The journey to my homeland…but I use homeland lightly because I’m really only 25% Croatian. But Yurkovich (Jurkovic) is Croatian so I still feel like it’s a big part of my identity. So here’s how it went:
Split:
On a Thursday morning, we flew into Split, which is on the Northern end of the Dalmatian Coast. It was an early morning (flight left London at 6am so we had to wake up at about 3:00am…don’t plan on doing that again). But we got to Split at a decent time, which was good because we weren’t spending the night there. We walked out of the rather small and deserted airport and looked for the bus that goes into the city, when a man named Silvio
approached us. We at first tried to avoid him as he suggested we get into his car so he could take us into the city, but then I could see that this ancestor of mine was genuine and made a good point that the bus wasn’t coming for another 50 minutes. So we got in his car and found out he used to play football (soccer) professionally in Croatia, now he’s a youth football coach that does part-time taxi service on the side, he has two kids, he is known for his ability to get people to the city quickly from the airport, he missed his calling to be a race car driver, he’s a Chelsea fan, and we ended up in the city center safely. So then we stored our bags near the port, and started exploring the city. We ate some lunch (I had these delicious mini sausages in a hamburger bun), walked along the Riva, within the walls of Diocletians Palace, saw the Cathedral and Baptistry, and saw the Grgur Ninski stature (a Bishop that defended the Croatian culture). Then we boarded a big catamaran and headed towards…Hvar:
(Anne is now narrating.) The ride to Hvar island was rough to say the least. It was this huge catamaran with seats like an airplane, but the water was really choppy. Half way through the ride, I got up and ran to the back because I thought I was going to throw up. While I was gone the lady across the aisle did throw up, and when we finally got to Hvar, Eric paid a tribute to the sea (gross). Of course while he was doing this, lots of old women were walking up to us asking if we need to rent out their apartments so they received some rather rude declines. Once that had passed we walked to the bus station to find Ivana Ivankovich, with whom we were going to stay. She proceeded to tell us that some lady got food positioning and that she didn’t have a room for us, but we could stay with her cousin. The room was fine, and included a kitchen and an AMAZING view, where we sat outside and drank wine both nights. We napped (to recover) changed and walked around the island a bit and then ate dinner in the square. The next day we got up and went and got some pastries at the bakery, and ate on the side of the marina. Then we hiked up the mountain to the castle (which had some amazing views), came back to town to get
some food for lunch, and took a water taxi to one of the uninhibited islands nearby (Marinkovac). The beach (Stipanska) was basically the only thing on the island and amazing--and we paid the equivalent of $8 for two chairs and an umbrella all day!!! We stayed there the rest of the afternoon, laying out and walked around a bit. We came back showered and had some pre-dinner wine on our balcony and watched the sunset! We had dinner at Palac Paladini, which was amazing, and then saw the Hvar town youth choir putting on a concert in the town square in front of the church.
Dubrovnik:
Saturday - We got up 6 to get the 7:15 bus, to get the 8:15 ferry to arrive in Dubrovnik for 2:15. Instead, the ferry didn’t leave till 10:15, and we didn’t get to Dubrovnik till 5pm! The ferry ride was much better then the catarmaran. We secured seats inside and were able to take naps, watch a movie on the Ipod and got outside as we pleased (amazing views as we traveled down the Dalmation Coast). Upon arrival we took a bus to the Hilton, which we were greeted with sweet treats in our room, robes and chocolates on the pillow (I LOVE it when we use hotel points!). We quickly left the hotel and walked around on top of the city walls. It was nice to do at the end of the day as it wasn’t very touristy, and there were great views. We went to have drinks at a bar on the rocks by the water (Buza), and as there was a strom coming, we were able to watch the lighting and the clouds roll in over the water--it was pretty cool. We went to have dinner at Arka, where it started pouring. Unfortunately, our outside table was across the alley from the restaurant so they had to wait until it stopped raining to bring our food--but it was really funny. We walked home in the rain, without any umbrellas, to arrive at the Hilton and wrap up in our robes. We went to bed.
Sunday – We woke up and ate breakfast at the hotel, checked out, and we were off to explore Dubrovnik inside the city walls. We did a walking tour first thing and it hit the highlights of the city and gave a brief history. Then we went to Sponza palace, the cathrdral, the Franciscan monastery, had some amazing pizza for lunch at Karana Dubravka, went up in the Lourijenac Fortress, the Dominian Monastery, walked around a bit more, hit up a couple of souveniur shops to get stuff from “the homeland,” and finished our trip with a coffee and a beer at a café. Eric was able to talk the guy at the café into giving him a free beer glass (bartender's gift to welcome us to Croatia). After all that we headed back to the hotel and get a bus back to the airport. We loved Croatia, and only hope to return to the Dalmation Coast and islands again one day. We would highly recommend visiting if you ever have the chance.
More pictures:
Split
Hvar
Ferry from Hvar to Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
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