Croatia

Meade's Aunt Lynn came to visit from California in mid-October, which coincided with the kids’ and Meade’s mid-term break. For this holiday, we decided on Croatia, a country that we did not know very much about apart from the war there in the early 90s and having heard from others that it is a spectacular place. Turns out this is an understatement.

We stayed in an apartment in Cavtat, a small town across the bay from Dubrovnik, which was a great place to stay, as it was out of the hustle of Dubrovnik and its cruise ships, and the ladies who run the apartment transported us to/from the airport, picked us up in town when needed, arranged a rental car, brought us treats like pickled sardines and home-made olives, gave us tourist advice, and generally made us feel like home. It was up a hill about ½ mile from the beach overlooking a pool and the entire Adriatic coast. As it was easy to get around by bus and our hosts, we did not need a car, which was also great.

Highlights of the trip include:

Swimming in the Adriatic. While a bit chilly, the water is crystal clear and is bluer than any water we have ever seen. Apparently, seen from space, it is the bluest place on earth.

A day trip to Dubrovnik by boat. Dubrovnik is known as “the jewel of the Adriatic” (Lord Byron) and “paradise on Earth” (Bernard Shaw). Approaching this grand old city from the water was extraordinary. As you can see from the photo (first photo), it is an impressive sight-- the city is surrounded by ancient city walls that look out onto the endless shimmer of the Adriatic Sea. We walked all around the city walls in (for October) scorching heat, followed by a reward of ice cream for the hot and tired kids. We enjoyed a meal of mussels, risotto, and calamari (standard fare there) in a scenic plaza on marble streets surrounded by baroque buildings and local farmers selling grapa, olives, and fruit and veggies.

A day trip to Montenegro. Having no intention of visiting another country during our visit, or knowing much about it, we rented a car for a day and drove south to Montenegro. The drive there along the coast was spectacular and eerie, passing through war-torn and deserted villages as well as those still thriving. Once in Montenegro, things changed quite bit from Croatia. Being a member of the EU (Croatia is still not), and not having suffered the destruction during the war, Montenegro’s economy has been much stronger in the last 20 years, has more tourism, and is generally more frenetic. Felt a bit like Latin America. Armed with nothing but a hand-drawn map (that was not to scale) courtesy of our hosts and periodic torrential downpours, we really had no idea what we were getting into or where we were going. However, 10hours later we returned home having had one of the best drives of our lives. For part of the day we drove along a huge fiorded bay (Kotor Bay – largest fiord in Europe outside Scandinavia) with 3000 ft mountains rising straight from the sea. One of our stops included Kotor, a world heritage UNESCO city that like Dubrovnik, is walled and has nothing but stone streets and buildings, but unlike Dubrovnik is still a bit “ruined” and is sandwiched between this huge green bay and a steep mountain. Just above the city is a fortress accessed via a stone path built in the 13^th century that we ascended to give us views reminiscent of Princess Louisa Inlet in B.C. Another stop was Budva, another walled city, which is near to the “Montenegro Riviera” so while another spectacular walled city, was over-run with tourists. We watched the sunset over the Adriatic sipping a bit of wine while the kids played on the beach and we got ravaged by Balkan mosquitoes.

A day trip via boat to the Elafiti Islands. From just below our apartment, we boarded a 20 passenger wooden boat and spent 10 hours cruising north past Dubrovnik to a small chain of islands, three of which we visited. The day was sunny and warm, there was all you can eat fresh fish, and it was great to spend several house at sea. If mainland Croatia is two decades behind the rest of Europe, these islands belong to another century. Extraordinarily picturesque, unspoiled by money and tourism, and (like the rest of Croatia) villages that sit at the waters’ edge. Needless to say, a sailor’s heaven.

Food and Cafes. The food in Croatia, while not its best facet, suited us perfectly. Either large portions of meat (lamb, veal, pork or beef) cooked over a fire in rich sauces, or large portions of seafood (sardines, calamari, mussels, shrimp, and local fish). We often bought food from a local market or fishermen and cooked at home or ate in one of the fabulous cafes. The cafes are run by local families, have reasonable and fabulous food, coffee and wine, and most sit in either stunning plazas or right on the water’s edge where you are likely to see a portion of your meal swimming by directly below you.