Snapshot from Croatia: Rural Heartland of Dalmatia

"Those who are the happiest never did have everything. But rather, they are thankful for everything they do have" - Unknown

Most of our family here still have homes in the village that the family has been living in for hundreds of years. In fact there is a sign leading to the village with our name on it, effectively telling people where they will find our kith and kin.

 While most do not live there, except to return to tend gardens and vines or to enjoy their holidays, without exception they have all expressed their love of the place.

 

My father in law was no different and when he retired he returned to the village of his birth and built a house he intended to visit regularly. Sadly he lost his battle with cancer and never got to live his dream. It was wonderful to finally visit this corner of the world that seems to be lost in time and completely unspoiled.

To say I was stunned with the beauty of the village would be a complete understatement and for the kids it was nothing short of paradise. To be able to freely roam around, exploring the fields and little creeks and meeting the people who still live there, who greeted us all like long lost friends.

When my father in law was a child the population numbered in the hundreds and now the number of people who live here everyday has dwindled to a number in the teens.

 

The people still living in the village are a national treasure, hardworking, generous and kind. Rob's Uncle who lived most of his life in the village has passed on now but his beautiful wife, Rob's Strena, is still there, tending her vines and her garden and reminiscing on what has been.

One day while the kids and I walked down the street an elderly gent raised his hand and called to us "polako polako" which in Croatian means "slowly, slowly" which really sums up the speed of life in rural Croatia. Another lady stopped us to ply the kids with chocolate and ask us if we knew her relatives in Perth, who of course we did as they are our relatives too.

 As the youngest of a large family my father in law had moved to Pula at a young age for work as the farm could not sustain such a large family. He then moved to Australia in his mid twenties in search of opportunity. The story was the same with the majority of his siblings though he was the only one to leave Croatia.

Our Backyard

It is not an unusual story, in fact if this story had not be reflective of most of the UK, Europe and far beyond, Australia in its current form would not exist.

 

 Having visited fabulous old villages in France and Italy that are full of tourists, cafes, shops and advertising posters I feel genuinely privileged to have found this lovely place completely unmarred by development. Separated from the beaches by a mountain range this side of the mountain has remained largely undiscovered. 

We spent three nights living in the house, which has never been lived in, and exploring the streets and meeting the people. The kids borrowed a neighbours dog one day as company on a walk but their favourite companion was their Strena. Though they shared no common language they we delighted with each others company as they would pick a few grapes or explore "Dida's house".

The kids grandfather, their Dida, passed away before Julian was born and Emma has little memory of him. While travelling we have visited places where my side of the family lived long ago, in Ireland, Scotland and England before coming to Australia, often on a convict ship.

While discovering these places was incredibly special, we could only say "they lived in this town" "attended that church" or "built that towpath". Here our children found roots as old but without the lost connections. We have found the earth the family tree grew in.

 Our three day visit gave Rob's mum the opportunity to visit her own friends who were living nearby, who we haven't seen for sometime ourselves, though they live about hour away back in Perth. Making our visit doubly special we also had the opportunity to visit the house Rob's grandmother on his mum's side was born and raised in.

 We visited with Nada and her cousin, who has put an incredible amount of effort into restoring the place. He was able to show us the corner of the as yet unrestored farmhouse where he was born.

At the top of a hill, reached on an incredibly winding road, the views across Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina are idyllic.

The kids were able to work in the vegetable garden pulling carrots and weeds and explored the old spring which was once the only source of water. We were able to sample walnuts off the trees, which share their name with the village itself.

 The kids have long desired to visit the village that Rob's mum was born in. They have always loved the stories of how she had to trek literally miles to school through all sorts of weather. Sadly to reach her village we would need to cross through the Bosnian border before crossing back into Croatia and hiking two kilometres as the abandoned village is not accessible by car.

Unfortunately our hire car was not allowed to cross the border but we will have to find a way before we leave, though it would have been more special while Nada was with us.

Returning to Dida's house we realised just how lucky we are that this place is waiting there for us and our kids and hopefully our kids kids for many years to come. We planned a three day visit but instead will return for three weeks in November and dream together of white Christmases and long visits
in years to come.

 I have always know that this trip had a hidden purpose that until now had eluded us. We are so grateful to Rob's dad for preserving this link and providing us the opportunity to return to this little corner of paradise in the years to come.

Snapshots From Croatia: Split

“Bizarre travel plans are dancing lessons from God.” – Kurt Vonnegut

Having no plans made in advance when we decided to head back to Makarska the next day we found it completely impossible to hire a car. The following day we could hire a smaller car but it would not take all our luggage. The thought of six hours on a bus was just too much for us with the kids. Nada decided to jump on the bus and head off while we still dithered about what we should do.

Then suddenly like a bolt from the blue I remembered the train to Split. While six hours on a bus sounded dreadful six hours on a train sounded quite manageable and the kids had really enjoyed the long journey  from Budapest. So rather than waiting until the morning and spending the day in the car we decided to bite the bullet and went quickly to the train station to catch the one train that ran to Split. Luckily there is a supermarket at the station to stock up on fruit, bread, cheese and other  goodies for the journey.

The journey was very scenic, if a little slow, the kids were able to move around including standing right behind the drivers glass door and looking out through the front window of the train. While this was the best way for us to travel, as it gave the kids freedom to move around and enjoy the journey the bus or a car would probably be best for most travellers.

The biggest up side of this plan was that it gave us a day to see Split. At this time of year accommodation options on Booking.com were many and incredibly cheap. And so in the early evening we arrived and found our way to our apartment on the edge of the old town.

Split really needs to be experienced by night, when all the beautiful buildings, whether Roman or medieval,  are lit up and people are lounging around in the ancient squares enjoying the serenity.

Even in the evening in September the streets of Split are crowded I can only imagine what it is like in Summer.

There were many places to choose from when we went in search of dinner in the old part of town within the walls of Diocletian's palace.

It is amazing to see the core of Split, once a Roman palace which was abandoned until the local people moved looking for protection during the period of the Slavic invasion. They and subsequent generations built their homes within the basement and walls of the original palace. As a result the palace has been remarkably preserved.

By daylight the next day we explored through the town, from splendid old streets to a remarkable peristyle at the centre of the palace, from smelly fish markets to the shining blue Adriatic.

We were particularly lucky to come across this men's choir in the vestibule of the palace, which with its domed roof and oculus provided beautiful acoustics.

I was pleased to find a huge organic supermarket, BioBio,  which we returned in the afternoon to stock up for a couple of months on all sorts of lovely goodies for cooking at home. Poor Rob later had to carry the huge box to the bus station after we picked up our cases stored at the train station next door.

While sitting in a cafe in a square Rob pointed up to an apartment with beautiful byzantine arched windows, reminiscent of the palazzos of Venice, said "one of dads brothers and his wife lives there". 

Whilst my first reactions was "lets go visit" we were well aware of the frenzy of cooking we had thrown his daughter and granddaughter into when we visited them in Zagreb a few days earlier. But we decided it would be a shame to be there and not to visit and I'm am so glad that we did.

Rob's uncle looked very similar to his dad which came as something of a shock. His aunt was distressed that we had not given her some notice so she could cook for us. I can hardly imagine the feast she would have prepared as the grilled fish, potatoes, beans and salad were absolutely delicious.

Rob's Dad

We spent some time looking at old photos whilst Strina plied the children with a ready stream of biscuits and treats. We discussed the disastrous grape harvest this year due to the wet weather through summer, a topic we have heard discussed all summer both here and in Italy. And so after enjoying our leisurely afternoon we made our way back to the train station to collect our luggage and enjoy the bus ride down along the Makarska Riviera to our home away from home.

And so after nearly three weeks on the road again we finally we going to have some time to rest and recuperate...bliss

Snapshots From Croatia: Zagreb

“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” – Susan Sontag

Croatia is much longer than I had imagined before we arrived and so while journeying from one place to another we have had the opportunity to visit a number of terrific places, even if they were just in passing. While each is worthy as a destination in its own right we have at least managed a quick peek. And so I plan to post a number of Snap Shots of Croatia to provide a glimpse of these fabulous places. 

In my last post I left you coming through Immigration on a train from Budapest to Zagreb. There we met Nada at an apartment we booked for two nights not far from the train station. At this point we had to sit down and make plans as somehow we had never discussed Nada's plans with her.  Ignoring our travel fatigue I had planned on a week in Zagreb and a week in Slovenia at this time. Nada was worried that she would not have time to do everything  she wanted to and so she wanted to head quickly to Makarska.

In retrospect I am glad we decided to modify our plans as it meant we were able to get back and rest all the sooner. On the other hand it meant our time with our relatives in Zagreb was curtailed much more than I would have liked.

So all in all we have spent a half a day being tourists in Zagreb and we found it to be a lovely compact city. We bought a twenty four hour travel ticket for the public transport which was simple and convenient with a network of trams running all over the city and a funicular to save your feet when visiting Gornji Grad, the upper town.

We began by taking the tram into Ban Jelacic, the square at the heart of Zagreb, in the lower part of town. Here we found market stalls, shopping centres and cafes, not to mention trams and a number of tourists. We had breakfast to fortify ourselves before our planned exploration of the upper town on foot.

We rode the funicular and enjoyed the amazing view over the city from the terrace at the top. I can imagine on a sunny day the colours would be stunning. From here we walked up to Crkva sv. Marka (St Mark's church) and upon seeing this iconic church we knew that we had arrived in Zagreb.

There were hardly any people in the street and we were able to stand in the square and admire the beautiful tiled roof though the church itself was not open. Julian was particularly impressed with the "Lego church" as he called it.

From here we walked down to the Kamenita Vrata, a stone chapel in the city gate leading to the upper town that doubles as a pedestrian thoroughfare. One minute you are walking down the street and the next minute you are within a small and atmospheric place of worship. We didn't linger as we did not wish to disturb peoples prays. In the street leading to the chapel they were filming a Croatian soap opera as we passed and we were told to keep walking through the scene they were filming and so we made our guest appearance.

 By chance we found ourselves on Tkalciceva Street, an atmospheric old street filled bars and cafes. Even in September it was still quite busy and we heard little other than Croatian spoken so it didn't feel touristy. We walked the length of it and behind the buildings we could see the local people's grape vines and vegetable gardens. I later found out that a river runs beneath the street and perhaps this contributes to the serenity.

We never like to retrace our steps so we turned right at the end of Tkalciceva Street and looped back around and found ourselves at the Cathedral of the the Assumption, whose twin spires, albeit wrapped in scaffolding, can be seen across the city.

The Cathedral is partly surrounded by walls erected in the late fourteen hundreds due to the threat posed by the Ottoman Empire. The Cathedral itself was largely destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt in the 19th century. The kids were "grossed out" by the preserved remains of the martyred archbishop Aloysius Stepinac.

Nearby we found the Dolac Markets with mountains of fruit, vegetables, cheeses and other produce on stands under red beach umbrellas. We had time for a quick peak before completing our looping walk, returning to Tkalciceva Street for a delicious traditional Croatian grilled lunch.

I didn't know the trouble I was causing for our beautiful family when I sent a message asking if they would like to pop into Zagreb for a coffee. As we have four cousins under five the offer was made for us to visit them at home instead and the kids were so excited at getting to meet and play with their cousins for the first time. 

What I found out later was that the message had gone out to all of the family "their here and their coming today!", and what we thought was going to be a cup of coffee turned into a fabulous feast with a great group of people. I was quite overwhelmed with the kindness and generosity we were shown, and when I expressed this to Rob's first cousin she said "what..it's nothing we are family".

I feel very grateful to have been welcomed so warmly yet again into Rob's wonderful extended family.