Tag: Croatia

Plitvice Lakes National Park

Following our kayaking adventure, we rented a car and drove to Plitvice Lakes National Park. The park is in the mountainous karst area of central Croatia. Three of us, David, my wife Joann and me. We spent three nights at the Miric Inn, affording us two full days to explore the lakes.

On our first day, May 31, we explored the lower lakes. The trails meander around the lakes and over what seems like miles of boardwalks. Sometimes the boardwalks take you alongside and sometimes directly over waterfalls. Never in my wildest imagination could I imagine the expanse of water, lakes and falls. And the colors are dazzling. It’s an extraordinary experience.

The water cascades over dikes of tufa and travertine. Conditions are such that the water is saturated with minerals which precipitate out to form tufa.

The park service regulates guests with timed entries so that the park doesn’t get too crowded. We arranged an early entry so that we could have a full day to explore. Having had an early start, by mid-morning we were happy to find a sign directing us to coffee and snacks. We logged six miles on our first day, exploring the lakes by boat and on foot.

On our second day, June 1, we explored the upper lakes. Again, logging six miles. Here are a couple maps that track our tours. More photos are available in an online gallery.

Kayaking Croatia: Drvenik Veliki to Trogir

Our journey today starts in the sleepy little town of Drvenik Veliki on the island of Drvenik Veli. This marks the last day of our five-day kayaking adventure in Croatia. The day begins with breakfast at our villa, Villa LA. Our guide Marko put out a spread of cheese, ham, bread, granola, yogurt, fruit, juice and scrambled eggs. After breakfast we walked down to the harbor and launched off of a boat ramp.

A high tide of 0.49 feet and a low of 0.42 feet means that tides and currents are not an issue. There is little tidal effect here compared to what we are used to in San Francisco. It’s also a pleasure to paddle in swimsuits without the need for dry suits.

The water is flat calm and crystal clear as we launch. We head out of the bay and turn northeast towards the mainland, crossing the channel and keeping an eye out for ferries and pleasure boats. We feel the slight effect of the following seas and light wind, so I alternate between using my best paddling technique and edging and using the rudder to keep the boat on course. I’m not fond of rudders and this boat behaves a bit different from the one I paddle at home, but efficient enough for my needs.

I’m astounded by the color of the water and how it changes from a deep blue to transparent turquoise with the light reflecting off the white limestone and sand bottom. At 11:00 we pull into a small beach on a little island and our guide Marko surprises us by serving up ice cream.

After ice cream and a quick swim, we are back in the boats continuing to the mainland. We stop at a white sand beach just a few kilometers west of Trogir. After lunch we continue to Trogir, paddling up the canal and under three bridges.

As we exit the canal, we join the larger body of water, and we feel wind in our faces. We paddle into the wind, perhaps 10 knots, passing under the highway bridge and landing on a beach just east of the bridge. This ends an amazing five days of paddling the “Hidden Archipelago” of Croatia. I’ll be posting more highlights about this adventure in future posts so stay tuned.

Enchanted Archipelago: Day 1

At 9:00 our guide, Marko, picks us up at Vila Baguc where we’ve been staying in Split. We hop in the van and drive to Trogir to pick up Penny and Phil, a couple from England that are part of our tour. There will be five of us on the Enchanted Archipelago tour. Then we drive to our intended launch point, a beautiful beach at Vinisce. Marko provides the weather prediction which is for wind later in the day. We discuss the options; the plan is to launch from the beach and paddle to Drvenik Mali for a lunch stop.

The clarity of the water and the colors are enchanting. We land on a beach in the harbor at Drvenik Mali. Marko finds a spot to spread out the goods for a picnic lunch.

After lunch there is some concern about the wind. Marko consults with his boss and informs us that we will be taking the ferry for the next leg given the wind. We carry our kayaks up the ramp onto the ferry.

Once the ferry is underway it’s clear we made the right choice. The wind was whipping at about 18 knots with gust to 25. You can see the whitecaps on the water from the deck of the ferry. I kept a log of the day’s activities. The track includes the ferry from Drvenik Mali to Drvenik Viliki.

Even though our paddling was cut short it was a splendid first day of paddling. Once the ferry reached out destination, Marko led us on a short walk to our accommodations at Villa LA. In the evening, we all walked over to a restaurant overlooking the bay for a lovely dinner with a view of the town lit by the setting sun.

Exploring Hvar: A Culinary and Cultural Journey

We spent four nights on Hvar, arriving in Jelsa by ferry the evening of May 19. On the morning of the 20th we slept in. The previous day was a hard day, and we needed the rest. Breakfast at B&B Aurora included hard boiled eggs, ham, salami, croissants, fruit, and cereal among other things. No shortage of food.

We opted for the easy day, walking to Vrboska. Oddly enough I can’t find any photos from that walk. I must have been overzealous in purging files. No shortage of other photos from the trip, so we’ll just move on. Even a seasoned professional can make mistakes. We dined at Murvica, just a short walk from our B&B. We discovered that with enough notice they could prepare Peka, a traditional Croatian dish. We put in our reservation for the next night and returned to feast on lamb Peka.

Peka is traditionally made with octopus or lamb. Joann opted for lamb. This dish is slow cooked in an iron pot, much like a Dutch oven. The dish we were served included lamb, potatoes, onions, carrots and brussels sprouts. Very tasty. After dinner I wandered around town looking for photo opportunities, always something I enjoy in a medieval town.

On the morning of May 21, a taxi picked us up at our B&B and drove us to the top of the island to start the day’s walking tour. This walk led us through two mostly-deserted towns, Velo Grablje and Malo Grablje. These towns were established to produce lavender and rosemary.

There are still a few people living here, but for the most part they are ghost towns. The abandoned buildings provide some interesting photo opportunities.

From Malo Grablje we continued down the mountain to Hvar City where we checked into our accommodations at Villa Nora. We had an excellent dinner just a few feet from our accommodations, feasting on a delicious baked sea bass. You can see more photo in an online gallery.

Croatia: Walking – Day 4 – Gazul to Bol

At 9:00 our driver meets us at the Velaris Hotel in Supetar on the island of Brac. We jump in the van and are off on narrow winding roads that lead to the very top of the island. A half-hour later we reach the start for today’s hike, Gazul, a tiny village of sheep herders. We don our day packs for the day’s hike down to Bol. Our luggage stays in the van. We’ll reunite with our luggage at the ferry terminal in Bol later in the day.

Our hike takes us over the “highlands” of Brac, over meandering dirt roads and paths, through pine forest and over mossy rocks. Our route leads to Vildova Gora, the highest point on the island at 2559 feet and a spectacular view overlooking the Adriatic and the island of Hvar. As picturesque as the location is, I don’t manage to capture any photos that gave the view justice. It’s a daunting view though. We’re looking over the edge of a sheer cliff and wondering where the trail will take us. Neither of us are fond of steep rocky trails and that’s what this trail promises with its steep drop down to the water. We take our time, happy to have our hiking poles to assist us.

It is a steep walk down a trail which, given the rock curb, has been in use for centuries and shows centuries of erosion and wear. My shoes, which I have worn every day since I bought them two months ago, prove to be a bit light for the job. Fine for most walking but some more substantial boots would be a better choice for this trail. The steep descent causes my toes to jam into the toes of my shoes.

With our slow pace down the steep trail, we feel a little pressured by time given our tickets for the 5:30 ferry to Hvar. It is 4:30 when we reach the ferry dock, and at 5:15 our driver, who had dropped us off at the Gazul trailhead, shows up to reunite us with our luggage. Later that evening when I take off my shoes, I discover three bruised toenails. Over the course of the day, we logged 8.13 miles dropping 2500 feet over the last three miles.

Map of the hiking route from Gazul to Bol on the island of Brac, showing Vidova Gora and surrounding terrain.

Croatia: Walking – Day 2

At 8:30 we were on our way to the Ferry Terminal in Split for our ferry to Brac. We disembarked at Supetar, consulted our walking tour instructions and started our walk along the waterfront. Today’s tour is a loop walk on west side of Brac.

Our walk took us along the coast where we admired sculptures along an azure sea. As we approached the town of Mirca our route turned inland. Mirca had an interesting mix of traditional and contemporary houses. Leaving Mirca our route turned inland. Our directions were a bit confusing so we may have wandered off the prescribed route. Our track then took us back along the coast. A little after 2:00 we reached the town of Sutivan, a charming town of fishermen and farmers with a thousand-year-old tradition closely intertwined with the sea.

From there we started our return leg climbing up into the hills, following stone-lined roads and trails past fields of ancient olive trees.

It was after 6:00 when we finished our loop walk back in Supetar having walked 10 miles. More photos are available in an online gallery.

Croatia: Walking – Day 1

The day before our tour began, we met a representative from the tour company for an orientation. He went over logistics, maps and other details. This included a binder with maps and detailed instructions. We also had an app on our iPhones we could use to guide us. We booked the tour through Macs Adventures; however, they contract with the local company MeridienTen to manage the trips. Both companies provide maps and guides. We discovered that there were a few slight discrepancies between the guides. For additional navigational help we used the app GaiaGPS to track our travels and to resolve the few occasions where the instructions left us confused.

On May 16 we grabbed our day packs and our trekking poles and started our walking journey around Marjan Hill and the Marjan peninsula.

The walk starts along the waterfront along the path of the Olympians. Here every Croatian Olympian medal winner is commemorated with a plaque.

From there our walk took us past a couple of churches and on to Ivan Meštrović’s estate. Ivan was a renowned Croatian sculptor. We stopped and toured the grounds to see some of Meštrović’s works. The gallery was closed so we were not able to view the main exhibits. but a short distance further along our route was Meštrović’s Crikvine, a unique religious and artistic complex with more of Meštrović’s work.

A panoramic view of a coastal city with terracotta roofs, lush greenery, a harbor with a cruise ship, and mountains in the background under a blue sky.
Panoramic view of Split from the top of Marjan Hill

The walk meandered around the penninsula taking us to the top of Marjan hill for a spectacular view of Split and the surrounding coast.

When we reached the western most point of the walk, we were hoping to find a cafe where we could stop and enjoy some refreshments. Unfortunately, since we were early in the season, we did not find any facilities open. We broke out our emergency energy bars and water and enjoyed a few minutes on the beach. Our return walk took us along the north side of the peninsula where the wind kicked up, throwing up whitecaps on the water. We continued our walk, deviating from the prescribed course a bit, looking for a place to have dinner. We found a Pizza place that fit the bill. Once we were back in Split it was time to find some Gelato. Over the course of the day, we walked 12.2 miles. With all of our stops to explore sites the walk took us just shy of 12 hours.

More photos are available in an online gallery.

Exploring Korcula: A Journey Through History and Cuisine

On the afternoon of May 12 we boarded the ferry from Dubrovnik to Korcula. We spent most of our time in Korcula in the Old Town. Founded by the ancient Greeks, it later became part of the Roman empire and eventually a key southern outpost for the Venetian Republic.

The narrow streets are laid out like fishbones to take advantage of the cooling breezes and to provide shade. Having been traveling for a few days, our Air BnB (M&J Central Suites) had a washing machine which we took advantage of, hanging the laundry to dry on the outside clothesline.

After exploring the Old Town on foot, we were feeling quite hungry. It seems that most of the restaurants required reservations, but Pensatore Kitchen & Wine was able to seat us for an early dinner. We had a delightful meal and an introduction to the wines of Korcula. We managed to finish off a bottle of a 2024 Tasovak. Mind you it’s very rare that we ever have more than a glass or two. This was a very fine white wine.

Of course any visit to Korcula has to include a view from the tower of Saint Mark’s Cathedral. I also wandered the Old Town at night to capture some evening photography. More photos are available in an online gallery.