Europe 2006

First of all, let's get the answers to last blog's quiz out of the way:

1. False. Although all the guidebooks say that the coffee is horrible, and the Italians we spoke to are quite smug about the superiority of their coffee, I had no problem with the kavas we had here.

2. Trick question. If you're Canadian, then only 10 people can fit in a space designed for 10 people. If you're Croatian, the more the merrier.

3. True.

4. Oh... so false. With a couple of exceptions.

5. Unfortunately true.

6. True! It would be funny if it wasn't so awkward.

7. True, but only in the first morning of th first day in Croatia. After that, one smartens up.

8. False, completely. I read that on a forum somewhere, and I doubted it even before I left Prince Rupert. Pula is beautiful.

9. True, dude.

10. Well, I think it's true, considering my feet at the moment.

Moving on...

We spent four amazing days in Trogir, and I have nothing but good things to say about the city and about the people who rented the apartment to us. Now our apartment wasn't right in Trogir, but about a kilometer away, most of which was along a straight road, but the last bit was straaaaaight up a mountain. I'm hoping that I burned up some fat cells with the walks up and down.

On the first day we stuck to our patterns and walked around Trogir, checking out some sites but basically bumming around. We visited the old buildings in Grad Trogir (old Trogir), climbed the bell tower, etc. We wandered through the city, enjoying the juxtaposition of old and new. Everywhere you look on the way into the city are signs advertising apartments for rent; they mean of course for a night or two, not for Croats to live there permanently. There must have been hundreds available, thousands if you looked further along the coast. Our host, Ana (her aunt, Mrs. Buljan, owns the apartment we stayed in), told us that although Croatia, and especially the Dalmation coast, is crammed, plugged, clotted, and choked with tourists in June, July, and August, Croats don't really mind the breathtaking inconvenience of the crowds, as many of them make their entire annual income by catering to the tourists in those three months. But don't let anyone tell you that Croatia is an "undiscovered gem" in Europe. It's plenty discovered, but mostly by European tourists. Tons of Italians, Germans, Dutch. Some Americans, but not as many as one might think (not in Trogir, anyway). And Ana only knew of one other Canadian who had been visiting.

On day two we decided to be adventurous and take a ferry to a tiny island off the coast called Dvenek Mali (pronounced just like it looks). The adventure began in trying to co-ordinate our bus schedule with the ferry, which was almost impossible. Ana supplied us with a ferry schedule, but unfortunately it wasn't completely accurate ( see test question #3, and substitute the word "ferry" for "bus"). So we took the rickety bus to the nearby fishing village of Slatine (sla-TINE-a) and waited an hour or so for the ferry... in the blistering heat... we blew up one of our $1 swimming rings and played frisbee with it to pass the time. Slatine was actually kind of cool, as it really is an authentic fishing village, with saddle-brown old fishermen casting nets of unimaginable fineness out into the water to catch crabs along the bottom of the sea. The boats are small and look as if they've been around the bay a time or two.

So, onto the ferry to Dvenek Mali... a beautiful ferry ride, but is there any other kind of ferry ride when you're on the Adriatic? We reached Dvenek Veni first, which is the larger island and has lots of infrastructure such as roads, buildings, etc... but we didn't get off there, we continued on to the smaller island, Dvenek Mali, which doesn't really have any infrastructure; there are some paved laneways and stone houses here and there, but mostly it's just an island of trees and rocks. Lots of them. The guidebook says that one of the few sandy beaches in Croatia is on this island... but trust me... there is no sandy beach. But we thoroughly enjoyed diving off the rocks into the surf, swimming around, and discovering all the different marine life, including some rather startlingly burgundy coloured sea urchins and jellyfish (yes, the kind that sting). It was a wonderful afternoon.

The next day we decided to take a ferry to Split, which took about an hour, and again, was very scenic. Split is wild. Tourists galore. The ferry docks right in front of the Diocletian Palace, which is a huge, intact palace/fortress/small city-in-a-city which was built by the Roman emperor Diocletian in 300 AD; he lived there until his death in 313 then it became a haven for Roman emperors who were on the run. It's considered one of the most important Roman sites on the Adriatic, and what I considered surprising is that there are about 3000 people who actually live in there year-round. The tourist trade is uber-exploited though, with stalls and shops, restaurants, and other tourist hooks everywhere. Everywhere. It was still impressive, though.

The next day, Ben's birthday, was spent travelling from Split to Dubrovnik, but before we leave Trogir, I have to say something about the people who rented us the apartment. The owner's name is Mrs. Buljan, her neice Ana is the person with whom I corresponded by email from Canada about the rental and became very fond of, and the woman who picked us up and drove us to the apartment when we came to Trogir from Pula is Mila, a family friend. It took me quite a while to sort all this out. Anyway, this little group treated us like family. Ana came several times in the evening and chatted with us like an old friend, giving us information and an insight into how Croats feel about the changes to their country over the last few years. Mila offered to drive us the 5k to the nearest grocery store, where we painlessly loaded up on groceries for the 4 days we would be there. But Mrs. Buljan... she is the jewel in the crown. She doesn't speak a word of English, but her generous nature didn't need to be translated. When we first arrived in the huge, modern, impeccably clean apartment, there was juice, beer, and homemade pastries in the fridge. The next night we found a bottle of ice-cold homemade white wine by the front door. The next evening, it was a huge plate of fresh picked figs from her garden (which included pomegranates, limes, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and grapes). The last evening, she brought over another plate of homemade pastries, another bottle of white wine, and a huge platter of prociutto and cheese, which we later found out from Ana, who came over later that same evening with a huge plate of chocolate cake, that the ham and cheese was made by her grandmother in her village, from a family recipe. I have never met a group of people who were more generous, friendly, or helpful.

The trip to Dubrovnik was the wake up call. I... I don't think I can discuss it yet... it was too awful... I'll need a beer first, then I'll tell you all about it... if I can relive the memory *shiver*.