We were heading for the town of Trogir, which is about fifteen miles west of Split and which is the best preserved Romanesque-Gothic complex, not only in the Adriatic, but in all of Central Europe and inevitably therefore a UNESCO World heritage site.
It was mid morning when we arrived and the town was already very busy.
Posted in Beaches, Croatia, Europe, Food, History, Natural Environment, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Dalmatia, Life, Photography, Split, Travel, Trogir, Zadar
After a drive to Mostar in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina we returned to Croatia to the seaside resort of Gradac and booked into the Hotel Marco Polo that was located directly on the beach and had a room with a balcony and a view of the perfectly blue Adriatic Sea.
After settling in we walked along the seafront looking for a bar with a view of the sunset but as the town is situated in a bay and faces south this proved stubbornly illusive. We found a nice restaurant that was entertaining a noisy birthday party and we agreed that this looked good for later on.
When we returned the party had gone and it was much quieter but I think the staff were worn out and weren’t in the mood for doing any more cooking because most of the menu was unavailable and the waiter presented us with a choice of fish starter, fish soup and fish of the day. This turned out to be a real bonus because the octopus salad starter was delectable and the fish was succulent and delicious.
Posted in backpacking, Croatia, Europe, Food, History, Hotels, Literature, Postcards, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatian Islands, Dalmatia, Greek islands, Hvar, Life, Photography, Travel
It was our last day in Croatia and we were driving north from Dubrovnik to the airport at Zadar.
Travelling north-west with the Dinaric Alps soaring above us inland and catching a few clouds as they rushed in from the sea we spied orange roofs, blue sea, white beaches – the idyllically typical Central Dalmatian village of Primošten which occupies an especially pretty little promontory jutting out from the mainland into the sea.
In the past Primošten was situated on an islet close to the mainland and was protected by walls and towers and it was connected to the mainland by a draw bridge.
When these protective arrangements were no longer required the draw bridge was replaced by a causeway and in 1564 the settlement was named Primošten after the Croatian verb primostiti which means to span. This old part of the town is built on a hill and is dominated by the parish church of St. George which was built in 1485 next to the local graveyard from which there is a stunning view over the sea and the surrounding mountains.
This was probably the most picturesque of all of the Adriatic towns that we passed by or visited on our journey and it was lovely here today but I imagine that it can get a bit overcrowded in high summer.
We only made a very short stop because time was moving on but we found time to sit on the side of the harbour and have a drink in the sun next to some expensive looking charter boats that were moored up nearby and a table full of racing push bikers all looking ridiculous in brightly coloured skin tight lycra and insect shaped helmets.
We carried on along one of the best parts of the journey and the old old main road took a scenic route that was never more than a few metres from the sea and the shingle beaches and with good views over the Adriatic Sea and the inviting looking islands.
Except for the fact that the road wasn’t at a high elevation with imminent danger of crashing over the side of a mountain this did remind me a great deal of the Amalfi drive in Italy. The road snaked along the coast with its inlets, yacht harbours and picturesque coastal villages and always running directly underneath the limestone mountains that rose dramatically just a few hundred yards or so inland.
Apart from the location and the view Primošten is quite unremarkable, no famous people were born there or lived there, nothing notable happened there in history and according to Wikipedia the only thing that seems to happen there these days is an annual donkey race.
Posted in Arts and Crafts, Beaches, Croatia, dubrovnik, Europe, History, Literature, Natural Environment, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Dalmatia, Life, Photography, Primosten, Travel, Šibenik, Šukosan
When it comes to taking pictures I like doors, statues, balconies and washing lines, Kim on the other hand likes people pictures so I thought I might share a few of them with you.
This one was taken at the Croatian ferry port at Trpanj .
the picture rather intrigues me, eight men having a beer but none of them in conversation, as if each is lost in his own private thoughts,
What are they thinking I wonder. Any ideas?
Posted in Arts and Crafts, Croatia, Cyclades, Europe, Food, History, Natural Environment, Postcards, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Croatian Islands, Dalmatia, Dalmatian Coast, Jadrolinija, korcula, Life, Photography, Travel
There was a fabulous start to the day with a brilliant blue sky and bright sun and this meant that our host Iveska had arranged breakfast on the terrace and she supplied a never ending supply of hot tea and local Croatian pastries. Iveska was full of information about Croatia and made useful tourist recommendations. I told her that we planned to visit Mostar today and asked if the best route was over the mountains or down the coast? She was certain that the best way was to drive inland but she said this wasn’t very picturesque so when we left I disregarded this advice, in the way that men ignore driving instructions from a woman, and obstinately went south down the coast.
Posted in Croatia, Europe, History, Hotels, Natural Environment, Travel
Tagged Adriatic Sea, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dalmatia, Dalmatian Riviera, Dinaric Alps, dubrovnik, Gradac, Mostar, Omiš, Pink Inn, River Naretva
Continuing north-west with the Dinaric Alps soaring above us inland and catching a few clouds as they rushed in from the sea we stopped at the attractive little town of Primošten which occupies an especially pretty little promontory jutting out from the mainland into the sea. In the past Primošten was situated on an islet close to the mainland and was protected by walls and towers and it was connected to the mainland by a draw bridge.
We were heading for the town of Trogir, which is about twenty kilometres west of Split and which is the best preserved Romanesque-Gothic complex, not only in the Adriatic, but in all of Central Europe and inevitably therefore a UNESCO World heritage site. It was mid morning when we arrived and the town was already very busy. The old city is built on a little island, only separated from the mainland by a few metres and with access to it over a small bridge.
Just north of Ploce we stopped and pulled over to view the Baćinska Lakes, a pearl of unspoiled nature covering twenty square kilometres and consisting of seven lakes with their brackish water forming a turquoise ring surrounding the lush pine clad hills. The lakes are located between the Neretva River Delta, the sea and the surrounding mountains and their names are: Ocusa, Crnisevo, Podgora, Sladinac, Vrvnik and Plitko Jezero. We didn’t stay long and returned to the car and continued towards our intended first destination of Gradac.
In the morning the anticipated improvement in the weather did not materialise and we were greeted again with the lump of cloud sticking to the mountain over the Pelješac canal like a giant zeppelin whilst all around there was blue sky. The cloud cast a giant shadow over the town of Korčula and that was a shame because we had hoped to see the red tiled roofs under blue skies and sunshine but it seemed that it was not to be.
Posted in Croatia, dubrovnik, Travel
Tagged Croatia, Croatian Islands, Dalmatia, Dalmatian Coast, Jadrolinija, Orebić, Pelješac, Trpanj
We did some more wandering about but we were beginning to cover the same ground now so we left the walled city by the Pile Gate and with the unused portion of the previous day’s ticket for the visit to the walls visited the adjacent fortress of Lokanda Peskarija which included an awful lot of steps to climb but the reward was an excellent final view over the city and its famously restored red tiled roofs and I wondered just why anyone would want to destroy something so beautiful.
Posted in Croatia, Europe, History, Travel, World Heritage
Have Bag, Will Travel 