Croatia & Slovenia
Sorry I have been out of touch for a while, I sit here trying to figure out where the time has gone and I am coming up empty. Best bet is to start at the last time we wrote and move forward from there.
August was interesting because it felt like we were the only people NOT taking their summer holiday. John was incredulous that both of the office supply stores in Alba were closed for the entire month. I won’t mention just how many times he expressed his displeasure that their not being open was stopping him from becoming completely organized. If you have a Virgo in your life, you will understand the stress such lack of organization can cause. There was no other option but to….take a road trip!
Seeing the summer sliding away and the realization that a return trip to the States for John was on the horizon in September, not to mention the situation with the office supply stores, the decision was made to head to Croatia and Slovenia. We decided to take the car we shipped over from the States, John’s sports car, some model of a Volvo that most men and a few women nod admiringly in envy when they see it. I on the other hand commented that there was far too little space in the glove box.
CROATIA – Northern Dalmatian Coast
We were heading to a part of Europe that changed hands several times in the first and second world wars and recently endured a brutal civil war. Actually, Croatia more than Slovenia – the bad guy Milosevic who is now on trial for crimes against humanity among other things - gave Slovenia a pass after what is called the 10 day war. Croatia, suffered a large amount of fighting, but did not face the destruction and ethnic infighting and outright murder as Sarajevo. Still, the reality of what they endured was brought to a stark reality in the churches and town squares where most European towns have a list of names of the men who died and what war they fought in. In Croatia we saw the names and photographs of the men and women who died in that battle for their country and they looked like you and me. It makes one count their blessings.
Anyway enough of the history lesson, it’s just that when we set off on this trip I realized how little I knew about this place in the world. Somehow, I allowed myself to ignore the reality of war in what the newspapers referred to as the “former Yugoslavia”. Alas, I did not connect all of the dots until well into our trip, so when we crossed from Italy – at Trieste – into Slovenia – for only about 10 miles – then into Croatia. We were a bit nervous the first several miles not knowing how our Volvo with only one Oregon plate would be received. One of the plates was stolen in transit, so, if the second one got lifted, we would be in big trouble. There was not a single time we left the car that I wasn’t sure we would return with the second plate missing, I mean, how could such an obvious souvenir be passed up? Yet, we made it through the whole trip intact.
After being stuck in traffic leaving Italy, we decided to hit the highway to put some miles on the trip, and by lunchtime we were looking for something fast and simple. We pulled into a small town that was beautiful and clean and chose the spot where we could see the car. While hanging out after ordering we watched the next table full of old men who were nursing their beers while taking swigs off of something more toxic from a bottle hidden under the table. After a few minutes a middle-aged woman drove up, got out of her car and proceeded to make one particular older man at the table completely miserable. It is amazing how much you can figure out about a conversation without understanding a single word. After several minutes of an escalating tirade, she grabbed his cane and started banging on his chair trying to get him to give up his beer (which he was trying to finish) and come along with her. I can’t say that I blame the guy for not wanting to go with her, if she was this angry in public; I shutter to think what would happen once she got him alone. All we wanted was our mystery lunch and to get back on the road! At one point glasses started to fly and chairs thrown and amazingly no one, not his friends and not anyone from the fine dining establishment seemed to even think about intervening! Finally our lunch arrived and to our surprise it was…. Hamburgers! Anyway, by the time we finished our lunch the show was over and old guy finally gave up the bottle and got in the car.
We cut across to the coast to the town of Zadar with its beautiful white stone pavement and beautiful views. After a walk through town we continued down the coastline without a specific city in mind, and after a few rather weird false starts, we landed right outside of the town of Primosten in an apartment on a secluded and private cove. The property had several terraces for private lounging, or all out sunbathing next to the water. Technically we were facing Italy, but this part of Croatia is covered with small islands that make for beautiful scenery. We were happy to eat fresh fish, swim and enjoy small town summer evenings with traditional folk songs being sung in the town center of Primosten. On day trips we explored the towns of Split and Trogir. An interesting piece of history about Split is that it is the city that was originally built by Diocletian. He was in charge during one of the more mundane chapters of the Roman Empire (284). He chose to divide the Roman empire into two parts with an Augustus at the head of one half and a Caesar at the head of the other, I mean there is only so much one man can manage after your family is done conquering the world. After about 20 years of administering this process, he built what is the old town of Split for his retirement home. Let me say that he made a very nice choice and if at any point I am in the same position, I would not hesitate to construct for myself a similar safe compound in a warm climate. The hike up to the bell tower was a claustrophobics nightmare of narrow passages with steep stone stairs and many tourists, but magnificent views of the sea was marred only by the humungous cruise ships in the port. The cruise ships are a welcome arrival for the economy as they bring hundreds of visitors to the shops and restaurants for the day.
After several days of exploring the northern part of the Dalmatian Coast, we decided to leave the southern part for a future trip and head to Zagreb, the capitol.
CROATIA – ZAGREB
We love to travel to places where tourism is low, where restaurants and shops exist primarily for the people who live there. Zagreb is such a city. It has a beautiful center city with grand architecture lovely parks and a good tram system for public transportation. English is spoken by many people, especially those under 30. The city is safe and pedestrian friendly and lively with people coming and going and lots of café’s. There is not a ton to say about their cuisine other than it is honest and simple with grilled meats and soups both of high quality and delicious, but simple. Overall prices were quite affordable and we are planning a return trip.
When we were leaving the coast we met a couple who suggested a stop in the capital city of Slovenia – Ljubljana. Since Zagreb is very close to the Croatia/Slovenia border and Ljubljana only an hours drive, we decided to stop bye to check it out.
SLOVENIA – LJUBJIANA (pronounced -loobeyana)
Wow! Nothing could have prepared me for the beauty, the activity and the happening quality of this city. I guess when we started out on this trip not knowing what to expect, I envisioned impoverished and downtrodden cities from the “former Soviet Bloc” – boy I was wrong! Slovenia is an economically and politically stable country. The capital city has a river running through the center and is bustling with restaurants, bars and shops. There are a couple of small stages provided by the city for music in the city center so after a day of John photographing and city walking we were entertained by a local band that was pretty impressive. Slovenia has a very young, but impressive wine growing region and everyone we met happily if not proudly talked about their country and it’s bounty.
We decided to explore more of the countryside and headed in the direction of Lake Bled, a beautiful quiet retreat in the summer.
John and I have a deal, on travel days, we can eat at the roadside restaurants on the Autostrada called Autogrills in Italy, and I promise not to complain. As we ended up getting a late start leaving the city, we stopped at what looked to be a quaint Slovenian roadside restaurant. There appeared to be two people running the entire operation with a woman in the kitchen and a man running the floor. I honestly don’t remember what I ordered, but John ordered trout before he went off to explore the surroundings. I watched as the man came out with a net and headed towards a tank of water. Realizing that this trout was really going to be fresh – I start calling for John so he could witness the ….. capture of his lunch. He came back to the table all smiles and said, “Now THIS is what I call fast food!!!”
We got back on the road through beautiful scenery on new highways that cut through beautiful agricultural landscape. It appears they are using the Italian (and French and German) system of encouraging agricultural tourism with apartments and rooms in the countryside.
Lake Bled is the site of General Tito’s summer villa. Since he died it has been turned into a very nice hotel. Bled has also been host to a number of international conferences with lots of bigwigs staying in their most elegant hotels overlooking the lake and surrounding mountains.
HISTORICAL/POLITICAL ASIDE: For the record Tito is the guy who held Yugoslavia together since WWII (albeit with an iron fist), but was one of the only countries to hold the Soviet Union at arms length and remain independent.
That and he had a pretty cool house! They say that the entire property has not changed since he lived there, long hallways with sitting rooms peppered throughout.
We could go swimming on the lake. John rowed us to the small island in the middle of the lake. The island had a church where you could ring the bell and the sign promised if you could get the bell to ring, your wish would come true. Both John and I tried unsuccessfully to ring it separately and together until finally brains won out over braun when I figured it had more to do with momentum than force. All I will say is that I wished well.
The assistant manager of the hotel was generous with his time and gave us the run of the villa. It is amazing to consider that a man in his 40’s, he, his children and his mother were each born under a different government.
The best word to describe the whole experience is – tranquil. We spent two nights feeling like kings – or at least generals.
Unfortunately, we had to return to Italy quickly as we entered a particularly frustrating place to be - realtor hell. So we headed across the mountains through some of most famous battlegrounds of both WWI and WWII. Amazing!
We returned to a weekend long festa in our little town of Neive where the kids who are turning 18 in the coming year get all dressed up and wear sashes with their birth year on them – very sweet.
I love this adventure!
Ciao
Donna