Croatia day 3

I spent all day on a coach. 


Well, not quite. This morning I walked up Marjan Hill for the view over Split. It was a beautiful view, and fully worth the sun-headache that plagued me the rest of the day. Note to self, never travel without hat again. My coach to Zagreb left at 11.30, arrived at 5 so relatively long day. I had a book, but oh boy did I miss my ipod - another mental note to get it fixed. I made sure I was fully provisioned from a market in Split before getting onboard. I got apples from a blind granny with knobbly hands, bananas and satsumas from an old guy with no English who was unbelievably chatty nontheless and wanted to know about my hand, and pastries from a 24hr bakery. 

I saw the fringes of Krka National Park from the window and we paused at a service station by the lower reaches of the river that runs through it. That's something else to come back to - the pictures of the Krka waterfalls look amazing. 

I was tired out by the time I got to Zagreb, but I needed to get some dinner so I hopped on a tram into the centre of town (my hostel, Hostel Lika, being rather our of the centre). I got off at the main square (Trg bana Josipa Jelačića) and was immediately drawn into watching "Leopard Man" doing a street show, the climax of which was a handstand on tiny chair 3m off ground, followed by fire juggling up there too. Oh those crazy Aussies...

Croatia day 2

I booked yesterday for a tour to the Blue Grotto so, thinking I was safely sorted, I ate breakfast in bed then sauntered round bay getting a couple of pics and paddling a little, until 9 when Mario at Navigator said to arrive... only to be told no-one else wanted to go so it was cancelled. Argh! By now it was too late to go round other operators (they leave Vis Town at 9) my only option was to hire transport to get to Komiza under my own steam and book from there with Altera Natura whose tour picks up strays in my position by leaving half an hour later than everyone else. The island's only bus coincides with the arrival (twice daily) of the ferry, so (since i've never driven a scooter before) I was offered a convertible for the whole day for what'd normally buy you 3 hours. Either Mario likes me or it's the end of the season. Probably a bit of both.

Even though it sent my budget spinning wildly off kilter, I couldn't pass up the chance to see the Blue Grotto as it's one of the reasons I wanted to go to Croatia, and if I didn't go I'd've effectively wasted time and money coming to vis. It was my first time a)driving abroad b)driving a right hand drive c)driving a convertible, but other than having to sprint back into the office to discover the trick of putting the thing into reverse (VERY embarrassing) everything went swimmingly. Time being of the essence first thing, I headed straight on over the top of the island - planning to meander along the south coast's beaches later on. 

I arrived in enough time explore Komiza - it's much smaller and more chilled than Vis, which feels (by comparison) like a show town. Exploring doesn't take long - walking round the bay from the tower (where I parked) took all of ten minutes, and I found Alter Natura right at the other end of it. The lady told me where to catch the boat ("You'll know captain - he has beard.") and I set out to fill the time with a more in depth look at the town... taking all of twenty minutes, including stops to buy and write postcards.

On the boat I met Lucy and Darren, a couple about my age from Manchester, as well as group of three middle aged Croats who didn't speak any English. The ride from Vis to Bisevo took about 45 minutes. Under the thrum of the engine and the slap and hiss of waves in the wake, was a noise faintly resembling the sound of the TARDIS landing... certainly the sea was a deep, clear time-travel blue. On Bisevo, we tied up to another boat, got off to buy tickets and transfer to a dinghy to get into the Grotto itself. Five minutes later, bypassing some perilous looking rocks and some cliffs I was aching to boulder across, we reached the Blue Grotto. The entrance is intimidatingly tiny - it barely looks like a boat will get through, never mind the heads of passengers, and is guarded by a bored looking man bobbing about in a boat attatched to a line. 

Inside it was magical; fully and completely worth the time, effort and expense of getting to see it - I just wish I'd been able to swim in there, that would've been special. Two things prevented me - the expressed orders of my surgeon five days previously being at the forefront of my mind, and the captain's obvious desire to get us round and out. I think they're all sick of tourists by this point of the year. 



Back to Bisevo for a Fanta and, chatting with Lucy and Darren, I made a quick change to my plan of action. They'd stayed the night in Komiza, having caught the morning ferry the day before and were heading back on that afternoon's car ferry. I decided to do the same, having done the only thing I really wanted to do on Vis. I offered them a lift in my car; they offered my their bus fare. 


I packed up at my guesthouse, got my refund and ate a picnic lunch in the shade of palm trees by the harbour until the Jadrolinijia ferry office opened again after siesta. I scoured the Lonely Planet for inspiration whilst doing so to try and get my budget back on the straight and narrow, and regretfully decided that Zadar is going to have to wait for another trip, as I want to do Plitvice National Park almost more than life itself, and that's not going to be the cheapest of daytrips. We caught the car ferry back to Split, I said goodbye to Lucy and Darren before installing myself at Hostel Split (80HRK/night). I made tortellini for dinner, to save eating out and had a beer whilst wandering to the bus/train station to investigate prices to Zagreb. 114HRK was the cheapest bus I found, and as the overnight train was only 10HRK cheaper for a seat (not a berth) I decided to go for that.

Decision made, I made the most of my evening in Split by sitting and listening to an accoustic guitar set in main square of Diocletian's Palace then wandering round to soak up the ambience and to see the place at night. Back at the hostel I took advantage of the in-dorm computer to assure Mother I was alive, then collapsed into bed.

Croatia day 1

One of the prices you pay for a £30 flight is a 4.30 a.m. alarm. *Bleugh*. Fortunately, my friend Hannah lives within striking distance of Stanstead, so a price I didn't have to pay was bus or taxi fare. (Though I did buy her a thank you dinner.)


The sky over London was so foggy it looked like it was being propped up by street lights but I was headed for Croatia - the forecast for Split was 27C and sunny. I was still half asleep when Hannah dropped me off at the airport, but by the time I'd negotiated security (congratulating myself on travelling with handluggage only, printing my boarding card at home and not paying for speedy boarding as my flight was half empty) I'd woken up enough to start being excited. A week in Croatia, with the challenge of sticking to a £250 budget, what could be better?


We landed at 9.50am local time, and within twenty minutes I was on the bus into central Split Harbor, half an hour later and I was there. The seafront at Split is a sort of backwards 'L' shape; the arm where the big car ferries and cruise liners dock (also where the train and coach station is) is busy and functional as you'd expect. Turn the corner along the other arm of the L and it's busy and beautiful instead. Split's main attraction is the heart of the old town, Diocletian's Palace. The Roman emporer built his retirement palace (and, unusually, was able to enjoy it for a while) right on the seafront and rather than the stones being looted for other buildings, when imperial powers moved out the town moved in and the Palace is filled with life. People live, work, stay, eat, drink, party and wander around the narrow stone alleys.  


I hadn't booked any accomodation in Split because I wanted to see a natural phenomenom called the Blue Grotto which you can only get to from an island called Vis - but I wasn't sure if there'd be an economical daytrip from Split as Vis is comparatively pricey to stay on. I couldn't see anyone offering the trip, so I resigned myself and bought a ticket to Vis from the Jadrolinjia Ferry kiosk by the head of the waterfront promenade (the Riva) - 50HRK for the catamaran. It was 11.30 by this point - the boat was due to leave at 3.15. I donned my shades, reapplied suncream and set out to do Diocletian's Palace. Thank goodness for handluggage only!

The Palace isn't huge, but there are plenty of alleys and squares to nose around and lose yourself in. I found the statue of Gregor of Nin by the northern gate, rubbed his shiny toe for luck, and dived into the Palace again. I wandered west, and emerged by a fish market. Gargoyles on the corner of a building were covering their ears and looking horrifed - perhaps unsurprisingly as the stall holders were vociferously brandishing their tubs at innocent passersby and (I can only assume) encouraging them to buy the last of the catch. 


Intermingled with this babel was the melodic strains of a male-voice choir coming from the direction of the Riva. Sirens? I wondered, following the sounds southwards along the sunny street towards the waterfront. Well, sirens I got... in a fashion, anyway. Alas, it wasn't sexy fish-men; it was the Croatian Police, singing the National anthem. I was about to walk away, when they dropped "Final Countdown" over the soundsystem and started demonstrating how they go about fighting crime in Split - judo stylee. I stopped taking them seriously when they started punching and kicking chopping boards in time with "Eye of the Tiger." 




Afterwards I basked in the sun, a light sea breeze cooling my face and wafting the scents of salt and lavendar from the market stalls along the way and gave some thought to my next moves until the ferry arrived.


I got a window seat on the catamaran ferry. It took about an hour and a half to get to our first stop (Hvar Island) where we docked in a beautiful looking town that nestled right between yachts and hills. Definitely a place I'd like to go back to on another trip, preferably on a little yacht with a floaty dress and a tan for some cocktails. That was definitely the vibe. It was another 45mins (ish) to get to Vis Town. 

I was nervous getting off the ferry since I didn't have anywhere to stay booked, and the sun was setting. I don't like not knowing where I'm going to sleep arriving somewhere at night. There are two towns on Vis Island, Vis Town and Komiza. The ferry docks in Vis Town, the boat to the Blue Grotto is from Komiza. The island's bus across to Komiza meets the ferry, and that's it. I had a bit of a dilemma (Vis vs Komiza) but I didn't want to run the risk of getting to Komiza and not finding anywhere to stay so when I got off the boat, I went straight to Navigator travel agency. It was recommended in the Lonely Planet and it was right in front of my face, good enough. Mario found me a single room, with a shared bathroom for 150HRK/night, and they did a trip to Blue Grotto for 200HRK. I went for both. My landlady for the night was very nice, the room was old fashioned but spotless (as was the bathroom) and as soon as I was settled I went for a wander around the bay until hunger hit me.


I headed back to the main riva and had dinner outside the Hotel Tamaris restaurant. Red wine for 8 kuna, YES PLEASE. The food was good and the staff were friendly; at the end of the season, I was the only diner. I'd had a small operation on my hand the week beforehand, and I was still all bandaged up so when the waitress saw my hand she offered to cut up my chicken. I declined politely but got chatting with her and the other waiter. All kinds of useful snippets came out of our chat; there was only icecream for pudding as it's the end of the season, in September you can hire an 8berth yacht for around 120euro pp for a week, Vis has healing waters, and (most specialist insight) September is the best month for weed on the island. Good to know?! I must've looked slightly stunned but we laughed it off.