Croatia 2023

 

Croatia cruise followed by a visit with Michael and family in Zagreb

 

Monday May 29- Dulles to Vienna on Austrian Air 

May 30- Vienna to Dubrovnik on Austrian Air. Our ride from the airport left us at the Pili Gate, which is the main gate into the old city, and two members of the Stari Grad staff met us to carry our bags to the hotel. Even though it was mid to late afternoon the crowds were still filing into the old walled city. Our hotel was about 100 steps inside the gate to the left just past the main fountain (fed by aqueduct) and just before the Game of Thrones tour HQ. After figuring out our hotel room we went to a vegan restaurant, which we happened on by chance but later found out was a local favorite. We also found out that today was Croatian Independence Day.

Wednesday May 31- After breakfast at the Above 5 restaurant in our hotel, we had a Context tour led by Jure. First stop was a suburban village about 20 minutes away called Cavtat. It was where the first people in the area settled. When they had to flee from invaders they went to the current site of Dubrovnik and were its first settlers. Not sure when either of these happened but it was the Slavs who ran them off. The town itself has a city wall and harbor and is much like a mini but less crowded Dubrovnik. Jure told us about how he was very bored as an extra in a Nicolas Cage movie filmed there. After our walk around Cavtat including up to the mausoleum of Croatian most famous sculptor Ivan Mestrovic (who cast the famous Indian statues in Chicago), we went up a mountain (Srdj Hill, however you pronounce that) where we had a great view of Dubrovnik.

 

 

 

On the way back to D itself, we had a view of Bosnian passport control and into Bosnia. Jure told us that due to some arrangement way back D allowed Bosnia or the predecessor Ottoman Empire to have about 20 km of coast line to entice them to protect D from the rival Venetians. This has continued with Bosnia now having the 20 km. Until very recently the Croatians going from one part of the country to another had to face Bosnian passport control and long delays. Then the UN gave Croatia 85% of the money needed to build a bridge to bypass Bosnia and the Chinese got the contract to build it.

Jure took us around to many places inside the old city including a former monastery that houses a beautiful cloister and the oldest pharmacy in the country; another former monastery that is now a museum to those who lost their lives in the first day of the war that started in 1991 (Yugoslavians, Montenegrins, and Serbians the aggressors); a former orphanage for the maids misused by the nobles where there was a turnstile to put the babies in to keep everything anonymous; a place where the monks wrote a curse on the wall trying to keep boys playing football quiet during their rest time and where the boys answered back; a farmers market where we bought sugared orange slices and croaking frog imitators; the city hall where the mayors were elected for a term of one month only; one of the old palaces owned by an artist who photographed himself outside of it as it burned when the war for independence was going on; and a cathedral where during the repairs from an earthquake the archeologists found a Byzantine church under the wreckage, and also the site where Jure was baptized.

 

 

Jure, who was a fantastic guide, left us here but recommended a wonderful gelato place for lunch (Giani’s) and a boat ride over to the botanical garden island called Lokrum which at one time was owned but the Hapsburg Prince Maximilian and his wife Charlotte. I didn’t see any new birds on the island but there were many, many pea cocks and pea hens who can trace their lineage back to Max.

 

Jure told us a lot about the history of D, Croatia, and Yugoslavia but it is very complicated and I am not sure I understand it. What I do understand is that in the old days D was independent for about 500 years until Napoleon and was a buffer between the sphere of influence of Venice and the Ottomans; that Slovenia and Croatia (NW part of old Yugoslavia) are RC, that Bosnia is Muslim, that the feelings among the Balkans are so tenuous that Bosnia has been forced to give a swath of its land inside it as Little Serbia, and that Serbia, Northern Macedonia and Montenegro are Greek orthodox.

I am reading People of the Book again on this trip and so getting a peripheral look into the festering stew that has been the Balkans. The book is about the famous Sarajevo Hagaddah, an illustrated book of Old Testament stories drawn by a Jew in the early 1400s.

Then we retrieved our bags from the hotel and got a cab to the Port of Gruz (15 minutes) where La Belle de L’Adriatique was waiting for us. 

The Belle is part of the CroisiEurope line (35 ships) catering mostly to French passengers. We are 2 of 4 Americans and 12 English speakers out of 150 or so on the cruise.

 

Thursday- June 1- Overnight we stayed in the port of Gruz and the main activity of the day was another tour of the old town of D. We went with the English speaking guide Anna for the start of her tour but then we split off to walk the wall. There were countless steps up and down but it was only 2km in length.

 

This is from Anna telling us more about the history.

Dinner was set for 8 pm and we did not like the idea of eating that late so we skipped lunch and dinner and went for pizza and risotto at about 4. That turned out to be a really good plan- dinner was still going on at about 10.

June 2- Boka Bay and Kotor, Montenegro- Our guide was Jelena, like Helena but pronounced Yelena. 

Kotor is another walled city with a rich trading past situated at the end of a long fjord like bay created by glaciers. Inside the wall there are lots of somewhat small public squares, each with a distinctive name. We observed many of the old palaces and visited St Tryphon’s cathedral (21 year old who would not renounce Christ in pre Constantine times and lost his head for his faith). He is now protector of the city and everyone (RC, Orthodox, and Muslim) celebrate once a year when his relics are paraded through the streets. We also made a short visit to the Maritime Museum, looked in the door of the Cat Museum, saw a black poplar tree planted in 1667, and walked the lower part of the city wall. In old times the city needed defending from the sea (relatively easy with a big iron chain across the narrowest part) and from the hills behind town. The city has the third longest, continuous wall in the world that goes way up to the top of the mountain. We did not have time or I know Connie would have climbed it.

Saturday June 3- Mljet 

We have now backtracked and gone past Dubrovnik heading north. Today’s first stop is Mljet, named after the word for honey, and supposedly the place where Calypso kept Odysseus for some number of years. 

La Belle attached to a mooring ball and we got to the island in the lifeboats. I felt a little like Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips.

 

One third of this island is national park. It has signs up about no swimming, no fishing, and no picking flowers, all of which I saw violated in the two hours we were there. We had another excellent guide who took is up and down the 124 steps, past a small salt water lake (connected underground), to the large “lake”, also salt water. There we caught a solar powered boat over to a former Benedictine monastery and church called St. Mary’s established in the 12th century. The remains of Roman villas have also been found in this area.

 

It surprised me to learn that there had been poisonous snakes on this island. The monks brought in mongeese from India to wipe them out, and now the mongeese prey on birds and chickens.

Benedictines are known for seclusion from the population and work and prayer. By work they mean vineyards or transcribing scrolls not hard manual labor.

After the trip to the church we took the solar boat back and then had a slow walk back to the dock. Our group is old and not very fit.

I will let the photos address the natural beauty of the vegetation and the water.

 

After lunch back on board we go to Korcula next.

Walk around town with Bozana, All Saints Church, city museum, a 3/4 lap around the city, sword dance- a touch of rain.

 

Sunday June 4- Sibenik We walked the town on our own. Very similar to the other towns so far.

UNESCO site- St. James cathedral. We did not go in because of services. We met the guide to go by bus to Krka Falls about 10 km from city. I have to let the photos do most of the description.

 

Tonight was the crew music show on board La Belle. What a surprise it was to learn that Mary who took care of our cabin was the lead singer and quite talented:

Monday- Trogir in the morning and Split in the afternoon. It was raining for most of our visit to Trogir, which is I found unremarkable, compared to Split with Diocletian’s palace, built with slave labor in one year. Split is the second largest city in Croatia with 170,000 people. The shell of the palace and a few places inside have been rebuilt, but when the Slavs came in in the 7th century they destroyed most of the palace to use the stones to build house for themselves within the protective walls of the palace. Later when Napoleon came through the town expanded westward beyond the walls.

Another Mestrovic horseman: His sculptures seemed to be everywhere.

 

I went with Mila and a couple of others for the tour and then met Connie who went for a walk in a park on the northern side of the palace. I became the tour guide for a few minutes and then she and I climbed the 235 steps up to Marjan peak number one for a view of the whole town and the harbor (many tour boats including some very large ones).

 

Diocletian (died in 305) was known as a good administrator of the huge Roman Empire and a persecutor of Christians. He divided the Empire and then retired to live in this palace with his wife and daughter and 1000 servants. He built his mausoleum here on top of which now is a catholic cathedral.

Connie and I stopped along the promenade for a light dinner and ended up sitting next to a very chatty English man from Worcester who came to Split for a wedding on Vis. We did not have any opening or privacy to talk to each other during this dinner.

Tuesday, June 6- Hvar

Hvar is billed as the St. Tropez of Croatia, pop. 14000. It was in the realm of Venice rather than Dubrovnik. The history is similar- Greeks and Romans until the Slavs came in the 7th century, then under Venice 14th C till Napoleon, then Hapsburg until WWI, Yugoslavia after WWII until 1991.

We went to town on the first lifeboat. As soon as we arrived at the city quai, it began to rain hard with lightning. We went right back to the ship. After lunch it cleared and we went in again for a one hour tour with Anna after some wandering on our own.

 

We saw the Venetian Duke’s palace, now the Elisabeth Hotel, the Venetian fort high on a hill, an even higher fort built by Napoleon which is now an observatory, the V armory, St Stephen’s church and the big plaza. The plaza divided the  town into the noble side and the common people side. After civil war within the town, a new duke, whom no one liked, managed to pacify both sides and as a gesture built a theater open to everyone.

Hvar is known for lavender and rosemary as well as wine. One of Hvar’s most famous citizens had to leave among many other in the mid to late 1800s due to a pest in the vineyard. He went to Argentina, became a policeman, was the first to use fingerprints to solve a crime, and was a founder of Interpol. 

 

The town has a wide promenade affording great views. It seems the epitome of a sun drenched Med resort, although off season it might be better due to less of a crowd.

This was the night for the Gala dinner, our Chef's showcase. But it started late and then it took even longer than usual to get to all the tables. Plus, there was an extra course or two. Most of the people at our table left early but Connie and I stayed to see what was featured as the dessert- Norwegian omelette. This turned out to be Baked Alaska.

 

Wednesday June 7- on to Zagreb

No problems getting from the port Gruz at Dubrovnik to the airport other than riding in the bus with a lot of coughing French folks from our cruise. It was a short flight; the Hotel Dubrovnik in Zagreb is centrally located, a short walk to the town's main square, near a pretty big park, and very close to Michael and Jeanie. Our room is so spacious compared to the cabin on the ship.

After unpacking we walked over M&J’s apartment and met Maida on the steps. Perhaps she has forgotten me- she kept referring to me as “man”, and to us as Momopop.

We all walked to a playground and then to dinner in a Lebanese restaurant near our hotel. Maida didn’t eat much but enjoyed playing with a Russian nesting doll. She constantly babbles in a language only Michael, Jeanie, and Utche the nanny from Nigeria and Italy seem to understand. However she charmed our two waiters. We got to the restaurant by walking down Tesla Street and during our after dinner walk we found the Nicola Tesla statue. 

This is one of many seated figures in bronze downtown and I think a walking tour to go with them.

 

Croatia claims him but I think he was really Yugoslavian if not Hungarian. Here I am with Marco Polo, whom Croatia also claims:

June 8- We met Michael at the apartment and walked to a local restaurant they hadn’t been to. After an early lunch C and I went to the Museum of Broken Relationships which is s crowd sourced museum started in the early 2000s. Many sad stories and a few funny ones along with artifacts commemorating each story. Then we wandered a few of the quaint streets learning a bit about Croatia along the way. Croatia claims to have invented the tie as part of soldier's uniforms. Cravat= Croat. There were a few stores that exhibited trinkets with an early Slavonic alphabet on them called "glagolitic".

We met J for dinner at a very nice sort of Italian restaurant right next to our hotel- her first adult night out in a long time.

Friday June 9- Meeting M and J for an English walking tour of Z.

Well, almost. The tour was cancelled so we met M at Dolec Market (a huge farmer’s market), visited a couple of sites used for his movie, and ate lunch. 

Later in the afternoon we took a WWII, Communism, and Croatian Homeland War tour with Vid from FreeSpirit Tours. Vid made the tour even more interesting than seeing the sights of the tour by talking about his family’s views of what was going on. The tour also included a quick overview of Balkan and Yugoslavian history. Vid asked if anyone in our tour (about 25 people) had been to Y during the Tito era. One Brit had come as a teen and was amazed he could get “Honky Tonk Woman “ here when he couldn’t get it at home. 

Croatia or the Kingdom of Croats and Slovenes had its collaborators during WWII. This forbidden symbol now shown in a vandal's graffiti represents the group Ustase which the characters in People of the Book were fighting as partisans with Tito in the hills:

 

The Poles and East Germans thought the Tito era was wonderful because things were so much more open in Y than at home for them.

During WWII and the Homeland War up to 5000 people could find safety in a series of tunnels under one of the hills in Zagreb:

 

 

We finished the tour in a bunker where people would have hidden when Z was bombed during the Homeland War. Vid admitted there were Croatians who committed crimes as horrible as the Serbs had. All in all it was complicated and there are still strong feelings but peace.

This is the map of the states resulting from the Homeland War and the demise of Yugoslavia:

 

 

 

Dinner at M’s apt prepared by Utche.

 

One thing to add about our hotel which has a restaurant called the American Steak and Grill. There a lamb chop is called a “tomahawk steak”.

Saturday, June 10- We took Maida on a big adventure to the Maksimir Zoo. I really liked the meerkats and the dwarf mongeese.

 

It started to rain hard and we had to run for cover and to try to find a tram back. Eventually we did, I couldn’t figure out how to pay, but we found our hotel for a change of clothes. We didn’t know it at the time but M was playing with our tv remote (she was using it as a phone to call M’s friend Noah) and put it somewhere we couldn’t find it. I think it might be in the stroller. 

Later after M’s nap, we went by car to a 12th century castle on top of a twisty road in a huge forest. We got there too late to go in but we saw some great views of Z.

 

 

June 11- home via Frankfort. Dulles was a zoo.