TO THE SEA!
To get to the desired coast as quickly as possible, you need to fly south from Zagreb, over the mountains. For example, to Split. Just a couple of glasses of juice later, it appears under the plane's wing, and it becomes clear that below is Dalmatia: the sea, whitish from the relentless sun, is covered with black specks of islands, like the skin of a Dalmatian. The islands and islets are assorted: smooth and folded, flat and mountainous, housing ten cities, a couple of houses, or a single church. Some pride themselves on solitude, others form archipelagos, and there are 1,185 in total. The coast is even more unusual than the sea: its line is indented with fjords, peninsulas, and raised by cliffs. Every beach is in its own cove. All together it is called the "Dalmatian type of coast."
OLD CITY
The narrowest street in Split is called "Let me go ahead" – you have to walk along it sideways even when you are alone.
Croats consider Split a young city. Because if a city is less than a thousand years old, it is young. Old ones are more than two thousand. Take, for example, Trogir, which lives brightly and noisily, especially at night, when lights shatter and multiply in the water, lingering under stone bridges. Narrow streets filled with people keep leading out to the embankments. "Trogir is a little Venice," the Trogirians say proudly. They can afford such a liberty: their city, with all its Romanesque towers, campaniles, gates, chapels, palms, and pointed windows, stands on three islands.
The town of Hvar on the island of Hvar is even older – people have lived there for 7,000 years already. The town's public theater, built in 1612, is the oldest in Europe. The mayor of Hvar plays leading roles there – not because the theater has been turned into a city hall, but because he is an actor by profession. Hvar has also outdone its neighbors when it comes to nightlife: young people leave Split on a 10-hour ferry to dance until morning.
Famous Dubrovnik is a very young city by local standards – it was built in the 13th century. One can only wonder how it managed to survive so well. The fortress walls and towers stand intact, long underwear flags flutter in the windows of medieval houses, baroque fountains splash briskly – an eternal merry Renaissance rules the roost, swirling crowds of exhausted tourists in its carnival whirlpool: they want to sit down, turn away, hide from the pointed windows and carved columns, and feel at least a shard of something familiar, everyday, and modern. A fork, finally.
BY THE WAY, ABOUT THE FORK
Croatia can undoubtedly be classified among the countries labeled "gastronomic paradise." A great deal of tasty food grows, swims, and runs. The sea near the shore is so clean that octopuses are caught right on the Trogir embankments, cuttlefish in the bay of Dubrovnik, and oysters are farmed in the town with the heavy name of Ston.
To find a place for lunch, you don't need to know Croatian. The signs are simple and eloquent: "Restaurant," "Cafe-bar" (where you only drink), "Cafe," "Bistro." The last two can mean anything – from a small coffee shop and a "fast food" joint to a luxurious establishment where the fish you pick will be grilled on a grate in a real oven with real firewood.
But there is also a local establishment – "konoba." This is a cellar where wine used to be stored, and now guests are fed and given drinks there. That is where every self-respecting tourist should head at the first opportunity. There you can eat a real peka, turkey with pancakes, "paški" cheese, which is soaked in olive oil for six months. Be sure to try "black risotto" – rice with cuttlefish, seasoned with its own ink. All of this is washed down with luxurious Croatian wines.
WALKS IN THE PARKS
Some Croatian names are very inconvenient to pronounce. Especially after a hearty and drunken lunch. For example, the island of Krk. How do you even say that? Or the Krka National Park. It is much more convenient to walk around it. Among the green mountains, the Krka River sometimes spreads into lakes, sometimes tumbles down foamy waterfalls, roaring and thundering, overwhelming you with the aroma of clean fresh water. On the island of Visovac in the middle of the river stands a Franciscan monastery with a library; a boat goes there.
For all of Croatia's small size, it has seven large national parks. The second waterfall spot is the Plitvice Lakes, which are on the UNESCO World Natural Heritage list: 16 lakes are accented by 92 waterfalls. Two reserves are entire archipelagos. Brijuni consists of 14 islands, Kornati of 101 (is that where the 101 Dalmatians came from?). The island of Mljet is famous for having a lake on it, and on the lake an island, and on that island a Dominican monastery from the 12th century. Paklenica and Risnjak are mountain ranges, the first with cliffs and canyons, the second with forests and animals.
What does a European person think about after all this when standing on the Croatian shore of the Adriatic Sea? He looks at the incredibly clear water, breathes in the fresh pine-scented breeze, and asks himself: maybe their whole country is just one big national park? And he is not far from the truth. What can you say if the residents of Split and Dubrovnik drink water from the fountains!
DIFFERENT SHORES
The coastal part of Croatia is divided into Dalmatia, Lika, and the Istria peninsula, which can be recognized only as neighbors, but by no means relatives – so different are they.
Dalmatia is luxurious: it sits between the sea, mountains, and sky. Thousands of coves, inlets, and fjords take care of the beauty of the landscapes; small cozy beaches hide between cliffs, under pine trees and agaves.
The best landscapes and the best beaches are on the Makarska Riviera, completely overgrown with pine trees, which lies under the Biokovo mountain massif, between Split and Dubrovnik. Its advantage is the opportunity to see both cities. Resting in Split itself is problematic – it is a large port. But in Dubrovnik, it is better to stay right in the city, to walk around its medieval but very lively part.
Croatia shares the Istrian peninsula with Italy, as well as the waters. On one side is the Italian port of Trieste, on the other the Croatian port of Rijeka. Between them lies the Kvarner Riviera, settled and developed back in the Austro-Hungarian era. The oldest, classically European, respectable resort is Opatija. At the tip of the cape is Pula, a paradise for yachting and windsurfing. The city is three thousand years old, and it even has a local Colosseum – a large and almost intact Roman amphitheater. There are no mountains in Istria, but there are forests, parks, and large sandy beaches.
Lika lies between Istria and Dalmatia, where the mountains gradually fade away. One of the main tourist centers of the coast is the city of Zadar, famous for its huge yacht port. Around it are several nature parks, and nearby is the mystical island of Pag, where salty grass grows that sheep and goats graze on. They make the famous and very expensive Pag cheese there.
Croatian islands are scattered across the greenish Adriatic – big and small, inhabited and not so. If there is at least one house on the island, then there is a yacht berth and rooms for tourists. And if there are two houses, then one of them is a hotel. The most tourist-bustling island is Hvar, the most exotic is Pag, the most picturesque is Mljet; they say Odysseus used to stop by there – to visit the nymph Calypso.
On the coast, especially on the islands, it is customary to rent out apartments and cottages. Small private guesthouses are everywhere. Staying in them is much cheaper: an apartment right on the shore (with a ladder from the doorstep to the water) costs $20-30 per day for a family! Croatia is a visa-free country, and you can book a house or a small flat over the Internet and at the border show a fax with the booking confirmation.
A SMALL PHRASEBOOK
You begin to understand Croatian immediately: after all, they are Slavic brothers. They understand Russian worse: old people have long forgotten it, and young people never knew it. Well, for us to chat with Croats, we only need to show a bit of wit. Or randomly distort Russian words in this spirit: good morning in Croatian is “dobro jutro”, good afternoon – “dobar dan”, good evening – “dobra večer”. Thank you – “hvala”, thank you very much – “puno hvala”, goodbye – “do viđenja”. Very tasty (a very common phrase that you should learn first!) – “jako ukusno”, excellent – “odlično”. The words “plaža”, “more” and “sunce” are especially easy to understand. A girl in Croatia will most likely be called “djevojka”, a man – “momak”. And only the word “pozor!” has no accusatory meaning, but simply means “attention”.