How amazing is it to get to spend a week in Croatia, just when summer in Northern Europe seems to be winding down. After a week with family I hopped on a plane to Dubrovnik, where I would start leading an 8 day active trip. I was assigned a seat with extra legroom and had a comfy flight. Then I secured the second to last spot on the bus into the city center. Today I could take my time to arrive and not do anything work related yet. I had an airBnB in Lapad and went out for a walk along my favorite swimming spot. I didn’t feel like getting in the water, but there’d be plenty of time for that. I just enjoyed the views and appreciated being able to come back here once again. Every trip is a bit nerve-wrecking again, especially since I’m on the road less now and have to adjust every time. Different beds, different guests, different ways of organizing…
But look at that view! I felt the sun on my skin and decided to use the day before I’d meet my group to not only get some things arranged, but also visit a couple of museums I hadn’t seen in a long time. I first walked to the harbor to check on ferry timings, then visited the old town. Last time I’d hardly spent any time there because of the crowds. Now too there was a bottleneck getting through the ancient gates and the small streets. Cruise groups with their ear pieces wandered around the sites, following guides holding up signs. In was Sunday, so some of the churches had services and some shops were closed. I headed into the Franciscan monastery, which has a small exhibition on pharmacy items from the old days and mostly religious art. Maybe the best thing was the building itself, with a beautiful and green courtyard. I also entered the rector’s palace. I think the most interesting things were the iron treasure chests where they used to have their valuables, and the green ones: the life-sized statues of two men who ring Dubrovnik’s bell tower. The current bell ringer statues are replicas and the originals are in the rector’s palace.
Once I’d met my travel group, we went out on a guided walk of the city. It wasn’t what I’d expected and it was a bit suspicious that the guide suddenly wanted to cut the tour short after seeing her husband and kid. I hinted that we definitely had some more time and she made another small loop with us. The next day we had better luck with our guide, who took us on a hike on Koločep island. He shared many stories about the island, its people and his childhood there. A quick ferry ride dropped us off on this car-free island. We started walking up through the town of Donje Čelo and made our way through the forest towards the rocky coast. We saw ruins of an old church before we arrived at the cliffs. Boats were heading towards a blue cave as we walked along the cliff edge. the water below already looked so blue and with the high temperatures we couldn’t wait to jump in. But although we passed a point with a sketchy looking staircase to a rocky beach, we saved the swimming for the end of the walk. First we had a drink in the only other town on the island and then we made our way back past the many fruit trees towards the bay where we’d arrived. Finally! The water was amazing.
After another night in Dubrovnik we got ready for kayaking around the walls of the old town. The last time I kayaked was on the Spree river in Berlin a few months ago. I remember it being super hard and my arms screaming for a break every few minutes. Surprisingly kayaking on the sea felt lighter. We didn’t go fast and we took some breaks to float on the water and listen to our guide, but I was confused about not having more muscle ache the day after. During our swimming break the guides of the many groups, who had the same break location, were lifting weights with rocks they’d found in the area. After my arm workout in the kayak, I decided to do the legs on the city walls. I hadn’t been in several years (the entry price is crazy high these days), so I enjoyed the good views and the gusts of wind that cooled me down.
This trip included a couple of islands and we had one night on Mljet, which was really cool, because not too many people actually sleep on the island. We had a feast of fish for dinner and beat the crowds into the national park the next day. The national park is all about forest and lakes and after walking around the small lake, we took advantage of the swimming area at the small bridge. It was still quiet, with only a few other people around. As we lay in the water we saw big groups arriving and people passing on bicycles. Perhaps the loop around the big lake was a bit too much on this hot day. We were happy to arrive at the ferry docking spot, to cut off a part of the walk. With some of the group I checked out the monastery on the little island, before taking the next solar-powered ferry back to the small bridge. We had some time left in the town of Pomena to swim in the sea before our ferry took us to our next island destination: Brač.
The ferry was very late and somehow racked up more delay along the way. They made us enter on a ridiculously steep gangway while others were exiting. Then they let people on from two sides, making it chaos at the luggage racks. Meanwhile all the seats got occupied and I had people spread out over the whole ferry. I had my delicious dinner of a chicken wrap to-go from one of the Pomena restaurants and watched the ridiculous commercials on the ferry tv screen. People in sunglasses commercials tried to look seductively in the camera. At the time the party crowd disembarked at Hvar, we should have already been in Brač. But what can you do. Our driver had been waiting at the port of Milna for a while now, so when we were finally there he raced over the dark and empty island streets. That night, all we did was get ice cream at what may be my favourite place of the whole trip: Donika!
The next morning we met our energetic guide Kristina, who took us to the village of Dol. We went on foot and saw smoke in the distance. Was there a fire? But luckily it went away and we were good to continue. Our stop at Konoba Toni was great. Under supervision of the grandfather of the family we tasted some liquors and then sat down for a lovely light lunch on the terrace. Above us were grapes and kiwis on the trees. In the village we saw many other things, like pomegranates, capers and figs. There was no one else around, just us wandering through the steep streets.
To finish my time on Brač I went for a bike ride along the coast. Some of the group wanted to relax, and some others headed out to a beach further away from town: Lovrečina. The road there went gently up and down over the gravel. I had to get used to it on my bike, as I’m not such a hero when it comes to rocks on the road, but I made it. There is a strip of sandy beach and a concrete pier alongside it. But there’s also a little bar, so after a dip in the sea I went for a drink with some of the ladies in my group. On the horizon we could already see clouds and the sea was a bit more choppy than before. The weather was changing. That night we saw a lightning show coming through the clouds on the mainland. It was the warning for the next day…
That day we took a ferry to Split. I had just about enough time for my Split introduction on the van to the port. As we arrived, so did the massive ferry. It unloaded a bunch of cars and then started to let on foot passengers. As we sailed towards Split, all we saw was a big, dark blue cloud where the city should have been. It looked like it was raining heavily. Our ferry ride was only 50 minutes and yet the sky managed to clear completely in that time. We arrived in a Split filled with puddles, but in a sunny Split. However, our transportation wasn’t there. It turned out the bus driver and his van had gotten completely wet. He showed up with soaking wet shoes and clothes. We felt very bad for him. After leaving our luggage in the vehicle we continued to the old town. Hoses came through the Bronze gate because they were pumping the water out of the cellars. Around the cathedral in Diocletian’s palace, water had accumulated. And yet we weren’t the only tourists to arrive. It seemed like everyone had come out the minute the sun started shining.
Arriving in Šibenik that afternoon was a breath of fresh air. No more big crowds, just a few guided groups. And that night we went for a quiet walk along the St. Anthony’s canal. It’s a stunning path that’s mostly used by joggers. I timed it so that we started around the golden hour and gradually saw the sun lowering behind the islands. It worked out really well. There was a steep, but short climb to the viewpoint, but it was worth it. It was so beautiful to see the city and the surrounding islands in the orange glow of the sun. The clouds made the spectacle even more stunning. Only half the group still wanted to eat after that, as it was very late, but we had a nice meal outside, unwinding after the long day.
Time was flying and there was only one day left. In the morning we visited the Krka national park. Our driver didn’t seem so communicative, but delivered us safely at the national park. When we left the parking lot, there were a few big tour buses with us. We picked up the pace to head in front of them on the boardwalks. At the end, where the little ethno village and the restaurants are, it was very busy though. It was hard to get to the view points and the line for the toilets was insane. It seemed like two tour buses were in line. It doesn’t take away that it’s a beautiful place.
On the last afternoon everyone did their own thing. I’d created a treasure hunt and started to get messages with photos and answers to the questions. It was hilarious seeing all the great pictures and the effort people put in. In between I visited St. James church, which charges waaaay too much and the small city museum. My head didn’t feel like reading, so I mainly looked at the exhibition pieces, which are pretty similar to other museums of this type. I also heard sound checks coming from the fortress up the hill. It’s used as an event venue and this day there was a festival going on. A French band was playing funky tunes as I walked around the walls and enjoyed the beautiful views of the bay one last time. Then I made time for one last dip into the sea. That night the goodbye dinner was great. I’d printed photos that had been submitted for the treasure hunt, which caused a lot of laughs. Then I played my Croatia quiz, which even got attention from the waiters. The next day at the bus station, a woman approached and said she was at the restaurant that night too. She’d played along and had enjoyed it too! It really was a wonderful week.
