to get your literal pick of the crop, or run the risk of bruised fruits and veggies later in the day. Another quick tip - buy a Milka bar. I’ve never been a sweets person but my god, I could (and did) eat a duty-free sized Milka bar daily.
Montenegro
On our eleventh day, we decided to take a day-trip to Montenegro, which, as we had to explain to our Aussie friends accompanying us, is a different country (so bring your passport). It is a couple hours by bus to Kotor and expect delays so try to head out early to make the most of your time. Upon arrival we explored the town, which turns out has great coffee shops (check out O’Clock Coffee) and is a hotspot for knock off designer wares.
Most of the day was spent hiking to the Fortress of Kotor to get a better view of the famed Bay. Not going to lie, I struggled with this hike, especially considering I had not learned from my day at Plitvice and decided to wear sandals to climb 1350 stairs to a height of 1200 metres. However, my friends were patient and the views was spectacular. Definitely well worth the pain and it also provided my justification for eating the most decadently creamy chicken pesto pasta at Przun restaurant afterwards. If you are able, try to check out the two small islands off of Sveti Juraj, Sveti Đorđe and Gospa od Škrpjela. Sveti Dorde contains a 12th century Benedictine monastery as well as the graveyard for the nobility of the Bay of Kotor region. Gospa od Škrpjela is a man-made island, constructed of rocks and sunk ships, which hosts the church of Our Lady of the Rocks. There are a number of famous pieces of artwork within this church including a tapestry by Jacinta Kunić-Mijović, woven of silver, gold, and the artist’s hair.
Our last full day in the beautiful country of Croatia was spent kayaking around Dubrovnik. On our route, we went to a secret cave, around the island of Lokum and its famed nude beach, before hurrying home to beat an impending storm. Our final dinner was at Stara Loza, a Michelin Guide restaurant set in a 15th century building, with a spectacular terrace view over the old town. Other restaurants we considered were Absolute and Konoba Dalmatino. Meanwhile, at Stara Loza, overlooking the rooftops of Dubrovnik with a lifelong friend, local Korcula rose wine in hand, and a dinner of cool gazpacho and incredibly flavourful veal risotto, I felt nostalgia for the moment that hadn’t even passed yet. Before heading home we stopped by the beach to watch the most insane lightning storm over the Adriatic.
Croatia is truly an amazing destination, still mostly under the radar and with great potential as a young country of only about 25 years. The food is wonderful and the pace of life is slow. Although there aren’t tons of sights to see, unlike an Athens or a Rome, there is great natural beauty to be explored and there is something really nice about a vacation where you can truly feel rested, heart, soul and body, upon your return home.
