A Week in Terra Magica: Istria Croatia Part I Pula

“We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.” – Hilaire Belloc

As I sit writing my latest post in a little village that is Rob's ancestral home I am feeling quite distracted. Sitting on the back veranda of a house in the  countryside inland from Makarska, in the shadow of Biokovo with a view of the countryside I will never forget, I am experiencing a sense peace and calm that is rare in today's world. But I am jumping weeks ahead of myself and must bring myself back now to tell you all about the beautiful Istrian Peninsula.

Our "backyard"

After leaving the Plitvice Lakes we drove down winding roads with many blind turns as well as a fantastic new highway heading in the direction of Rijeka. Passing Rijeka, with the rain continuing our constant companion, we entered a five kilometre tunnel under Mt. Učka and when we exited at the other end the rain had stopped, the sky had cleared and we were in lovely Istria.

Poreč

Again we were surprised at the variety of landscapes possible in one quite small country. Today we began in beautiful forests, with warning signs to look out for the bears, and ended up in countryside reminiscent of Italy. Sadly my camera stuck again and so I have no photos of this stretch of the road trip though I was able to get it going again that night.

We based ourselves at the home of our cousins in Poreč and you could not imagine finer hospitality anywhere. Our days were spent wandering beautiful towns before returning to spend pleasant afternoons around the dining table sharing delicious meals that Cousin Zora puts all of her love into.

Each of our day trips was completely different in flavour, but our priority was relaxation and it is very easy to relax here. Still our days where quite full and so I shall share just one with you for now, our day trip to Pula.

Poreč

A Country Drive

Istria was known by the Romans as Terra Magica, and indeed it is a magical place. The morning after we arrived we needed to return our hire car to Pula which gave the opportunity to explore. The trip through the countryside was lovely, we avoided the highway and took a secondary road which was very scenic. 

 As we neared Rovinj were treated to brief views of the Limska Draga, the Lim Valley, and it's estuary popularly known as Lim Fiord. 

 Vodnjan

Further south near the town of Vodnjan we saw a grouping of dry stone dwellings, kažun in Croatian, and an old church by the side of the road and decided to take a look. As I have mentioned in earlier posts, Emma has been studying the development of housing this year at school and we have enjoyed seeing these little stone houses in France and Ireland as well.

In Croatia the kažun were raised on farmland being cleared of rocks for cultivation, and in Croatia rocks are certainly not hard to come by. They were used not only for housing in the far distant past but remained in use for providing shelter to farmers on hot or rainy days in the fields, storing and protecting the harvest and providing shelter for cattle and sheep.

Groups of local enthusiasts, keen to preserve this local tradition, have built three kažuni which have been left a differing stages of completion as a open air museum, free to enter, called Kažun Theme Park.

Rome-ing around Pula

When we reached Pula, at the southern tip of the Istrian peninsula, its ancient past as a Roman outpost was clearly evident once to saw the impressive Roman Arena.

Parking was an absolute nightmare but after finally finding a place to park down by the docks we walked over to the Pula Arena to take a closer look. Though built in the first century of the Christian era the Arena appears remarkably preserved.

The Arena is regularly used for concerts and they were preparing for one the day we visited. Rather than touring the inside, instead we sat outside and easily looked in whilst listening to the sound checks. The acoustics were superb and we would have lingered but hunger got the better of us so we set out in search of lunch.

Luckily the search for lunch led us beneath the Triumphal Arch of the Sergii, commemorating a local family who were represented at the Battle of Actium in 27 BCE. While I stood gazing at the ancient stone carvings on the underside of the Arch I lost the others who had kept on walking but we soon found each other again.

We enjoyed a lovely lunch and had to laugh as every time Rob spoke Croatian we were answered in German. The first time it was quite funny as I took up the conversation in German before realising that here I was using my pretty average German in Croatia when Rob's speaks pretty terrific, if heavily Australian accented, Croatian.

After lunch we stumbled across a Monastery of St. Francis,  and the kids were keen for a look, and so we left Rob on a sunny bench outside while we popped in to have a look around. The church and cloister date from the 13th century and was very peaceful and serene.

We were keen to have a look at the docks while in Pula as Rob's dad had worked here as a young man. As the youngest of eight children in a farming family in Dalmatia he had first left home to work in steel boat construction in Pula during the 1960's before finally moving to Australia by himself at twenty six years of age with nothing but his suitcase and the sponsorship of friend. I haven't any photos of the docks as the camera took its last photo as we left the monastery and I forgot that I could use the phone for photos.

Whilst walking along the waterfront we stumbled across the Temple of Augustus, I should probably point out I had no idea what we would find in Pula before we arrived, these days planning has gone out the window and we are simply enjoying stumbling across wonderful places.

This beautifully proportioned and well restored temple is an unexpected masterpiece and while it is tiny inside it is filled with treasures from antiquity. The kids insisted on going in, only to fairly much wish to immediately leave again, but then I was able to attract their attention by pointing out how the wonderful ancient figurines and statues where an ancient version of the Schleich figurines that they love to play with and their attention was recaptured.

After leaving the Temple it was time to head off but I was feeling the weight of eleven weeks of pretty constant travel and when Rob offered to go and collect the car I gratefully accepted this kind offer.  Sitting in the warm sun Julian noticed that behind us was a church and he was keen to poke his head in to have a look and stay out of the sun. It turns out that it was the Pula Cathedral, a site that has been a Christian church since the 4th century and earlier still the site of Roman temples. It was beautiful and simple and quite different from the flamboyant churches we have seen recently in Italy.
And there I shall leave you and I will return to my beautiful vista and as soon as I can drag myself away I shall share with you more about the beautiful town of Poreč.

 

Plitvička Jezera Croatia's Splendid Jewel

“I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within.” – Lillian Smith

Croatia is a land of contrasting beauty and Plitvička jezera, the Plitvice Lakes, must take the crown. Here Mother Nature in all her glory has prepared the most awe inspiring canvas and created a place that feels both magical and sacred.

Though we always intended to visit Plitvice during our time in Croatia it came about earlier than anticipated. Rob's mother was taking a cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest with her bother and sister in law before coming to meet us in Croatia. However her companions were unable to go at the last minute and she suggested that we meet her in Budapest.

In keeping with our slow travel objectives, to never rush from place to place without really having time to savour the experience, we decided to travel up through Croatia and spend a eight days visit Plitvice and family in Istria before journeying to Budapest.

As we journeyed by car the rocky splendour and stunning beaches and coves of the Dalmatian coast gave way to the mountainous heart and lowlands of the interior and finally to the idyllic forests of the Plitvička Jezera national park. We were amazed that the scenery could be so constantly changing during a journey that lasted only four hours.

For many people a visit to Plitvice comes about as a side trip on the way to or from somewhere else. We came with one night booked but with the plan of extending it if the weather held out. We were so very lucky that we arrived on a sunny day which the attendant on the gate told us had been very rare this year.

We had chosen to stay at the Hotel Jezera as the southern entrance to the park is right in their backyard, giving us as much time as possible to explore and to make sure that we could save our energy for the trails.

There are a number of paths suggested to visitors and on our first afternoon we choose path F through the lower lakes, an estimated three or four hour trip. While that may, or may not, sound like a marathon effort to some, and it did to me before we started, quite a bit of this time was taken up with ferry rides and photo opportunities.

The walk itself was very easy even to someone as unfit and exhausted as I have been. I also think that the beauty and serenity of the place gives you that extra lift.

And so the journey began with a ferry ride from ferry stop one to stop two and then a quick change on the jetty before the ride to stop three. At this stage we were thinking "this is quite lovely and peaceful"  but the jaw dropping part of the journey is still to come (mind you I have skipped this early part in my photos).

We were pleased to find that ferry station three had an ice creams for added energy before we began our walk. We were thrilled to hear that there are bears living in the forest, though of course we weren't hoping to bump into one, and I guess the tourist numbers keep them far away.

We expected the boardwalks by the lakes to be swamped with tourists but beginning our trip at about 2:30 we were never overcrowded nor concerned about being knocked into a very chilly lake.

We did not have to walk to far before the WOW factor kicked in.."wow mum look at the waterfall".. "wow mum I can see a cave"..."oh wow look at the colour of the water". My camera got a workout and even after savagely deleting scores of them today, I have over a hundred that I just have to keep.

As we made our way through the limestone canyon noting that we have seen many karst landscapes on our journey, from the karst plateau of the Burren in County Clare in Ireland to the Gouffre de Padirac in Lot department of France.

The kids were less interested in hearing about how acidic water eats away at limestone and other minerals to create the landscape and were much more interested in running off to explore the caves and wonder if cavemen used it as a lounge room or perhaps a studio apartment.

Back on the boardwalks we continued along until suddenly we had jaw dropping views of waterfalls above and below us. Just around the corner we arrived at the Great Waterfall and found crowds of people taking all sorts of goofy photos, and so of course we joined in wholeheartedly.

From the Great Waterfall the path wends its way up through the hill, providing lovely views of the lakes and waterfall below, arriving finally at the "train" station to await our ride back the beginning. The train is more like a long serious of buses joined together and pulled along the road between the two park entrances.

This part of the journey is so close to the end, and the northern entrance to the park, that I would suggest that people who have only an hour to spare for Plitvice (I shudder to think what a shame this would be but it do happen) should make sure that they visit the Great Waterfall.

 Rob on the other hand feels that he enjoyed the views more on our journey through the upper lakes on x"E" path the next day. I'm not sure if this was for the lake and waterfalls themselves or the fact that he perhaps the torrential rain made them far more spectacular than usual.

After lovely sunshine in Makarska we packed for two weeks of summer and so our raincoats were left at home with our warm clothes and shoes. When we woke in the morning and looked out at the deluge of water falling from the sky we decided to buy those ponchos that look like huge plastic bags.

So our plans to stay "forever and ever" quickly turned to "lets check out the upper lakes this morning and get back in the car and head off to Poreč" where we knew the welcome would be warm even if the weather was not. 

We had a ball splashing around in the rain while we followed the paths and boardwalks through the beautiful lakes whilst turning into ice cubes. I am very glad we had Emma's camera which you can use underwater as we were absolutely drenched.

This did not stop the bus tours coming through and I felt bad for these people who did not get to see the lakes in all their glory on a sunny day but we didn't hear any complaints.

Rob could be right about this trail as it really was stunningly beautiful from the very beginning. As we walked the path we journeyed from one lake to another, little and big, and crossed boardwalks through pools of water with lovely waterfalls thundering around us.

I must admit that we took a short cut and only stayed out in the rain about two hours but it really was a fantastic morning and I really enjoyed the hot drink at the cafe at the train station at the end of the trail.

And so we saw no bears, except sadly stuffed behind glass at the hotel and also on the menu at a restaurant in a town nearby, but we really did see the very best of natures splendour in Croatia.

I would be hard pressed to chose any place in the world more scenic, though Karajini National Park in Western Australia would come closest, though I am probably biased.

And so we were back on the road, off on our next adventure, visiting the beautiful Istrian Peninsula and our beautiful family there. 

Our New Home Away From Home: Makarska Croatia and a Weekend in Brač

“A child on a farm sees a plane fly overhead and dreams of a faraway place. A traveller on the plane sees the farmhouse… and thinks of home.” – Carl Burns.

I can hardly believe that we arrived in Croatia a month ago today, I have been slow with my blogging I must say. This leg of our journey was planned to be three months of rest and relaxation after our nine week stint on the road through Europe. The closer it came the more we looked forward to it, it was absolutely time to rest our weary travel legs.



Makarska

But I admit this post is very difficult to write and I have been tossing around glossing it over but think that it needs a brief mention and then we move on. Tragically on Julian's birthday the kids and I were witness to the death of a young child, something that will be with me forever and I am grateful that I reacted quick enough that our kids saw nothing.

Sumartin, Brač

After this it took awhile for me to feel like blogging again but thankfully I still had much of our Italian adventure to share and so until today I have not looked back on these photos. However I have found Croatia to be an absolute paradise and while I doubt I would return to Bol, for this reason alone, I really should share its beauty with you.

Brač

 I am terribly sorry if I have upset anyone by sharing this, however one day I intend to have my blog printed as a keepsake for myself and some memories should not be glossed over. And so down to the business at hand, our beautiful new home  - Croatia.

Our travels in Croatia take on a completely different flavour as, like our time in the UK, we are "living" here rather than simply being tourists. Six years ago Rob's father passed away leaving property in Croatia, his land of birth, to the family. This means we have a home to live in, the kids can spread themselves out and make themselves at home and we can get down to some serious home schooling.

Our home is in a town called Makarska, just over an hour by bus south of Split. When we arrived in Split on a flight from Rome we were met by one of Rob's many cousins. Having Croatian family means that we have been able to see the real Croatia, a place where people will drop everything and drive for hours, or whip up a banquet with no notice just because they have heard that you are in town. The cousin who met us drove us home and then had a two hour drive back afterwards, and there was no way he would listen when we offered to catch the bus.

And so we arrived in beautiful Makarska and found in one town many of the highlights of Europe in one small place, a beautiful cobblestoned medieval town, stunning waterfront promenade with affordable cafes with delicious food and daily markets selling everything from fresh produce to inflatable toys for the kids to use at the lovely, though pebbly, beach.

We planned our arrival in Croatia to miss the peak heat of summer but we very lucky to get a few warm days during a year that they say summer never really arrived. It couldn't have been more perfect for someone like me who prefers mild weather to stinking hot summer.

Sumartin, Brač

After only two nights, just enough time to unpack our things, we hopped on the boat over to Brač for a celebration weekend, our tenth wedding anniversary and Julian's birthday. While it is not the sort of holiday we would typically take we booked an all inclusive weekend away at the Bluesun Bonica in Bol. The kids were thrilled with the idea of staying at the hotel for five meals a day and only dragging themselves from the dining room, to go the pool or the beach nearby.

Bol, Brač

I was fairly easy to get to Brač, we were able to catch a ferry from Makarska to Sumartin and then a taxi driver gathered seven people, including us, into his minivan and we shared the affordable taxi fare to Bol.

The hotel was perfect for a relaxing weekend and Brač is very beautiful. The beach at Slatni Rat was packed with people for the very good reason that it is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

 The cape or sandbank juts out into the Adriatic and at the whim of the tides it changes its position. The kids really enjoyed spending an hour on a huge inflatable playground in the water with Rob one morning. I was quite contented to find a shady spot and enjoyed watching their antics.

Our hotel had bikes available for us to use so Emma and Julian both borrowed a bike and rode to Slatni Rat, of course Julian can not ride a bike yet so this meant Rob holding him while he was learning and then me riding a kids bike when the boys had had enough.

Our little man, now five, had a fabulous birthday morning, he enjoyed opening his presents that we had managed to hide and spent the morning in the pool. One of our cousins, who was staying in their holiday home an hour away in Supetar, even popped in for a visit

In the afternoon the kids spent some time on the bungee trampolines as well as regular ones and had  a terrific time. We even walked into town which made a nice walk along the promenade, where we saw plenty of boats out enjoying the beautiful water and we enjoyed the fresh air on a lovely mild day.

At dinner time we had organised a beautiful birthday cake to be brought over to our table complete with candles. As his cake was so large we walked around the restaurant offering cake to people so it wouldn't go to waste, which meant Julian received many happy birthday wishes.

And it is there that we leave Brač with many many more adventures in Croatia still to share with you. Having gotten past this post, one I had been dreading, in the very near future I shall tell you all about stunning Plitvička jezera, the Istrian Peninsula, Zagreb, Split and even a week we managed to fit in in Budapest. So much for relaxing at home! At least we are now home and settling in for two months here in Makarska..bliss!