In
January 2017, 8 of us ‘dear’ friends and two kids all went to Africa on safari.
It was a magical time. You would have read about that here. Plans were then
made to repeat the magic of that holiday. We zeroed in on Croatia and Slovenia.
8 ‘dear’ friends were on, the 2 kids dropped out and 2 additional ‘dear’
friends were added. The oldest of our friendships started as pre-schoolers in
1969, and the most recent in 1994. Yes, we all knew each other well, very well.
Dates were aligned and it was to be 11 nights over the Diwali week.
Croatia
and Slovenia have some famous personalities. Among sportsmen you have of the
charismatic impish footballer Luka Modric, tennis players Marin Cilic and Goran
Ivanisevic. The great Nikola Tesla who designed and developed alternating current
or AC electricity, was a Croat. The most famous Slovenian is, of course,
Melania Trump.
Croatia
and Slovenia have had very troubled histories. The entire area has been in
constant turmoil with invasions and wars. At first it was the mighty Ottomans
who invaded. Then it was the Austro-Hungarian Empire which invaded. You will
remember that WWI started with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by
Gavrilo Princip a Bosnian Serb. Post WWII Yugoslavia was created, which, has
since itself broken up. The fallout of the break was the creation of Serbia,
Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro, Herzegovina, Slovenia and Macedonia. This was not
the end. In 1991 a bitter civil war [or invasion, depending who you ask]
started between the Croats and the Serbs. The war was exceedingly cruel and brutal with a lot
of ethnic cleansing. Parts of Dubrovnik were severely damaged. Peace and
stability have been in place for only post 1995, i.e. the last 25 years.
The
relative poverty [to the rest of Western Europe] is obvious, buildings are
simple, Churches and Cathedrals humble and not grandiose, few really fancy cars
on the street, not many shops with upmarket designer clothes or watches,
relatively few international upmarket Hotel chains. However, the roads are
absolutely top class with the highways linking to the international European
highways seamlessly.
Geographically,
Croatia is situated on the Adriatic Sea with a long coastline. Across the Adriatic
is Italy, the Eastern coast of Italy. Venice was another one of the Kingdoms
that often invaded and plundered Croatia. Today, with the peace in the area,
the Dalmatian Coast has become a huge tourist spot. The warm Adriatic Sea is
perfect for the hordes of tourists who throng here in the summer months. The Dalmatian
Coast is on the itinerary for several Cruise ships.
The
logistics of visiting Croatia and Slovenia can be fairly challenging. There are
no direct flights from India. You have to either take European carrier like
British Airways, or Air France or Lufthansa et al and fly into either
Dubrovnik or Zagreb from the Uk or Europe. Alternatively, you could take one of
the Gulf based carriers like Emirates [with Fly Dubai the Emirates Low Cost
Carrier] or Turkish [not strictly a Gulf airline] and reach Croatia via Dubai
or Istanbul. With no direct flights, transit times can be long.
Visas
can be confusing. Croatia is NOT a member of Schengen. Slovenia is. However,
you can enter Croatia with a Schengen visa only if the visa is for 6 months or
more and, is multiple entry. If you don’t have a this, well, you have to apply
for a separate Croatian visa and Schengen Visa to enter Slovenia. Keep this in
mind.
Now let’s
get to what to visit and see in Croatia and Slovenia. Croatia, as I have
written earlier, has a long coastline. There is a lot you can see. You need to
edit. Obviously, you have to visit Dubrovnik for say 3 nights at least. The
castle, the walls and the Game of Thrones tour [if you are a fan] are must
do’s. Lake Plitvice is a National Park endorsed by UNESCO. This is a whole day;
however, you do need to visit it from either Split or Zadar. Zadar, a coastal
town with an ancient Roman centre, quite pretty, is another must visit. The Sea
Organ, a must see. Split, you can give a miss, unless of course you are
planning to visit Hvar which is an Island accessible from Split. We did not go
to Hvar as it was shutting down for winter. Instead we had an all-day island cruise
on a superfast yacht from Dubrovnik. With the long and pretty coastline you need to plan for a day on
sea when in Croatia.
In
Slovenia we visited the beautiful Lake Bled and the stunning Bohinj Lake as
well as Ljubljana, the capital.
Croatia
has no trains. The best way to get around is either by public bus, or hire your
own car. Since there were 10 of us, we chartered a 19-seater Mercedes bus with
a driver. The bus had adequate baggage storage, air-conditioning and on-board Wi-Fi.
Very convenient. Do remember that when driving there are border crossings, so
keep your Passport handy and allow for time at the crossing. 2 bus loads of
Chinese tourists ahead of you can seriously damage not only your but also the
immigration officer’s mood and delay things. Also bear in mind that some of the
drives are 6 hours long.
Our
holiday started in Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik is a magnificent ancient walled city.
The walls have the old town which is extremely charming and beautiful. You
should walk in the old town and once you are done you should walk on the walls.
Some superb views of the sea are from the walls. There is also a Funicular
which takes you all the way up the hill overlooking the walls. The views are
fantastic and there is a decent restaurant up there. Once up, we saw there were
ATV for hire, so that is just what we did, hired ATVs for a 30 minute ride and
3 pairs set off in the trails with a guide. Boy was that fun, driving on dirt,
rocks, potholes to put Mumbai to shame and dust. We all thoroughly enjoyed
ourselves and came back with adrenaline pumping and very very dusty.
Sunset with the Dubrovnik walled city in the foreground.
Fishing at sunset.
Dubrovnik walled city. View from our Hotel, the superbly located Hotel Excelsior
The Walls
The main street in Dubrovnik. Pedestrian only.
A view of the main street from up on the Wall
The old town Dubrovnik from up on the Wall
The old town Dubrovnik from up on the Wall
All suited up for the ATV ride. The plastic ponchos to keep the dust out
The
winter had not set in yet, or, looking at it differently, the summer had not
gone. The water temperature was a refreshing 22C. We had hired a yacht for the
day. This was a most pleasant day. We lounged on the front deck of the yacht,
soaking in the sun being cooled by the breeze as we cruised from island to
island and had a look at the Dubrovnik Walls from the sea. At one point we
anchored and went swimming to an underwater grotto, much like the Blue Grotto
in Capri. The sea was cool crystal clear and an unreal blue. Swimming there was
a real pleasure.
The Blue Grotto
Above: Orange groves
After 4
nights in Dubrovnik we boarded our bus and drove to Split where we had a stop
for lunch. Frankly, Split is totally missable, unless you are going to Hvar. In
that case you have to spend a night or two in Split. This was a long drive 4
hours. After a frugal and relatively poor lunch, we had a quick walk thru the
town and got onto the bus for another 3 hours to reach Zadar. Long drive.
Zadar
has fabulous sunsets, that is of course if the weather is good and the sky is
clear. Zadar also has the famous Sea Organ. This is, depending on how cynical
you are, either you think it's a ridiculous tourist trap or the work of a genius. Basically, a series of
pipes of various diameters are built into the sea wall. As the sea water hits
the pipes, with the air in the pipes getting compressed creating sound. The
sound has different pitches, and volumes which depend on the force of the
water. This whole principle is similar to a church organ. The sounds created
are reminiscent of the sound whales make. In addition, the pier where the Organ
is located has also got the floor illuminated, much like the glass floor at a
Disco. The sea water also illuminates the lights in the floor, the lights being
obviously multicoloured. Also, obviously, the force of the sea i.e. the
turbulence varies the brightness and colours and number of lights coming on an
off.
Above: The main gate to Zadar. This was the only way in and out.
On the way back from Plitvice we crossed the rather nice looking bridge
The
main reason for going to Zadar is because it is a very convenient place from
which to visit Lake Plitvice. Lake Plitvice is a series of lakes and
waterfalls. This entire area is beautiful and green, as you will see in the
photographs. You definitely have to visit this; however, I must caution you. Visiting
Lake Plitvice during the summer months can be very challenging. First, you have
hordes of people, and, being jostled and pushed on the narrow paths is no fun.
Secondly, in summer, it is bloody hot. Do keep this in mind.
You can see that it is much colder than at Dubrovnik
After
2 nights in Zadar, off we went to Lake Bled in Slovenia. Another long drive, 5
hours at least. We reached Bled, tired, irritated and vowing to do no more long
drives.
Lake
Bled is very interesting. The Hotel we stayed at, Vila Bled, all the more
interesting. Lake Bled is part of the Lower Alps which run thru Slovenia,
Austria, France, Switzerland etc. This is ski territory. The whole scenery was
very Alpine, naturally, and you could have been in Switzerland and not known
the difference, A lake, a Castle, snow peaked mountains, and green hillsides.
Slovenia was the former Yugoslavia. Marshal Tito was the “King” of Yugoslavia.
He built Vila Bled as his summer retreat. Very Soviet architecture, all square
boxes. A superb location right on the lake side, nothing nearby. Wide
staircases with low risers and broad steps to that you can descend regally. I could
imagine Tito and our very own Indira Gandhi walking these steps, which of
course they did.
Above: Vila Bled
The Castle above Lake Bled
Above: Vila Bled another view
We
walked around the circumference of Lake Bled, very pleasant. We took a boat to
the Church located in the centre of Lake Bled, very nice. There is a Castle
overlooking the Lake. We had a wonderful meal up there with beautiful views of
the Lake from up high. More of this meal in the next post.
We saw some stunning flowers when walking
And plenty of wild mushroom
And statues
The
next day we took a mercifully short bus ride to Lake Bohinj which is much
larger than Lake Bled. We walked around the circumference of this lake. A very
enjoyable walk made all the more pleasant with the fantastic weather. From the
hot [30C] degrees in Dubrovnik we were now at an agreeable 6C.
The walk around Lake Bohinj
After
3 nights in Lake Bled, we left for Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. En route we
stopped for lunch in the charming city of Ljubljana. Now, I am not being
dismissive in the least, but with Ljubljana you could be in any town Europe.
Exceedingly pretty, but, to that extent undistinguishable from another pretty
European town. Once again, a Funicular ride up to the Castle, rather
disappointing I must say. There was a farmer’s market on in the centre where we
bought some excellent cured sausage and smoked Pancetta. Jumbo was immediately
drawn to the superb fruit on display and proceeded to buy and eat Persimmon at
peak ripeness with Mrs Jumbo and HRH the Queen of Kutch.
Above: All in Ljubljana
We
reached Zagreb and checked into a really nice hotel the Esplanade. Zagreb was a
stop on the Orient Express and the Hotel was built to cater to these passengers.
A short walk from the Hotel was Zagreb old town. Very very beautiful. Splendid
buildings, charming squares, nice shopping streets and little alleys. Zagreb
was serendipity. People had told us that Zagreb is avoidable, but, honestly,
that is wrong. I honestly believe that if you stay in the wrong part of Zagreb,
it can be disappointing. We were lucky having chosen the regal elegant grand
dame Hotel Esplanade. All of us thought Zagreb was wonderful.
No, not Shivaji
Above: Beautiful Zagreb. Different styles including Art Deco. A lovely city
After
2 nights in Zagreb we all went our separate ways and caught flights back, some
to UK, some to Dubai and poor us back to Mumbai.
A
fantastic holiday. We all absolutely and unequivocally say you must do what we
did. You may change the yacht to a day or two in Hvar. The only note of caution
I must give you is that the summer months are hot and crowded, and,
consequently, expensive. Do try and travel at the end of summer, a much better
experience. To conclude, I must say that our travel agents who are Croatia
experts, Memory Makers, did a wonderful job for us. Utterly seamless with no
glitches, and every whim met. Do use them if this post persuades you to visit
Croatia.
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