Croatia | Sea | Kayaking | Tours | Lifejacket Adventures - Adriatic Expeditions

Summer is definitely the ‘festive’ season in Croatia. To attract as many tourists as possible an almost infinite number of events are now organized. Below are the ones we have bumped into over the last 2 weeks.

Motovun Film Festival

Celebrating its 10th birthday is the Motovun Film Festival. What started as 5 guys with 5 films has grown into Croatia’s most interesting festival.

From its press release:

“For its jubilee-edition, Motovun Film Festival has prepared the most ambitious program so far. From 28 July to 1 August, the tenth anniversary of the festival and the 100th anniversary of Russian film will be celebrated in this small Istrian town on top of a hill. Screening of more than 100 films will heat projectors up until they turn red. Numerous guests will have a chance to have fun on concerts and on the opening of the new cinema and make a toast with vodka for at least this many birthdays more!

In gratitude to the audience who has been coming to Motovun from all over the world for ten years, we made sure this year’s program would break a number of records. We will show more than 100 films, 28 of which in the main program. We will open another day cinema, dedicated to the grand jubilee of a great cinematography – the 100th anniversary of Russian film.

With 16 screenings on 5 screens every day, the Motovun theaters will be working non-stop from 10 a.m. almost to the daybreak of the next day. The night from Thursday to Friday, they will be working absolutely non-stop: film reels will keep turning for 40 hours.”

Grožnjan Jazz Festival

Since 19th July and with plans to finish on 3rd August, at 9pm each night, the Istrian town of Grožnjan has been hosting jazz music performances.

Grožnjan became known in the 1970s as an artists’ and musicians’ colony. In those days none wanted to live in the towns from which the Italians had been removed at the end of WW2.

Today, during the summer months concerts and music events are held almost every day - everything from classical to jazz. Walking through the town during the day, youngsters can be heard practicing in many rooms as Grožnjan also houses an International Cultural Centre of Young Musicians.

Diocletian’s Days

Over last weekend, numerous Splicani ventured out into the streets in their bedsheets. They were celebrating the life of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, whose retirement palace stands at the centre of their town. Music was played at various sites around the town and then a large banquet, featuring accurate period meals, was held in the palace’s basements. This year’s attendance was down, as instead of the meal being free, a ticket cost 650 kuna.

Tuesday, 1st July

Arrival in Split

The Vis and Hvar Islands Kayak Adventure starts in the evening of the first day - not with getting into the boats but a stroll through the 1 700 year old ruins of Roman Emperor Diocletian’s retirement palace. Eventhough Deanna, Gabe, Tove, May-Lill, Jodie, Warwick (call me ‘Waz’) and Fred were all coming from different directions at different times, and with Tim and me still on Vis Island organizing the falkuša and kayaks, Jules was somehow able to get everyone in the correct place for a walk with Maja, our knowledgeable guide.

Diocletian was known for several things - as reformer (of the Roman legal, financial, administrative and military systems), as a persecutor (of Christians) and as a constructor. The biggest baths in Rome (over 30 000 sqm) were built by him - though he never visited them - and he built of 20 000sqm of palace just for himself on the shores of the Adriatic Sea. It only took 10 years to build (completed in 305), but anything is possible when you have 20 000 slaves working for you. And only 2 000 were killed during construction! Its good to be the king! The palace forms the centre of Split old town and locals still live amongst its ancient stones.

The irony is that when the Christians inhabited the palace after 640, they turfed Diocletian’s bones out of his mausoleum and turned it into the Cathedral of Sveti Duje (Saint Dominus).

After the tour, dinner was taken at Konoba Maslina - a good-value, hidden-away restaurant.

(Thanks to Deanna and Gabe for these pictures. For all the pictures of the kayak tour - click here.)

Split is expecting an increase in cruise-ship arrivals this year. For these guests and others who wish to explore the coast, rivers, hills and islands around Split we have teamed-up with our Danish friends at Solitum to provide interesting half-day and full-day tours.

Evening Walking Tour of Diocletian’s Palace

Salona and Klis Fortress Walking Tour

Afternoon Sail on Historical Wooden Boats (available after the end of July)

Aurora & Hacienda Nightclubs Transfer Bus

Cetina River and Omiš Hiking Tour

Hvar Island Wine Tour

Brač Island Tour

Krka Waterfalls Tour

Plitvice Lakes and North Velebit Hiking Tour

Its a laugh when Aussies or Yanks start talking about heritage. The moment we step out the door of our apartment we are breathing the same air Roman Emperor Diocletian (236 - 316) did 1 700 years ago.

To try an give Aklie some perspective we took him, with our friends, the Smalbys, to the Split Archaeological Museum and Salona, site of the 1st Century Roman city.

The Archaeological Museum, a 10-minute walk from Diocletian’s Palace, contains many artifacts found in the Palace; in Salona, which also happens to be Diocletian’s birthplace; and in the Dalmatian Greek colonies, including Starigrad on Hvar Island. The display is small and intimate. In the courtyard there are many large stone pieces, which quickly become boring. But inside are useful day-to-day objects of typical Roman families - perfume bottles, other beauty tools, jewelery, toys, trinkets and coins. It definitely beats the London’s British Museum and New York’s Metropolitan, as you can see the relics then in the same day visit where they were dug up.

Salona is 10kms from Split. Julius Caesar gave the town status of a Roman colony in 48 B.C. and it was finally destroyed by the Avars in 639. Don Frane Bulić oversaw most of the excavations at the end of the 19th Century. We had a picnic in front of the Basilica of Manastirine and then wandered through the ruins - the town’s churches, bath’s, protective walls, main gate and bridge over the Jadran River.

The ruins of Salona represent another missed opportunity for Split tourism. Very little excavation has been done since that completed by Bulić. A Roman city of 60 000 people, about 3 times the population of Pompei, still lies under derelict houses and vineyards. The ruins host no events or festivals and its very difficult for tourists to directly travel between Split and Salona on local buses.

The above picture is Roklan sitting on a carved, stone sarcophagus for a Roman child from the 1st or 2nd Centuries AD.

It seems every new Chinese restaurant in the former Yugoslavia is called Peking (see our previous post about New Year’s Eve in Slovenia). We’d heard about a restaurant that had just opened near Trogir and that’s where we ended up for dinner.

For those visiting Split, much more information about Diocletian’s Palace and Salona is given on our Evening Walking Tours.