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

I headed across to Hvar Island yesterday for a Wine Tour with Agnete and Christian, two members of one of Norway’s biggest hard-core bands, Madder Mortem. The plan was to introduce them to as much of the island and its wine and food in 12 hours as possible.

Our friend Mili at Hertz Rentals was kind enough to give us a Jeep Wrangler for the day. Given the warm weather, it was perfect to be able to take the roof off as we cruised the island.

We started with a walk to the small beach of Lučišće Bay. I was unfortunately shocked to see a new road had destroyed the serenity of this once stunning road. Zlatan Plenković, from the winery Zlatan Otok, is responsible for this disaster. He is the ‘big man’ in town and wanted the road to bring more guests to his failing restaurant. I’m not sure how Zlatan can look at himself in the mirror, as he and other like-minded, unthinking or corrupt scoundrels in Croatia seemed determined to destroy its natural beauty. (If anyone reads this and is coming to Croatia please don’t buy Zlatan Plavac or any of the other wines from Zlatan Otok!)

For lunch we drove up along the dirt track that runs along the spine of the island to Konoba Humac. Humac is a traditional, inland village. The abundance limestone on Dalmatian Islands gave the locals an unlimited supply of construction material. In Humac everything is stone; the walls and roofs of the houses, the fences for the animal pens and the shepherd’s huts (which were also used for animal storage). The view from the konoba across the water to Brač Island as you eat lunch is worth the price of admission.

Antun Balić at Uljara Božić in Svirče then showed us his olive oil bottling plant. He explained to us the difference between Extra Virgin and Virgin Oil (the percentage of oxygen in the oil), cold and warm pressing, when the olives should be picked and the different olive varieties. Antun also told us that good oil has a green grass/apple bouquet and an astringent aftertaste at the back of the throat.

The last stop of the day before the evening ferry was the Tomić Winery. Andro Tomić is the man to see about Hvar wine. Not only are his wines top-notch but the overall presentation of everything he does, from his labels to his cellars, is excellent. Marina, his right-hand girl, ran through their 9 products, and we tasted 4 of them - the Opolo Nobile Rosé, the Plavac Mali Barrique, the Prošek Hectorović and the Travarica. Marina was even kind enough to prepare food to accompany each wine.

From Andro’s website:

Opolo Nobile - “Rosé wine Opolo Nobile is enjoyed as a young, a year-old wine. It is produced using a special technology (decantation after only 12 hours) that gives this wine a beautiful pink colour and its distinctive freshness. Opolo Nobile was modelled on young French (Beaujolais) wines, and it is best to drink it until it is 10 months old.”

As this is a light wine Marina served a mozzarella-style cheese with olive oil.

Plavac Mali Barrique - “After the Ancient Greeks and Romans who used amphorae for wine storage and transport, barrels became a widespread means of wine storing, and became crucial for maturing of wine. Barrels have a two-fold function in winemaking; they accelerate wine aging, and add a distinctive wood flavour and bouquet. Fine making and maturing in oak barrels give the wine Plavac Mali Barrique its highly noble bouquet and make a great complement to an already strong flavour of the variety Plavac Mali.”

To compliment the strength of this wine, a strong cheese such as parmesan is recommended.

Prošek Hectorović - “Prošek is an authentic Croatian dessert wine , made using dried grapes of the finest indigenous Dalmatian varieties. Although it often gets mixed up with Prosecco, Italian sparkling wine, Prošek comes from the coastal region of Dalmatia, which is still the only place where it is made. Prošek Hectorović was named after Petar Hektorović, a great poet, hedonist and nobleman who came from the island of Hvar.”

Marina surprised us by having us eat gorgonzola with this dessert wine - a great taste combination.

Travarica - “Travarica is a type of herbal brandy made with the wine distillate from authentic wines of the island Hvar, flavoured with seven Mediterranean herbs, predominantly carob and sage. A part of the herbs is distilled together with the wine, but most of it is left to macerate in the distillate.”

Carob is used as fake-chocolate, and the best way we discovered to enjoy this brandy is poured over chocolate ice-cream.

As we were running late for the ferry we didn’t get a chance to visit Hvar Town, but given what we had done there were no complaints!

The rest of the tour’s pictures can be found here.

While Dalmatia’s traditional boats allowed for the movement of goods and people on the water, on the other side of the Dinaric Alps four-legged transport was used. Donkeys were used for the heavy work, such as lifting the grapes, while horses did the rest.

An event called the Alka is held in Sinj in August each year. This horsemanship challenge commemorates a victory over the Turks in 1715, but, unfortunately though interesting, it has become closely tied to Croatian nationalism.

Our friend Ivo has 50 horses not far from Split. He offers one day tours of the local hills, or a 7-day camping horseback expedition around the Plitvice Lakes National Park. Those interested should contact us at Lifejacket Adventures.

Marilyn, John and I crossed the border into Bosnia yesterday to visit Mostar.

Mostar is a mixed Serb, Croat and Bosnia town in south-west Bosnia, known for its 16th Century bridge, which crosses the Neretva River, and the crazy guys who dive from it. The town is named after the bridge - most means bridge in Serbo-Croatian.

The practice of diving from the bridge dates back to the time the bridge was built, but the first recorded instance is from 1664. The diving platform is over 20 metres above the water, but the river is only 3 metres deep! Plus the temperature of the water is freezing - the shock of entering it on a hot summer’s day has been known to cause heart-attacks.

A town in Mostar’s current location was mentioned in literature in the early medieval period. In 1468 Mostar came under Ottoman rule and they greatly expanded the existing small village.

The current bridge was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1557 and built in 9 years by Mimar Hayruddin. It replaced an earlier wooden suspension bridge. It is made of local stone known as tenelija.

During the war in Bosnia Herzegovina (1992-1995), on 9th November 1993, the bridge was destroyed by Croat forces. Just as the walls of Dubrovnik symbolized the barbarity of the Croatian War, the bridge’s destruction came to represent the wanton destruction of the Bosnian conflict. After reconstruction it was reopened on 23rd July 2004.

Most tourists, including us, come to see the Turkish markets, houses and mosques. The local Croat community has had to adapt to this commercial fact - to make money they must now lead tours through the streets of their former enemies.

In the markets many Turkish trinkets can be found - coffee and tea sets, copperwork, rugs, slippers and fezs.

The best food is typically Bosnian - burek (meat or cheese filled filo pastry) or ćevapčići (skinless sausages served with pita and onion).

Many things in the town are still segregated (though the local government is not). There are even 2 football teams where there was just one previously. FK Velež, named after a nearby mountain, is supported by Bosniaks from the east-side of the river. Their fans are called the ‘Red Army’ - you can see their graffiti everywhere.. HŠK Zrinjski Mostar, named after a local creek, has supporters on the western (Croatian) bank of the river.

It was a little disconcerting to visit a mixed town after living so many years in ‘Catholic’ Croatia - the landscape was the same, the people looked the same and they spoke the same language - but instead of crucifixes around their necks they had crescent moons, instead of bell towers there were minarets, the death notices were in green instead of black and instead of bells ringing out there was the call to prayer. Essentially there is no difference between the people, no great divide, which would help explain the ferocity of the war.

Yesterday Frank, Ceila, Bill and Cary enjoyed a day with us on Brač Island.

After the 45-minute ferry ride from Split, we drove to the trailhead above Pustinja Blaca.

Blaca was a monastery found in 1551 by Glagoltic monks from Poljica Republic. This small Republic, behind Omiš, was wedged between the Venetian and Ottoman Empires. The monks, fearing Turkish raids, fled to Brač in the 15th Century and later received permission to build their monastery in its current, well-hidden location. Setting to work in the harsh landscape (blaca means desert), they created a vibrant community - the richest on the island. They were self-sufficient in food, and exported honey, olive oil, wine and cheese to Venice and Vienna. They owned 3 trading boats, large estates in other villages and had up to 120 workers laboring for them.

The last monk, Don Nikola Milicevič, was a true Renaissance man. His favorite hobby was astronomy and we saw what was once the largest telescope in south-east Europe. He reported his findings to the world authorities and his work led to the naming of 2 asteroids as well as a comet.

All this work took place in the middle of nowhere. We got just a taste of its isolation - after a long drive down a dirt track, we still had a 2km hike into the canyon in which the monastery is tucked away. Yesterday, as the temperature soared, the sun beat down and reflected onto us from the white limestone - not an environment conducive to refined pursuits.

To recover we headed to Murvica, just outside of Bol. The terrace of the restaurant at which we ate lunch looked out across the water to Hvar Island. After an excellent seafood meal, the water was too inviting so we had to have a swim. The beaches along the south coast of Brač are some of my favorites in Dalmatia.

The highlight of the return ferry ride was sailing through an afternoon electrical storm.

Saturday night was the first Split Party Bus to Aurora Club in Primošten. Aurora is the biggest club in Dalmatia, and given the demand from locals and foreigners to visit, we decided to start a bus service to it from Split.

At 10.30pm we all met down on the waterfront and piled in our 50-seat coach for the 45-minute drive. Aurora sits on a hill overlooking the old town of Primošten. The carpark was already jammed when we arrived.

Danny, the owner, spent alot of money renovating the whole complex over the winter to get ready for the opening night. Downstairs there is a big bar and more importantly for those early morning cravings - a huge wood-fired pizza. Upstairs is the lounge and behind that the outdoor dance floor and terraces.

DJ Todd Terry got the crowd jumping when he started on the tables at 1am. The new sound and light systems added to the atmosphere.

At 5am, with the sun coming up, the party ended.

For the schedule of DJs and other acts check out the Aurora website. This year they are expecting another visit from David Morales plus the Shape Shifters, Cedric Gervais, etc.

For more pictures - go to Split Party Bus on Flickr.

Emilio Mendušič was kind enough to show us the birds at his Falcon Centre on Saturday. Emilio and the volunteers have created one of the rare raptor rescue centres in Europe. Visitors can spend an hour walking around the compound, including the hospital, feeding the birds and being educated by the team. (For example did you know owls have serrations on the leading edge of their wing feathers that produce tiny vortices which reduce drag thus allowing the bird to produce only 0.1dB when flying?)

For those wanting to get in touch with their blue-blooded heritage, the centre also organizes 5-day adventure where guests are taught to hunt with falcons. Croatians that complete this package are then asked to become first responder volunteers - if the centre receives a call about an injured bird in their area the volunteer is called to make initial contact. There are now 75 volunteers around Croatia.

Conservation efforts are relatively new in Croatia - for most Croats the land and the sea are to be worked; caring for wildlife is way down the list of priorities. But several other rescue centres have appeared in the last 10 years.

Near Krasno Polje, below the North Velebit National Park (one of our favorite places to hike) is Kuterevo Bear Refuge - a small sanctuary for the local brown bears. Croatia still has a bear hunting season and cured bear meat can be found on the menu in some restaurants.

Unfortunately for local dolphins fishermen regarded them as competition for fish and destroyers of nets - so they were killed. With fish stocks also dropping the number of these mammals has decreased. The Adriatic Dolphin Project in Veli Lošinj is attempting to rectify the situation.

Eurasian Griffon Centre successfully lobbied for the habitat of these birds on Cres Island to be proclaimed Special Ornithological Reserves. They also run a rescue compound where injured birds are cared for, before being released to the wild.

Aklie wanted to see where SpongeBob SquarePants is from, so we went for a drive up the coast to Krapanj - apparently the smallest and lowest inhabited island in Croatia. Krapanj, located in the Šibenik archipelago, lies 300m from the mainland town of Brodarice and is best known for sponge diving and the unusual occupation of its women - fishing.

Antun, a monk from Crete, introduced Krapanj’s inhabitants to sea sponge gathering and processing over 300 years ago (beginning of the 18th Century). Diving for sponges became the major source of income for Krapanj families, earning them the title of Spužvari (Sponge Experts). And while the men were diving, their wives did everthing else - working the fields, rowing the transport boats and fishing (eventhough they did not know how to swim).

Every year the local divers gather over 4 tonnes of natural sea sponge from the surrounding waters - of mainly the Euspongia Officinalis Adriatica - Fine Dalmata variety.

Natural sponges have been used for bathing for millenia - as they are firm and durable yet soft. The Romans even used them for lining the inside of their armor. Compared to man-made sponges, natural sponges are much more absorbent and static electricity free.

Sponges are sensitive and require warm, clean seawater to grow. The unpolluted, relatively shallow waters (5m - 50m) around Krapanj provide perfect conditions for them to thrive.

If cut properly a sponge will regrow in the same place. As it takes a sponge 2 years to grow to 15cm, traditionally sponge diving was forbidden every third year in order to allow them to regenerate.

The Krapanj monastery museum permanently exhibits a show on sea sponge diving. Next door is the Hotel Spongiola - where you can take classes in the traditional way of collecting sponges - ‘free diving’.

Thanks to Tim Jarman for the picture of Krapanj - more of his pictures can be seen here.

Tim and I went to Šibenik today to sit the small boat skipper license (voditelj brodice) examination at the Harbour Master’s (Lučka Kapetanija) office.

If you do not have a licence from home or if you have a licence that does not contain a VHF-licence, you need to sit a short oral test to get a B Category License of Competency - similar to the Recreational Skipper’s Ticket in Western Australia. Apparently as no such national licensing regime exists in the U.S., Americans wishing to charter a Croatian-flagged vessel may be required to sit the test.

The license is valid for boats up to 30 registered gross tonnes and for less than 12 people. It allows you to travel 3nm from the coast or islands - given that the islands are so close along the Croatian coast, this means you can cruise to nearly all of them.

Locations of the Harbour Masters’ Offices can be found here.

You need to bring:

a. 815 kuna.

b. 40 kuna in tax stamps (from the closest newspaper stand).

c. your passport.

d. 2 passport photographs.

Some subjects of the examination are:

a. Navigation.

b. Navigational lights.

c. Right of way.

d. VHF radio procedure.

Amazingly there is no practical examination. They print a handy study guide and the test can be taken in Croatian, English, German, and Italian.

The staff of the Šibenik office were very friendly and helpful - unlike some of the characters found in the Split office, with whom we have had problems before.

While waiting for the test, Tim showed me some of his old haunts in Šibenik - I had never spent time there though its only 30 minutes from Split. The old town was quiet but in many ways nicer than Split.

The centrepiece of Šibenik is the Cathedral of St. James (Katedrala sv. Jakova).

The idea of building a cathedral originated in 1298 when Šibenik was given its own diocese. The actual decision to build it was finalised in 1402, though construction did not begin until 1431 and with minor disruptions lasted until 1536. Not much has changed in Croatia - this is a typical construction schedule even today!

It was built on the city’s south-side, where a Romanesque church had stood. The cathedral’s construction began in Venetian Gothic style, and was completed in Tuscan Renaissance style, due to the change over the years of the main architect.

In 1441 Juraj Dalmatinac (George of Dalmatia) was elected architect. At the time he was living and studying art in Venice. He had done some work there on Saint Mark’s Cathedral. Juraj, a devotee of the Late (Venetian) Gothic style, decided to enlarged the original plans for the cathedral, adding a side nave and apses. By the time of his death in 1475 he had also put up the basic constructive elements for the building of the dome and enriched the cathedral with numerous sculptures.

After the his death, Nikola Firentinac (Nicholas of Florence) took over the cathedral’s construction. Sticking to Juraj’s basic plan he however continued the building in Renaissance style, completing the top parts of the cathedral: the dome, the sculpture of Saints Michael, James and Mark, the roof complex and the upper part of the facade. Following Firentinac’s death in 1505, construction continued under Venetian constructors and local craftsmen.

The roof and the dome of St James’ are unique in the world. Like all the other parts of the church, they were made exclusively from stone (i.e. no wooden beams or clay tiles), using the same dry wall techniques Juraj Dalmatinac used while building the apses and the sacristy. The stone slab roof of the central and lateral naves form a semicircular vault visible from the inside as well as from the outside.

The dome of the church was heavily damaged during the shelling of Šibenik in September 1991. Today it has been fully restored with no visible damage.

The cathedral was consecrated in 1555 and in 2000 was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Andjelka, our cousin, got married the other day. Every good Croatian wedding needs several things.

1. Cars with horns blaring. Saturday is wedding day in Croatia, and weddings are not quiet events. The racket starts when the towns are filled with lines of cars, all with horns blasting, traveling from the grooms’ houses to the brides’ houses - where the grooms have to buy the brides from their families - before they all move on to the church.

Andjelka skipped this bit as the service took place in Trogir, a small medieval town with pedestrian-friendly narrow streets. Trogir is situated on a small island between the Croatian mainland and the island of Čiovo, about 27kms west of Split, and since 1997 it has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

2. Flag. The lead car always has a large Croatian flag flying from it. (No one seems to know where the tradition of having a flag at the front of the procession comes from.)

3. Band.Whenever there is a wedding (or any type of festival) in Dalmatia the folk band is dusted off and sings in front of the church, before and after the service.

The video above shows Tomislav Ivčić singing a Dalmatian party favourite “Večeras je Naša Fešta”at the 1986 Split Summer Festival. From the looks of it, he could do a mean Borat impersonation as well.

4. Pregnant bride. At about 80% of Dalmatian weddings the bride’s father is seen prodding the groom down the aisle with a shotgun. Thanks to the Catholic Church’s excellent safe-sex program many young kids are married in their late-teens or early-twenties - all so the Church will accept the expected baby. We saw three weddings one Saturday in Korčula - all teenage brides were 8 months gone. Andjelka, happily, was not in the family-way!

5. Flares. In front of the church, after the service, you could be mistaken that you stumbled upon a local soccer match. Croatians love to light a good flare, and the more the better.

6. Lots of food. Food is at the centre of every Croatian get-together. At the reception you are still being served food at 5am - pršut, cheese, black risotto or roast lamb.

Andjelka had her wedding at one of Croatia’s most interesting churches - the Cathedral of St. Lawrence (Sv. Lovre). The building of the cathedral started around 1200 and was finally finished in 1589, when the last storey of the bell tower was completed. (The bell-tower took so long to build that spanned four architectural styles - Romanesque, early and late Gothic, Renaissance and Mannerist.)

The west portal of Trogir cathedral is known as Radovan’s Portal after the master sculptor who carved his name on it in 1240. It is covered with sculptures of some one hundred figures. A series of reliefs with scenes from Jesus’s life, from the Annunciation to the Resurrection, occupy the concentric arches above the door. Adam and Eve, the Original Sinners, were placed on lions that flank the entrance.

The portal was completed during a period when Bogomilism was prevalent in Dalmatia, after it crossed over from Bosnia and Bulgaria at the end of the 12th Century. The Bogomils opposed the existence of a church as a fixed organization; they were also against the church possessing property and leveling compulsory tithes. The original Bogomil teaching preached disobedience to rulers and masters.

Bogomils explained the corporeal life as a creation of Satan, an angel that was sent to the Earth. Due to this duality, their doctrine rejects everything that is socially created and that does not come from the soul, the only divine possession of the human. Therefore, the established Church, the state, and the hierarchy is totally undermined by Bogomilism. That is why its followers refused to pay taxes, to work, or to fight for their state. The whole social system was to be overthrown.

They denied the divine birth of Jesus; refused all veneration to Mary; the miracles performed by Jesus were interpreted in a spiritual sense, not as real material occurrences; they had no special priests; prayers were to be said in private houses, not in separate buildings such as churches; they declared Jesus to be the Son of God only through grace like other prophets; they believed that the bread and wine of the eucharist were not transformed into flesh and blood, and icons and the cross were idols and the veneration of saints and relics idolatry.

The Bogomils were the revolutionaries that laid the foundations of Protestanism - so the Church tried to squash them!

The portal is influenced by them - it is orientated towards the more humane side of the Church - the Nativity instead of the Last Judgement.

So why is this interesting. Well, the name of the movement was bulgarus in Latin (meaning “Bulgarian”). It became bougre in Old French meaning “heretic, traitor”. It entered German as Buger meaning “peasant, blockhead” (and went on to English as bugger) and the French term also entered Old Italian as buggero and Spanish as bujarrón, both meaning “sodomite”, since it was supposed that heretics would approach sex (just like everything else) in an “inverse” way. The word in Venetian Italian became buzerar, meaning “to do sodomy”. So next time you say “Oh, bugger” you know where the it came from.

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

An old friend from New York City, the Gregster, dropped in to visit us this weekend. We hadn’t seen him in 7 years - it was great to catchup and talk about the days in NYC - the bars, restaurants and clubs, and playing for the NY Magpies. It was also an excellent opportunity to eat at some of our favorite restaurants and take some embarrassing pictures of Greg.

The first day we had lunch at Konoba Šperun, next to the laundrette. We often grab a quick meal here - usually during the summer on their curb-side tables and just the cold appetizers. They have excellent marinated anchovies, a cheese and tomato plate, calamari, bread and olives - really simple but tasty things.

The next day was a gluttonous road-trip to Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik is one of the most beautiful towns in the world. Now is the perfect time to visit before the summer cruise-liners arrive and swamp the cobbled streets.

On the way we stopped at Kapetanova Kuća in Mali Ston- one of Croatia’s Top Ten Restaurants - which has been mentioned previously on our blog. After denying ourselves breakfast we were ready for a huge lunch.

We started with oysters of course - as Mali Ston is famous for them. I had always thought that all oysters were the same - but after visiting the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station in NY many years ago, where you can order them from all over the world, I learned that every region produces different size and shape shells and, more importantly, different flavours.

After the oysters we shared a plate of mixed mussels and clams - cooked buzara style. Buzara is a Dalmatian white wine and garlic sauce in which they cook their shellfish. The sauce is so good that after eating the shellfish you then mop it up with plenty of bread.

The main meal was black cuttlefish risotto (made with the ink from squids) and grilled squid. People always jump when they see the colour of the risotto - but, if the initial fear of eating black food can be overcome, black risotto is delicious. The squid was simply grilled and then drizzled with olive oil and garlic.

All this was washed down with a bottle of Marco Polo Pošip. Pošip is the white wine variety from Korčula Island.

And if all this wasn’t enough, Greg need a slice of rožata - Dalmatian creme caramel - to top it all off. I was thinking to offer him a glass of desert wine - prošek - but that would have been excessive!

Once we arrived in Dubrovnik we needed to rest. So we found a hole-in-the-wall cafe clinging to the town’s famous walls and watched the big ships sail passed.

In Dubrovnik there is only one place to eat - Lokanda Peskarija. All the other restaurants are tourist traps. The Peskarija has a limited menu - maybe 10 dishes - and they are all served in small black pots. Its such a simple, elegant idea. Its location is stunning as well - right on the edge of the water in the old port, under big umbrellas. After such a big lunch we just needed something small - just calamari, grilled prawns and a big mixed salad - and a little more wine and coffee.

The next morning, nursing the first twinges of gout, we decided some brisk sea air and a little walk would do us good. So Greg, Jules, the kids and I piled into the Fiat and caught the ferry to Hvar Island. We drove across the island to look at its southern slopes which are famous for producing excellent plavac -Dalmatian red wine.

The plan was to hike amongst the vines but the weather gods were against us so we retired to Konoba Vrisnik for lunch. The owner, Andro Grgičević, welcomed us in but said that they were not yet officially open for the season. However a group from Zagreb had organized a meal and he said we could join them.

The meal started with a broth made with goat meat stock and buck-wheat - very tasty. Then Andro brought us a plate of boiled goat meat, mashed potato and tomato sauce. He explained that this was typical Saturday meal for the villagers of Hvar. After the first course of goat another bowl of goat meat cooked with peas appeared. The sweetness of the peas was excellent with the young goat meat. Just as we were settling down completely satisfied, we saw Andro serving the other guests with yet more plates of grilled lamb and salad. Thinking that heart-attacks were imminent if we continued with the last course, we went for quick a walk.

After returning to Split, for the evening meal we decided to try Restoran Perlica. The restaurant had been recommended as the best place near Split to get lamb-on-the-spit. And we were not disappointed! The friendly staff (often a rarity in Croatia) provided us with a plate piled high with roasted lamb, green salad and a side-order of young spring onions. Once again really simple food but so good. The reason we wanted to try Perlica was we wish to include it in a half-day tour from Split to the archaeological sites of the Roman city of Salona and the hill-top fort of Klis. We will definitely bring guests to it!

Finally, Greg fell in love with a Croatian beer - Karlovačko - which always seems to be the favorite of foreigners visiting here.

After such a debauched weekend I was happy to see the back of Greg - but hopefully it won’t be another 7 years before we meet again.

The European Cities Marketing Association has released figures which shows Split is #1 on a list of European holiday destinations for growth in visitors between 2001 and 2006.

“Split saw an annual growth of around 17% in tourists, to top their survey of 93 locations across Europe.

In 2006, some 200 000 holiday makers crowded into city of some 250 000 inhabitants, a 400% rise in the number of holiday makers from 1999. Their average stay was 2.2 days.

The trend continued in 2007, but according to Split-based daily, Slobodna Dalmacija, tourist numbers decreased slightly by 5 000 due to a lack of accommodation as old hotels underwent renovation. (It may have been something to do with the terrible job that was done on renovating the waterfront or the fact Split suffers from a lack of a coherent tourism plan!)

The 2001-2006 survey shows that U.S. visitors and tourists topped the list and were followed by French and Spanish visitors.

A transit point for a number of Croatian islands, Split and its famous old town dominated by the Roman Emperor’s Diocletian Palace dating from the end of the 3rd Century, has become a key tourist attraction in Croatia, challenging the status of the legendary town of Dubrovnik, some 200kms to the southeast.

The tourism boom has seen real estate prices skyrocketing with properties in the old towns going for as much as 6 000 € /square metre. (This is just nonsense made-up by the local real-estate agents!)”

Some of what is written above is true - we have seen a constant growth in our laundrette business - but I wouldn’t trust the figures supplied by the local tourism board here in Split. Personally I think Dubrovnik tourism would have had far more (and better quality) growth. The opportunity is here in Split - it will just take hard work by everyone.

As a follow up to the last post about Croatia’s bid to join NATO -

“NATO leaders have agreed to invite Croatia and Albania to join the alliance.

The agreement was reached at an informal dinner of the NATO heads of state and government on Wednesday night.

For the third aspirant country, Macedonia, the leaders hoped that it can be invited as soon as possible given the fact that Greece, a NATO ally, has made clear that it will veto the invitation unless Macedonia changes its official name.

The Greek delegation made very clear on Tuesday night that Macedonia’s accession to NATO would be impossible before the settlement of the name dispute.

Greece fears that the former Yugoslav republic’s constitutional name — Republic of Macedonia — implies territorial ambition for the neighboring northern Greek province of Macedonia. But Skopje has refused to exchange its official name for NATO membership.

On Ukraine and Georgia’s application for NATO’s Membership Action Plan (MAP), chances are small for them to be given this status at the summit.

The leaders reaffirmed NATO’s “open door” policy and were of the view that MAP for the two countries is a matter not of whether, but of when.

The leaders also reiterated that there is no veto by third parties, apparently in reference to opposition by Russia.

Russia has warned that NATO membership for the two former Soviet republics would bring instability in the region.”

It always bodes well when ‘instability’ and ‘Balkans’ are used in the same sentence!

Above is one of the hardest working and most generous expats in Split, our friend Nigel Turnball.

Several years ago he set up Sailing School Croatia. Its the only RYA approved sailing school in these parts, offering a range of courses for yachties in a beautiful location - the Dalmatian Islands.

Together we enjoy the occasional recreational sail or we call him whenever we are off on a new adventure - he was kind enough to follow when the authorities forced us to take a support boat on our attempt to kayak across the Adriatic Sea.

The New York Times recently published a list of the must-see places in the world for 2008. Included in this list, at an impressive #11, is the town of Hvar (on Hvar Island).

The NY Times describes Hvar thus:

“As Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast has become a new Riviera, Hvar has become its St. Tropez: a tiny village that fills with yachts and international partyers over the summer. While the waterfront Carpe Diem remains the island’s night-life center, narrow stone alleys are lined with chic cocktail lounges and hotel terraces, including the rooftop pool at the new Adriana Hotel, Croatia’s first Leading Small Hotels of the World member.”

Now personally I can only take the ‘jet-set’ in small doses. But when you combine the high-life with a little adventure its excellent. Many of those who visit Hvar Town only see its bars and nearby beaches, but there is a lot more to explore on the whole island.

The picture in the NY Times article is actually of a beach in Komiža, which happens to be on Vis Island - only 25 kilometers away - so much for the fact-checkers!

But both Vis and Hvar Islands are combined in our Vis and Hvar Islands Kayak Adventure - how’s that for a segue!? (And, yes, our picture at the top of this post is of a beach on Hvar!)

The dreaded ‘flu has meant we haven’t had many adventures recently.

For all our German friends (Hi An!), you can read about a day spent with the Smalbys on the Gajeta Falkuša last summer on the Alles Kroatien website. The Falkuša is one of the boats we use on our Kayak Tours.

We had a beautiful, sunny day today in Split. So we went for a walk around Diocletian’s Palace. Aklie rode his bike for the first time without training-wheels! In the video he is going great - a second after recording stopped he ran straight into the back of an unsuspecting lady! Photographs are posted here.

Croatia is a nation of contradictions.

On Sunday we went to Skradin, a small town on the Krka River, just behind Šibenik, to visit Vina Bibich, run by Alen, a local wine producer and chef about whom we had heard great things. We wanted to try the local red wine, debit. Unfortunately everything is still closed this early in the year.

Skradin has a long history; originally it was a Roman trading town. Today it’s the best place to catch a boat to the Krka National Park, and the Krka Waterfalls, up river.