NORMAL LIFE: Zagreb, Plitvice, Zadar & Sibenik (Croatian Summer, Part 1)

Day 1 – Helsinki to Zegrab via Budapest

Our trip to Croatia started with a breakfast-time flight from Helsinki to Budapest, where we waited for three hours for our onward flight to Zagreb. We boarded the brand new Malev Airlines Bombardier CRJ200, which looked more like a private jet than a vehicle for transporting tourists like us: with 4 seats abreast and with just enough capacity of seat 50 passengers, the thirty minute flight was surprisingly comfortable and the service onboard was great. We landed just after lunchtime, waiting more than one hour for our hire car – we arrived an hour earlier than expected, but surely there must have been a car or were they just making us wait out of spite?

That hour, spent sitting on the terminal building floor outside the Alamo car hire store, went quickly and the minute we were given the keys to our Ford Fiesta Turbo Diesel, we were on our way to the city of Zagreb, 17kms away; on the way, we witnessed a car accident during which a car had overturned in front of our very eyes. A little bit unnerved, we proceeded with caution, wondering whether this was just unfortunate or if car accidents were common here. Out of the blue, a sign appeared for the Palace Hotel, our accommodation for the night. One pleasant surprise was the parking was included in the price of our overnight accommodation; this is very unusual in capital cities the world over.

Zagreb is Croatia’s political, economic and cultural capital. Croatia’s largest city, covering 631 sq km, we spent the late afternoon visiting the main square of Trg bana Jelačića, the Cathedral of the Assumption of the blessed Virgin Mary in the Kaptol region of the city before wandering up many hundreds of steps into the Gradec District of the town, which appeared deserted.

As we ambled through the vicinity, we passed the Sabor (buildings of the Croatian parliament) built in 1910 on the site of 17th and 18th Century Town Houses and the Viceroy’s Palace, which now serves as the Presidential Palace. As we headed back towards the main square of Trg bana Jelačića, we passed the imposing St. Marks Church in Marko V Trg and the ornate Jesuit Church of St. Catherine. Walking along a street named Radiceva, I noticed an image that appears in the Lonely Planet Guide to Croatia, which illustrates the contrasts of the old and the new in 21st Century Zagreb.

I’ve mentioned the word 'Viceroy' a couple of times, but specific attention should be paid to Josip Jelačić. An unlikely ‘hero’ of Croatia, Jelačić was born in Serbia in 1801, was educated in Vienna and made a name for himself in a daring raid against the Turks in the Serbia-dominated Krajina region. Far from leading the charge for independence, Jelačić fought for the Habsburgs (the ruling House of Austria at the time, which lasted for six centuries) against revolutionary movements in Hungary and Vienna. Having successfully quelled the uprising, Jelačić and the Croatians expected that their demands for greater self-rule would be met by a grateful Austria: it was not the case. A new reactionary government in Vienna clamped down viciously on Croatia, closing the parliament and suspending the constitution. Jelačić’s presence in Zagreb’s main square is testament to the fact that he was the one who sounded the death knell for Habsburg rule.

We got back to the hotel about 6pm and, sipping a Martini Bianco, I relaxed in a hot bath laced with foam bath before we headed out for dinner about 8pm. We walked the short distance back to Trg bana Jelačića and once against passed the towering Cathedral of the Assumption of the blessed Virgin Mary. We dined at Kaptolska Klet, a restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet guide. The restaurant was lovely, with very fluffy comfortable seating in an enclosed courtyard so close to the main square, but feeling quite far away. After our arrival, it started to get very busy and one thing I noticed is that the men in Croatia are very tall, very much like the Wimbledon Tennis Champion, Goran Ivanisevic. For dinner, I ate a prawn cocktail to start, following by Duck with grilled vegetables and sautéed potatoes. For the two of us, the two-course and a bottle of house wine cost KN385 (EUR55/GBP37), a bargain considering the quality of the food.

We made our way back to the hotel via the Medieval Quarter, strolling down Tkalčićeva with its many bars and restaurants. Above us, you could see the stars, a rare site in Helsinki these days due to the bright summer nights. In bed before midnight, I happily went to sleep – it had been a long day, the perfect start to what was sure to be a perfect holiday!

Day 2 – Zagreb to Plitvice via Karlovac

After a buffet breakfast, we went for a stroll to the south of our hotel, touching on the Lower Town which we hadn’t visited the previous day. We passed the five star Esplanade Hotel by the railway station, admiring the hotel’s rather impressive fountain. At 11am, it was already quite warm, heading for the late twenties. We backed on ourselves, strolling across the lawns of Tomislavov Square, named after the first ruler of the region who was crowned in AD 925.

A bit further on, in the distance, we could see the Art Pavilion (picture above), followed by the Strossmayer Gallery which houses a collection of art donated to the city by Bishop Strossmayer in 1884. As we entered Park Zrinjevac, a very nationalist-looking statue grabbed my attention, signifying some kind of comradeship of yesteryear.

After sitting for a while in the leafy shade afforded by the trees that towered above us, we headed back to our hotel just across the road. We quickly checked out, loaded up the car and headed towards the A1 – our destination was Karlovac. The journey was an interested one during which I made many conclusions; the people here love to speed on the motorways, there’s a significant number of road tolls and the motorways are designed in a way to provide very boring views of the landscape. We stopped at some point to ask someone to point us in the right direction and, once we set of again, we passed a number of villages that contained houses which appeared to have been sprayed with machine gun fire during the Bosnian war; these remnants serve as a reminder of the fighting that broke out in the region less than 20 years ago.

A little bit further along, we parked along the side of the road, wishing to take in the view of the river that meandered deep below to our right. Nearby, was a roadside ice cream stand selling, as well, local cheeses. We tasted some of them, but settled instead for an ice cream; it was warm and I was thankful for the air conditioning in our car.

Below us, we could hear the crash of the waterfalls and the splash of the rapids. When we continued, the car drove over a bridge where a sign indicated that the small picturesque village below was called Grad Slunj.

Shortly afterwards, the landscape become very forested and, just after 1pm, we arrived in Plitvice. We checked into Hotel Jezero, in the heart of the Plitvice Lakes National Park. The national park covers an area of 19.5 hectares of wooded hills enclosing 16 turquoise lakes linked by cascading waterfalls. Wooden footbridges follow the lakes and streams over, under and across the rumbling water for 18km. In 1979, UNESCO proclaimed the park a World Heritage Site, guaranteeing the preservation of the lakes.

We spent the whole day ambling along the well-crafted walkways, listening to the constant flow of water and marvelling at being able to see the bottom of the lakes awash with fish. It takes a while to get used to the numbering of the various locations in the park, but we took the bus to ST4, the highest point in the park, and then walked down to P2, took a boat to P3 and walked to ST1 via the biggest waterfall. It was a blisteringly hot day and, wearing a vest and shorts, I had to cover up my shoulders to prevent overexposure to the sun. From ST1, we took a bus back to the hotel. Back in the hotel room, I was relieved to take off my sandals, which were admittedly not designed for the kind of walking we had done. After a hot bath and a nice shave, we headed downstairs for dinner in the on-site restaurant.

The restaurant, packed with elderly travellers, is a stopping point for day-trippers as well as those staying in any of the few hotels in the area. Otherwise, the area is tastefully undeveloped, ensuring that the nature itself remains the focus. For dinner, I ate Smoked Ham, followed by Sautéed Pork and Fruit Tart, all washed down with a bottle of Croatian Rosé. Lovely!

We had an after-dinner drink in the bar before heading to bed around 11pm. As I moisturised Bree’s dry feet, we chatted about the trip so far; I felt like I had been away for a week already because we had seen so much in such a short period of time.

Day 3 – Plitvice to Sibenik via Zadar

Since we had covered the whole of the National Park’s routes the previous day, we decided to continue with our journey after a breakfast of cereal, sandwiches and fruit. As we passed the somewhat deserted town of Korenico, we saw many homes with bullet holes; it seems that the owners have still not returned to their homes.

As we emerged from the forested hilly region, the landscape gave way to sprawling planes stretching for as far as the eye could see; this reminded me of an early morning view of the planes in South Africa a couple of years ago (read about that trip here), the strands of grass swaying in the wind. The roads were in surprisingly good condition; with houses still bearing the scars of machine gun fire, one would be forgiven for thinking that the condition of the roads might be substandard. Speeding along the A1, we entered a series of tunnels, the longest of which was some 5.6kms long, a fantastic way to get to our intend destination faster rather than navigate the hilly terrain.

We arrived at Zadar just after noon, the main town in the northern Dalmatia region. People have lived in Zadar since the 9th Century BC, becoming a Roman municipality in the 1st Century BC. The city wasn’t an important one for the Romans, but when the Empire divided, Zadar became the capital of Byzantine Dalmatia. During the 6th and 7th Centuries, the city was settled by Slav migrants and Zadar eventually fell under the authority of Croatian-Hungarian Kings. As we wandered through the picturesque Old Town, you can sense the grandeur of it’s history; in the stifling heat, we scaled the many steps to the campanile linked to the Cathedral of St. Anastasia. From the top, we took in the view of the mainland, the footbridge onto the old town as well as the nearby islands of Ugljan and Dugi Otok. Pleasure cruises passed through nearby Jazine Bay and it occurred to me just how many churches, cathedrals and monasteries there were in Zadar. If you closed your eyes, you could visualise a street scene of poor migrants passing through the market town during Roman-town Zadar.

When we returned to the bottom of the Cathedral, we took in the Old Town on foot, passing the main entrance to the Cathedral of St. Anastasia. Bree went inside for a quick tour – I wasn’t able to because I was wearing a vest and shorts, hardly the appropriate attire for entering a church! In the meantime, I stood in the shade offered by the towering cathedral while tourists rushed to and fro. When Bree returned, we continued our walk around the north of the island, passing the Franciscan Monastery and church. Soon, we reached the Western side of the city, which provided a combined view of the Forum in Zeleni Square as the Cathedral of St. Anastasia’s Campanile as a backdrop.

As we left the city, we grabbed some sandwiches, settling down on the harbour-side of Jazine Bay. Heading off one again, we took the semi-coastal route towards Split, bound in fact for Sibenik; The route was interspersed with scenes comparable to the industry-based towns of northern England and roads touching the very tip of the ocean just like that of the Overseas Highway to Key West in Florida. A huge bridge stretching high over the Sibenik Channel leads you to the city of Sibenik, from which people were bungee jumping. We pulled into the car park just before the bridge, and watched someone take the plunge. By god, it was something to see!

When we continued driving, we arrived into the city just before 4pm. We drove through the Old Town, which led us to the Solaric Resort, which is located just 3km from the city centre and graced its own beach, outdoor restaurants and entertainment venues across a number of different accommodations suitable for all types of holidaymaker. Before heading back into the Old Town for dinner, we bathed on the pebbly beach and I braved the cold water of the Adriatic Sea twice, a welcome relief from the late afternoon heat. We walked around the resort, returning to our room just after 7pm – I made a round of Bacardi and Coke and watched a documentary about Sibenik on TV, which was being to the hotel residents, featuring lot’s of aerial views and flyover footage…it was beautiful!

We arrived at the on-site Dalmatian Village, a restaurant set in a block-paved courtyard in traditional style with an outdoor fireplace and table-side singers setting the mood. All the staff dashed around taking orders and delivering food and drink, dressed in traditional wear. We order the Sword of Sibenik, an assortment of meats grilled and presented on skewers in a crossed-swords formation, which we ate with french fries and salad together with a bottle of Debit, a local dry white wine. Lovely!!

After a desert of ice cream, we walked in near-darkness to the Palm Beach Bar, an outdoor feast of live music where, like in Estonia, people danced like crazy to the likes of I’m So Excited and Donna Summer’s Hot Stuff. After a bit of wander, we found our way back to the apartment, ready for nothing but sleep after another hot, long, but fun day.