There are two countries that are ranked very high to visit while I’m here: Croatia and Turkey.
While they may seem like to wildly different choices, I actually think there are a lot of similarities between the two. Namely, they are both countries with strong, multiple cultural identities. Croatia is both Mediterranean and Eastern European. Turkey is both European and Asian (well at least that’s a point of discussion). Both countries are incredibly proud of their language, culture and history.
However, I admittedly know very little about Croatia. At least with Turkey I’ve studied it a bit, mostly the politics, their issues with the Kurds etc. However, Croatia does not come up that often in the grand scheme of international politics.
Nonetheless, I’ve meet countless people who have all mentioned Croatia in some form. My Aunt has been raving about it for years (since she started going there more often for work), my friend Dylan, Vanessa, Professors and other random people I’ve met along the way.
When Agi found out I was moving to Spain for the year she suggested she and I take a trip to Croatia. Didn’t have to ask me twice! I had assumed that it would be a trip we would plan for later in the spring, but it turned out Agi was going to Croatia for work anyway and last minute we booked my flight and hotel apartment accommodations.
I was ecstatic.
I was able to talk to my school and get Thursday off, and I left my house to leave for the Barajas airport at 11am a week later. Almost 12 hours later, I around 12pm I arrived in Dubrovnik, after a layover in Barcelona and Zagreb.
So picture this: I’m sitting happily on my 1 1/2 hour flight from Zagreb to Dubrovnik. I’m looking forward to seeing Agi, landing in Croatia and getting away from the guy next to me who keeps sneezing (my hand sanitizer came in very handy). I’m reading an interesting article in the onboard magazine about the first Croatian female journalist and her political activism against Hungarian power (did I mention that Croatia used to be run by Hungary?).
The very friendly pilot gets on the speaker and speaks for a few minutes in Serbo-Croatian. All the sudden half of the plane groans. Uh oh. Then, he comes on again and in a very cute English accent announces that there is a strong crosswind and we may have to return to Split and land there. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Then, the other half of the plane (who are all Americans, some sort of Smithsonian trip excursion) groans. I turn to sneezing guy next to me and ask how long Split is from Dubrovnik. He says 4 hours. Damn.
Luckily, the pilot is able to land the plane in Dubrovnik and we land a bit rocky but fine. The plane bursts into applause and I’m in Croatia!
And now begins my whirlwind trip through Croatia - Dubrovnik, Trogir, Zadar, Plitvice Lakes National Park, Split, Zagreb. All in 3 days!
Dubrovnik
Agi was able to rent a very cute apartment a half hour walk from oldtown Dubrovnik. It was fun seeing the Eastern European decour – reminded me a lot of my uncle’s apartment in Budapest. We even had fresh pomegranates from the tree outside the apartment, but overall I’m not a pomegranate fan (even though Granada means pomegranate in Spanish).
A few highlights from Dubrovnik:
We walked around on the old city wall. Some of the city was destroyed in the bombings in 1991 but they did a great job restoring it.
You can also see the harbor and some of the huge cruise ships in the distance. Dubrovnik is one of the number one tourist destinations. Luckily, since it was October it wasn’t peak tourist season but it was still pretty crowded. Apparently Dubrovnik has a very deep harbor, making it very easy for large cruise ships to dock relatively close.
Tourism has boomed in Croatia and it’s one of its number one industries. However, while this is great for their economy it’s not the best for crowd control. Apparently the city is in discussions of capping how many people can come in per day. The logic is that if they limit the amount of people entering, people will spend more time eating and shopping because it is more comfortable to get around.
After spending the morning exploring Dubrovnik and buying sour cherry pastries we packed up the car and headed along the main costal highway – highway 8 or E 65. This was an incredibly beautiful drive and Agi and I kept trying to find places to pull over to take pictures.
At one point you actually drive through Bosnia – it was a part of the coast that was given to Bosnia as a concession after the breakup of Yugoslavia.
Bosnian Flag
Me in Bosnia!
While driving we passed a town that Agi recognized because it is the site of some really well preserved Roman ruins. The intrepid travelers that we are, we decided to investigate and it ended up taking much longer than we had expected. However, I got to see some more backroads and smaller towns which was cool to see.
We eventually found the Roman ruins only to be interrupted by a wedding party. This became a theme in our trip – everyone was getting married that weekend! The bride and groom came into the museums and posed in front of the Roman ruins! It was a cool backdrop, but not so sure how the archeologists would have felt about that.
Roman Ruins
After the Roman ruins we were running a bit late so we decide to forgo the costal highway and try out the new super highway they just built. We tried it a few times and each time we were one of the only few countries on the road.
At one point there was a sign that just had a light up exclamation mark like this (!) That was it. Pretty vague huh? Agi and I found it hilarious and luckily their warnings to watch out were unnecessary.
Next up was Trogir:
We arrived at night and called the apartment owner for directions to get to the place. Once again, things are not always as they seem and the apartment turned out to be miles from downtown tucked away on a hill.
Nonetheless we finally arrived and the owner brought us to a supermarket where we bough some soup and sandwich fixings for dinner. Agi, who as most of you know travels all the time also came well prepared:
She brought Mad About You!
Cool old castle in Trogir. There was a football game next to the castle. What a backdrop!
It's right by the water.
Split:
Split was a beautiful and picturesque city. While its urban sprawl is getting pretty large, the old town has beautiful old roman architecture
It also has a really creepy wizard statue. It’s good luck to rub its toe.
Diocletian's Palace:
Video of Dalmatian singers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JqR1iEvK8g
Note: This means people from Dalmatian coast, not the dog breed and inspiration for wildly successful Disney movie.
On our way out we noticed this bank: Note the modern office furniture but the old roman walls. I would love to work here!
Zadar
Next we visited Zadar, a beautiful town right on the water. I knew I would love this place because look at what we found within minutes of parking!
An Ugri- Bugri ( Dad, is that correct way to write that?) This was one of my favorite things when I was little and we would visit family friends in Lake Balaton in Hungary
Gorgeous Sunset
Cool light show
Zadar is most famous for its sea organ. A famous Croatian artist designed these metal pipes that are underneath the boardwalk. When the waves crash they hit the pipes and make music – it’s beautiful and very ethereal and eerie. I’ve been looking for a cd of the sea organ music because I think it would be great yoga music.
Video of the organ that I took:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R_aA-zsIrg
Plitvice Lakes National Park
That night we drove to Plitivice Lakes, a very famous national park in Croatia. Agi wanted me to see the nature, not just the cities, in Croatia and I’m really glad we visited even though we could only hike for about an hour the next morning. I also really appreciated the freedom of traveling when you have a car – I’m so used to public transportation and it’s a lot harder to get to these national parks without a car. However, Agi says that there is a bus to Split for those interested in going!
We stayed in this ski-like lodge that was super comfortable and had wi-fi! I was happy to get on the computer after a few days without internet. At night it was pretty cold, so having a warm and cozy bed made for a great night’s sleep.
After a quick walk near the waterfall and lakes (the park ranger guy was surprised to see us back after he had just given us the map) we headed over to Zagreb ( my plane was leaving in a few hours).
Zagreb
After getting lost once arriving in Zagreb (warning to future visitors – Croatia is not so great with road signage) we dropped off Agi’s stuff at her hotel and walked around the city for a bit.
Since it was a Sunday a lot of things were closed but it was still a very beautiful city.
Old sort of fairytale like church
There were a lot of signs with this motif:
If you were leaving a city they would have the name of the city with an X crossing it out. In this place, apparently they no longer had plascinta (Hungarian style crepes).
Agi then drove me to the airport and dropped off the rental car while I was doing some last minute sour cheery chocolate shopping. We had one last cup of coffee and said our sad goodbyes.
A few closing thoughts:
So that in a recap was my whirlwind trip to Croatia. I had a great time seeing Agi, and finally seeing the country that she had been raving about. Most people we met were very friendly, spoke excellent English and it was a great trip.
It’s always a bit strange for me to travel to new countries when I am currently living in another one. Last time, when I was in Granada we traveled to Gibraltar (a British territory in southern Spain) and it was totally bizarre to hear English and eat British food.
This time I of course expected the culture to be different but there was a lot of it that seemed very familiar – either from my connections to Eastern Europe (namely the old soviet architecture) and food (we also found pogotcha, one of my favorite Hungarian breads). However, there was also a lot that reminded me of Spain – such as the café culture.
I’ve also become much more attuned to language since coming back to Spain, and the fact that I’m trying to teach one probably also has something to do with it. I kept thinking people were speaking Hungarian, even though the languages are very different. However, there were a few words in common and I think more than anything our brains try to make the unfamiliar seem familiar.
Since it’s been almost a month since I’ve gone this has been fun remembering my trip to write this post. It really is a wonderful country and I do hope to go visit it again soon. It’s just another reminder of how much there is to see in this world – and how even the seemingly “random” countries (as some people have commented to me, “why are you going to Croatia??”) have so much to offer.
