An Adriatic AdVANture: The Croatian Chapter

Prerequisite reading- Time to Hit the Road

I'm going to start with a very unpopular opinion. 

Croatia is over-rated. 

There I said it. 

Yes, it has the goods to back-up its resounding reputation; Gorgeous coastline, sparkling turquoise sea, fairytale villages, amazing food and wine (gahhh here I go talking myself back into a full-on endorsement). BUT compared to its southernly neighbours (Montenegro and Albania), who share the EXACT SAME COASTLINE, it is crowded and expensive. 

So, after crossing the Montenegrin border our first call of port was Dubrovnik. As one cannot visit Dubrovnik without acknowledging the obvious dragon in the room, evidence of Kings Landing was everywhere.

We are the average Game of Thrones fans. No, we haven't read the books but we know the main characters and their houses, and understand most pop culture references. If you yell 'HODOR' at us, we'll hold the door. So did we join any GoT tours? No. But did we take some pleasure in swimming at Blackwater Bay? Yes. Did we happen to eat lunch on the Jesuit staircase- No SHAME here.

Otherwise, being a super hot day, we meandered through the city walls, scurrying from one scrap of shade to the next and were thankful we decided to pack our swimsuits for a periodic swim. How often can you say that you have swam off the walls of a medieval castle? 

From Dubrovnik onwards was just one gorgeous coastal town after the next. With our very loose plans consisting of sticking to the coastline and doing a bit of island hopping, the Croatian days dripped by the way of scenic drives, lazy bike rides, frequent swims and seaside lunches. 

It was slow going when we had to pullover to enjoy the all views!

Waking up to ferry over to Korcula for pastries and coffee

Driving through Drace and quickly realizing we were in wine country--Which has always been our favourite of countries to visit.

Whenever we mention that we visited Croatia, often the response is, "Oh! Didn't you just love Split?" To which we sort of agree and quickly move the convo along in a different direction. You see, the travel-stars aligned for us in Split, and we were lucky enough to be meeting our friend Meagan for a one-night only reunion. To say that we were gearing up for a big night was an understatement. Little did we know we were about to co-star in movie sequel The Hangover: Lost in Croatia.

Tyler and I had parked the van a couple kms outside the city and biked in to meet our friend. From there a series of tragicomedic events unfolded that resulted in one of our most ridiculous night ever. Upon arriving in the city, we decided our best plan of action was to lock our bikes to a nondescript fence for safe keeping, but made absolutely no note as to the location. Next, we met Meg, had a dance party, wandered around the city and got so twist-turned around, we didn't know which way was up. At some point in the night we said farewell to Meg... and unknowingly to each other as well. For some lost amount of time Tyler found himself having a solo gigglefest in a virtual reality room, while I aimlessly wandered through a dog show flexing my knowledge of puppy pedigree. 

Finally, by some miracle Ty and I found each other and our bikes, and were set to cycle back to our beachside park-up for the night...when I looked over my shoulder and POOF! Tyler was gone again. Hours later, after each taking our own routes home, we eventually found each other. We spent the subsequent day napping in the shade outside a McDonalds...only to emerge every couple hours for a bag of burgers and a tray of hot fudge sundaes. If you know, you know.

Before it all went awry

The downward spiral from being swindled on a wheel of cheese, to the questionable dance moves and the last we saw of Tyler.

We finally emerged from our McD's fog, and geared up to make the trek to Krka National Park. Somehow we mustered the will to complete a hike around the park and revelled in the refreshingly cool water at the basin of the waterfalls. That night was definitely an early and quiet night at camp!

Pause for a Bosnian interlude

We popped over to the Island of Brac, and got willingly stuck in Bol for many nights.

Camping in Seline, we found ourselves parked-up next to a lovely Romanian couple, who after getting to chatting offered us some of their raki (as one does in the Balkans). What is raki? Well it's liquor usually made from plums or grapes, everyone's uncle makes the best, and it often comes out of a reused Fanta bottle--So, it's essentially moonshine. We've sampled our fair share of raki, but boy-howdy! After two shots of the Romanians' hooch, it was seemingly lights out. Altho not entirely so, as we awoke the next morning to a somewhat suspicious crime scene of a pasta meal strewn about, van door wide open and a vague memory of someone singing Shania karaoke (ok, it was probably/definitely me).

Turns out there are lots of places to explore without tons of people in Croatia

After we had spent the last couple weeks cruising the Croatian coastline, we arrived at our final stop, Pula. At first Pula presented itself as yet another picturesque seaside town where everyone lounged on the beach by day, and wandered the town by night eating gelato. However, as time wore on and we ventured further and further on our bikes, more revealed itself. First, Pula has one of the best preserved Roman amphitheatres. Structurally, very much like the colosseum in Rome, the Pula arena does not have throngs of people crawling about, doesn't cost a bunch of money to visit, and is wide open for exploration. It was pretty sweet to quietly have our morning espresso unbothered amongst the ruins.

After a couple days with our feet up, it was time to get moving again.

What's your favourite flavour of gelati? I sway towards pistachio, chocolate, maybe a refreshing lemon or coconut.

Next, as we were cycling back towards our van, we haphazardly came across an abandoned naval base including tons of house, government-esque buildings, and even a hospital. It was as if everyone just didn't come home one day. Bits of former domestic life strewn about, tons of refuse from present-day squatters, and nature reclaiming the space made it a neat place to explore, imagine and wonder about. 

Ok, ok, so you might have noticed that this post is rife with pictures of our time in Croatia...and as it turns out, after going through the photos and reliving the beauty, adventure, food, scenery and general quaint grandeur of the country, it is aptly-rated (perhaps even under-rated!?). Croatia is so so beautiful, the coastlines and towns are spectacular, and if wanting to get off the beaten path, there are plenty of places to enjoy the natural beauty without throngs of people. 

So, yes, Croatia is amazing, it's worth every kuna ($$), and we would 100% love to visit again. And the only reason we weren't more forlorn to be moving on from this fabulous country is that we were off to Switzerland to meet our bestest frau, bask in the freshness of the Alps and eat our weight in cheese and chocolate!

Annnddd just because I don't want the last picture on this post to be of an abandoned building...here's one more snap of our van somewhere in Croatia.