I get asked often what is my favorite place in the world. Its often a very tough question. My response typically is; the location I am currently at or, wherever my wife happens to be. Frankly, I like my life and my wife, so I can be happy almost anywhere. Being locked in my house during the Covid-19 Pandemic has gotten a little old but even that isn’t too bad. But when I look back at the 50 or so countries I have visited and our 50 States, a few places jump out immediately as amazing spots on our planet. Of those, Croatia and its Dalmatian Coast is possibly the one I would tell my friends not to miss.

On our travels, I often ask more experienced travelers where I should go and years ago I was told not to miss Dubrovnik, Croatia (actually may have been Yugoslavia back then). This was way before the Serbian war or the TV show “Game of Thrones” threw this red-tiled, walled city, perched on the cliffs above the crystal clear Adriatic Sea into the world spotlight. Croatia sits across the Adriatic sea from Italy and has a very similar climate. The Dalmatian coast is about 250 miles long and contains over 1200 islands most of which are uninhabited. Ferries connect the Islands and are a main source of transportation up and down the coast. There are three major Cities along the coast; Split, Croatia’s second largest city with a population of about 200,000, Zadar to the North and Dubrovnik to the south.

Now since this is part of the former Yugoslavia which was involved in a nasty Civil war shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, it hasn’t become a completely overrun tourist mecca…yet. But with more and more tourists descending on the area, we realized that it would be better to go there sooner than later. So in 2018, on the back of a Transatlantic cruise from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Rome, we opted to fly over and spend a week exploring the coast.

Airfare in Europe is very cheap and with bags we could fly over from Rome to Split for under 100 Euros each. We considered taking a night ferry over but the cost and logistics made it too complicated….even though it sounded like fun. Our plan was to fly to Split, rent a car to explore Zadar and the Plitvice Lakes National Park, then drive down the Coast to Dubrovnik for a few days. Then we would jump on a ferry and spend a night on one of the Islands before returning to explore Split and its Diocletian Palace.

A few observations regarding Croatia.

1. This is possibly the friendliest country we had ever visited.
2. Children are required to learn Croatian, English and a third language in school. So English is spoken throughout the country.
3. This is a very ancient and religious country. 85 percent of the population are Catholic and the entire coast is covered with ruins and fortifications.
4. With a population of only four million people you rarely feel crowded.
5. This is also possibly the cleanest country we have ever visited.
6. The crime rate in Croatia is very low. Actually, its about half of the United State’s crime rate.
7. They really like Ice Cream.
8. Its very inexpensive outside of Dubrovnik with room rates well under $100 per night everywhere.

We were traveling in the spring, just before the tourist season kicked in, but after the summer ferry schedule had started. This and the fall, I believe would be the best times to visit to avoid most of the crowds.

The Split Airport was easy to navigate and rental cars were located on-site. The car rental was about $75 for the three days including the drop-off fee in Dubrovnik. When we went to get the car we had to follow signs through the parking lot. I was impressed by the cleanliness of the airport and saw a woman actively sweeping the parking lot with a broom and dustpan. Never would see that in the US!

Croatia has modern highways with tolls. But the rates were reasonable and credit cards were accepted. Traffic was never a problem and the scenery throughout the country is stunning.

Zadar……one of my favorite cities period!

Our first stop was in Zadar Croatia where we were spending two nights at the Apartments Donat, the hotel was located just a block from the park along the sea and bordered the pedestrian zone. Zadar was made famous for its sunsets by Alfred Hitchcock, the “Master of Suspense”, in 1964 wrote “Zadar has the most beautiful sunset in the world, more beautiful than the one in Key West, Florida, applauded at every evening.” In the park, you find both the Sea Organ and the Monument to the Sun, The sea organ uses the movement of the waves to produce pleasant sounds as you sit on the concrete steps along the sea. The Monument to the Sun is next to the Sea Organ and consists of 300 glass plates cover photovoltaic cells that produce colored lights. The 22 meter (72 foot) diameter circle produces lights that are in tune with the sea organ and lights the night along the sea.

The park comes to life at sunset with hundreds of locals and tourists coming out to enjoy the show. Every night just as the the sun disappears below the horizon; the audience breaks out in applause and cheers, lovers kiss, and you understand Alfred Hitchcock’s comments.

The hotel we stayed in only had a few rooms and was built in an old building. The hotel was modern and had a spiral staircase leading to the five rooms. Because some had complained about carrying their luggage up the narrow staircase, the hotel had hired a burley man to take care of that. He didn’t speak English well but he was very jovial and entertaining. When I refused to let him carry my bag, he smacked his chest and said “me strong, my job”. As I looked up at the huge man, who could have ripped me apart, I relented and he broke into a big smile as he grabbed my bags.

Later that afternoon, I asked him if it was Ok to take wine into the park to watch the sunset with my wife. He gave me a confused look and responded: “You want to take wine and go to the park with your wife and watch the sunset? What kind of country do you come from? That is what the sea is for…of course, take wine and enjoy! Go enjoy!” And we did. As we sat drinking wine and eating local cheese I noted the cleanliness of the area. “Look there is a piece of paper.” I noted and, as if on que, a man in a work uniform walked past us, smiled, said “Cheers” and picked up the candy wrapper.

While in Zadar, we drove out to Plitvice Lakes National Park which we had been told was the most beautiful park in all of Europe. Now I haven’t been to that many parks in Europe, but this one was amazing. The park houses a series of 16 terraced lakes with over a hundred waterfalls. Wooden walkways have been installed throughout the park including up some of the waterfalls and its just stunning.

However, it is also very crowded. The day we went was mid-week, offseason and rainy. We arrived just when the park was opening and had a few hours before we were swarmed by the hoards of tourists arriving by tour bus. I had one of the workers at the park ask me if I was from the US or Australia? I said that we were from the US and he replied “I thought so, I could tell as you were walking.” “Excuse me, how?”, I asked. His response was great. “You two were walking alone, not in a group, taking a few pictures and avoiding getting in the way of others….that’s American or Australian.” “The Chinese move in packs and swarm around everything. They have no personal space and won’t respect yours.” “The Japanese take pictures continuously and you can’t get out of their way.” “The South Koreans like to pose and the girls may pose for pictures in different ways for what seems like an hour.” “You need to watch out for the Germans. They are the ones with two walking sticks and they move quick and deliberate. They will run you over if you are in their way. The other Europeans just seem bored.” I thanked him for the education and chuckled as we walked away. The rest of the morning, as we hiked through the vast park we noted and commented on the groups of tourists we saw. “You know what, I think that guy is right”, I told Reva as we headed back to the car.

On the drive back through the Croatian Countryside behind the endless chain of tour busses. We passed by a number of farms with roadside stands selling cheese and honey. We had heard about the Croatian cheese and we decided to get some at one of the little stands. “Hello” the farmer said in his broken English. “Would you like to try my chez? We said yes and he asked “Would you like cow, goat or ship?” “Ship?” I asked curiously. The farmer reached under the stand and pulled out a small stuffed sheep. “Ship….. baa, baa” said the farmer as he held up the stuffed toy. “Yes, we definitely want to try the “Ship” cheese”, I replied. He told us how his father and brother worked the farm while his mother made the cheese. He spoke the best English, so his job was to sell it. We bought several pieces of cheese for almost nothing and headed back to the hotel. He waived at us in thanks as we pulled away.

The old town of Zadar, with its marble streets, ancient Roman ruins, medieval churches and street cafes was like out of a fairly tale. As we walked in the evening through the town, we noted that there was an ice cream stand on almost every corner selling ice cream of almost every flavor under the sun. We stopped at one of the stands that was operated by two young teenagers. “Hi where are you from? Are you from America?”, asked the young man behind the stand. “We are from the US”, I replied. “We want to go to New York”, replied the young girl. “Why, I asked”, and laughed. They went on to talk about seeing all the movies and how they wanted to get out and see the world. Teenagers are the same everywhere, I thought. Anyway, we ordered a couple of single scoop cones while we chatted pleasantly with the teenagers. I noted that the young man who was scooping ice cream for Reva’s cone had already piled on four scoops and was reaching for more. I stopped him and said “we only wanted single scoops”. The young girl replied, “its OK, he likes you.” There are few foreign counties where I have traveled where I had felt more welcomed and comfortable. The ice cream was good too.

One of the things we love about Europe…..I mean really love about Europe, is the cheap local wines. Wine is often cheaper than soda here and in Eastern Europe it may be cheaper than water. Here, wine is typically bottled in 1 liter bottles instead of the 750ml bottles that we are use to. Usually, I buy the cheapest local red wine that has an alcohol of at least 13.5%. Usually, that suits my tastes pretty well. As we are looking at all of the bottles of wine that were $3 or $4 a bottle, I noticed a display of wine in plastic two litter bottles. “How much is that”, I thought. I quickly did the conversion and calculated that it was $2 for two litters. “Here is my wine for the trip”, I told Reva. “You have got to be kidding as she picked out a white wine”. “Are you really going to buy that?” she asked. “Of course, this right up my ally.” She rolled her eyes at me and we went to checkout. In the checkout line we noticed the man in front of us had two of the two liter bottles. We learned that this was their “table wine” that they had with everyday meals, it was locally made and quite good. The bottle lasted me almost all week.

Back at the hotel, I struck up a conversation with the young woman working the front desk at the hotel regarding the Serbian War. I had been working at Wright Patterson Air Force Base when the Dayton Accord was signed which ended the war. I also had met the pilot that flew the first combat mission to stop the Serbian bombing. She had been a teenager during the war and she described the terror of the bombing. Zadar like many of the costal cities had been bombed. “They bombed our old city since it was the nicest thing we had.” She said with tears in her eyes. ” You see if they couldn’t have it, they wanted to take it from us.” War is terrible I thought as we went back to our room.

The next morning, I took our bags out of the room and began to take them downstairs. I didn’t get far before I heard the burley man, “What are you doing? That’s my job”, he chuckled. “OK, you caught me”, I said as I set the bags down and went down to the office to Check out. The young woman in the office had our bill ready but before we left she stopped us. She said, “we have gifts for you”. She handed me a small bottle of Maraskino (the local spirit) and a small plaque with the name of the hotel on it. “Please come back and tell your friends.” I told her we would and we headed to the car to begin our drive to Dubrovnik.

When Yugoslavia was broken up into multiple countries in 1992, Bosnia-Herzegovina was given 12 miles of coastline within Croatia. As such the drive between Zadar and Dubrovnik requires two border crossings. You cross into Bosnia and then back into Croatia. Since we were in Bosnia, we decided to take the opportunity to explore the small town of Neum. Unlike Croatia, we did not feel very welcome in this costal town. Bosnia was dirty and after walking around the town looking for a café, we decided eating at the gas station on the highway was a better option. The border crossings were quick and seemed just a way for the poor country to make a few dollars. It seemed that no one was happy here. There were no smiles, no children playing and the streets seamed deserted. So after a quick stop we headed into Dubrovnik.

Dubrovnik

Years ago before Game of Thrones was created for HBO and cruise ships began making stops all along the Dalmatian Coast, I had been told to go visit Dubrovnik. A major reason for the trip to Croatia was to spend a few days exploring the ancient red-tiled, walled city perched high above Adriatic Sea. Before it became so popular, it was very cheap and hotels were around $30. Unfortunately, since the City became popular as a filming location of Game of Thrones with multiple cruise ships visiting daily, it has become expensive and crowded. The city is still amazing but it has become a tourist hell.

We ended up staying in an AirBNB for two nights inside the old city. This gave us an opportunity to explore the city after the tourists had departed. During the late morning and early afternoon, it was hard to walk the streets, let alone climb the city fortifications. But early in the morning and in the evening we could wander the steps of the city and marvel at the architectural wonders that make up the city.

You enter the city through one of three gates. Each of these gates go over a moat and cross through massive fortified walls. The city itself has a main street (the Stradun) made of beautiful polished marble. All of the other streets climb up from there to the city walls. Vehicles are not allowed in the city and even if they were, you couldn’t park anywhere since the entire city was comprised of stairs.

Our AirBNB was about seven flights of stairs up from the Stradun and I was glad we didn’t have more luggage. The entire City is a maze with narrow walkways leading between ancient buildings. The building we were staying in was from the 1500’s and had stone steps leading to the entrance. The owner lived next door to the small one-room residence where we were staying. She explained that the living area for the residents was the stairs outside and people stayed outside most of the days. So while we were in the City, we considered ourselves Dubrovnikeans and stayed outside most of the time.

Here it was interesting to watch the local residents go about their normal life in the presence of so many foreigners. You could easily recognize the locals since every 30 minutes or so when the church bells would ring they would pause and make the sign of the cross on their head and chest.. We saw men carrying cases of beer up 12 flights of stone stairs to bars and old women making there way to the grocery carrying baskets. We though, “how could anyone handicapped live here?” And to be honest, we didn’t see anyone in a wheelchair or on crutches. Kind of surprising given the ridiculous number of stone stairs in the town. One afternoon while Reva and I was sitting on the stairs outside our flat, we noticed an older lady leaving her home across the alley. After she closed and locked her door, she looked down at the step stairs. She sighed, looked to the sky and made the sign of the cross as she slowly made her way toward the market. Reva and I both giggled a little and totally understood the poor ladies predicament. “This is not a town you want to be old in”, I thought.

I still had plenty of wine but I was interested in trying something else and we went to one of the little grocery stores in the city. Nothing is new in Dubrovnik unless you leave the city. So, everything is crammed into small ancient buildings, including the markets. We did find one and looked over its wine selection. “Not much to chose from here”, I thought. We learned that the residents had special parking areas outside the city and almost no-one shopped inside the city. As I looked over the wine, I noticed an old dusty bottle on the bottom shelf. I picked it up and saw that it was from Bosnia and was about ten years old. “This looks interesting”, I said. Reva just rolled her eyes as I was looking at this old dirty bottle of wine. When we got back to the room and took the paper off of the neck of the 1 litter bottle, I was shocked to learn that it didn’t have a cork or a screw-top but instead was sealed with a bottle cap. “Do you have a bottle opener?”, I asked Reva. “No” was the quick reply. My high school days had prepared me well for this challenge and I found a fork to pry up the edges of the cap. Now, I have had bad wines and good wines before, but I had never had one sealed with a bottle cap. I cautiously poured a taste of the wine into my glass and took a small sip. To my astonishment, the wine was smooth and fragrant. “This is the best wine I have tasted in years. Who would have guessed? I suppose there is a good thing or two in Bosnia.” Reva smiled and poured herself a glass of a local white wine that she had chilled. We spent a beautiful evening sitting on the steps, drinking wine, eating cheese and olives and chatting with whoever wondered by.

After climbing and hiking around the walls of the City and exploring every inch of this amazing place, we decided we wanted to take the cable car to the top of the cliff behind the city. We went first thing in the morning to the cable car station which was located outside of the city. While we were waiting a tour bus full of Chinese arrived. We immediately got in line even though the cable car didn’t start running for another 30 minutes, but we were glad we did. We were first in line and the operators of the cable car made sure that we were the first in the car. The ride up the mountain was beautiful but crowded. The Chinese crowded against us and had cameras everywhere. “Oh my God…these people are annoying.” Actually, its just the difference in our cultures. We probably annoy them with our requirements for space and our refusal to wait for them to take pictures. Often , I will ignore their cameras and walk past them to see whatever site we are touring. Reva is much more polite, but usually gives up at some point and follows. “Ahh..ahh. ahh…ahh”, You can here them moan as we walk by and “photo-bomb” their pictures. When we got to the top of the mountain we quickly exited and worked to stay away from the Chinese pack. The top of the mountain was where the Serbians set up motors to bomb Dubrovnik which was what brought World condemnation and the involvement of the United States. We walked down the mountain along a trail which was lined with statues depicting the “Stations of the Cross”, a Catholic tradition.

That afternoon we began the next leg of our journey and traveled to the ferry terminal. We actually left Dubrovnik a few hours early due to the massive crowds. Also, there are no public restrooms inside the City and we had checked out of our room. So nature also compelled us to to move to a more comfortable spot.

Croatia is a nation of islands and ferries connect all of these to the mainland. We opted to take the ferry from Dubrovnik to Split but we had opted to break it up into two days so that we could explore one of the Croatian Islands.

Korcula

We opted to stay in Korcula since it is more off of the beaten path and is not a cruise ship stop like HVOR, and we were glad we did. Korcula was an absolute dream! The island was rather large but the city itself was quite small. The city was on a small island surrounded by crystal blue waters. The ancient city was the supposed home of Marco Polo and was similar to a miniature Dubrovnik, without the crowds. Tourists here mostly were traveling on yachts which spend a week or so sailing around these beautiful islands.

We stayed at house that had been turned into a hotel in the middle of the City just a short walk to anywhere. The owner explained that the house had been in the family for hundreds of years. Also, they used to have lots of tourists but they stopped promoting the island. They liked their life simple. Unlike the mainland, they were not impacted significantly by the war and they love their island just the way it is. There was a walkway along the sea that circled the city. In the center of the city was the Cathedral and it only took about 10 minutes to walk across the island. The walkway was lined with restaurants and bars and stairs that led down to the sea.

We spent our happy hour sitting by the water and I did take the opportunity for a swim. I had seen the spiny urchins but didn’t realize how spiny they were. “Ouch, son of a B++++, these things hurt”, I screamed as I quickly got out of the water as Reva laughed. While we sitting on the rocks by the ocean below the city an old lady came down and walked to the edge of the sea (with water shoes on) like she probably had done since she was a small girl. She climbed in the water and took off swimming. About 30-45 minutes later she swam back from the other direction. She had swam around the entire island. She climbed out of the water, put on a cover-up up and then took off her wet bathing suit and put on a dry one completely under the cover-up she had pulled over her head. Reva was amazed by this old woman. She didn’t appear to speak English and probably made this swim daily. “I like it here”, Reva said.

That night we had dinner at one of the restaurants along the sea under the stars and strolled the marble streets of the City.

The following morning we headed down to the Ferry office. It opened at 10:00 and the ferry would arrive at 5:00 PM. There were two ferry terminal docks in the City and the ferry could use either, so we needed to verify where it would dock. The ferry only dropped off and picked up passengers and it would only be in the city for a few minutes. So we didn’t want to be in the wrong place. At the ferry office there were two young women waiting in line in front of us. They went up to the man at the desk and asked for two ferry tickets for today. He glanced up at them and said “sorry sold out today, I have two tickets for tomorrow would you like them?” Wow I thought, I am glad I bought our tickets in advance. The two ladies discussed it quickly and said “OK we will take them.” The man calmly looked up at them from his computer and said, “sorry those are gone, I do have a few available on Thursday”. Today was Monday. The ladies looked distressed and asked what they could do. The man advised them to take a cab to the car ferry port about 30 minutes out of the city. They would miss the ferry today but they probably could hire a boat to take them to the mainland. From there they could take a bus or taxi to Split. The ladies walked out quite distraught.

Anyway, we found out that the location of the ferry arrival wouldn’t be know until 30 minutes before it docked but we could easily see where it was going. So we left and enjoyed a nice afternoon sitting by the sea. The ferry docked as planned and we headed off to Split. It was a three hour boat ride with several stops along the way which gave us an opportunity to see the islands while the sunset on the calm seas.

Split

I opted to stand outside in the cool air as the ferry circumvented between the heavily forested islands. “Its beautiful isn’t it?” Asked an old man who had come over and stood next to me by the railing. He was big, but not fat, and his face was weathered from the sea and the sun. “Yes it is, you have a beautiful country, I replied.” “You American?, he asked in his broken English.” Really, I thought is it that obvious to these people. “Yes I am, we are traveling around Europe and we wanted to see Croatia.” He went on to tell me that he was a retired ferry captain and he lived on one of the more remote islands. He had been diagnosed with an aneurysm and was having open heart surgery the next day in Split. He told me that he had never been sick much and had never had an operation, let alone open heart surgery. I told him I wasn’t a doctor but I worked with them and I knew that Croatia had a very good medical system. Also, his condition was serious but correctable and that he can make it, just have faith. Hopefully, it won’t be as bad as he feared. We talked on the deck for several hours while the waves splashed a cool mist over our faces as the ferry navigated and between around the islands.

As the ferry began to pull into Split I excused myself and began to go back inside to find Reva and collect our luggage. As I turned away, the man reached out and grabbed my arm. “I believe God works through people and he put you here to help me. I knew I had to talk to you. Thank you, I feel better now”. I wished the man well and reassured him that he can get through this just keep his faith. The old captain had family members meeting him at the port and he nodded at me and Reva as we got off the ferry in Split harbor as twilight descended on the City.

That night we were staying in an AirBNB a short walk from the harbor. A young lady was going to meet us in front of the building, which she said would be easy to find since it was the highest building near the harbor. We had downloaded a google map of the area and we headed off down the dark streets. Google was not our friend! As we followed the google directions we found ourselves heading further and further away from the port. “This can’t be right”, Reva exclaimed. “What are we going to do?” Just then a woman pulled her car into a parking space in front of a house. “Excuse me, do you speak English?” I shouted at the woman as she walked away and entered her house. “Lets find someone else,” I told Reva. Just then the woman came back out of her house. “Is there something wrong,” she asked. I told her our situation and she asked if I had the address and phone number of the AirBNB. She told me we had walked a long way and were completely in the wrong neighborhood. “Thank you Google,” I thought. She called the young lady who had been waiting for us and stayed with us until she arrived. “Are you from America?”, she asked. Are you kidding me, I thought. “Yes we are”. She told us that her daughter was going to school in Chicago and she had been in the States several times. We had a nice discussion for about 20 minutes until our host arrived on a motor bike. We were about a mile off track and on the wrong hill.

The AirBNB was a nice apartment overlooking the harbor and the city, but it was on the fifth floor with no elevator. As I struggled with the two bags and a backpack up stairs again, I was so glad we had packed light. Reva was having a nice discussion with the young lady who was describing her and her husband’s life in the City. They were young and trying to get enough money together for their own place but it was tough and they worked a lot of hours. Again, people are the same everywhere with the same problems, hopes and dreams.

We had some snacks with us, enjoyed a pleasant evening in the flat and we headed out to explore Split the next morning.

Split is the home of Diocletian’s palace. This massive palace was built in the Forth Century and it dominates the city of Split. When it was abandoned by the Romans, local people moved in and now it is full of shops, restaurants and apartments. Much of the ancient palace was being restored but other parts were crumbling. This place is very cool I thought as we wondered around and through the maze of streets and corridors. We toured several of the ancient temples and Cathedrals and found a nice café for lunch inside the old town. We also toured the cellars under the city which were made famous as cages for the Dragons in Game of Thrones.

Later we climbed up the hill next to the City which contained a large park that towered above the City. We sat there enjoying the view of the city below, the busy harbor with ferries coming and going and the Croatian Islands in the distance. On the way back to the AirBNB we picked up some cheese, fresh bread and wine for our evening happy hour and dinner, and watched the sunset over the city…..our typical end of the day ritual on our travels.

The next morning, we said goodbye to our host who had stopped by and grabbed a taxi to the airport for our next adventure. As we flew off to Athens and points beyond, I asked Reva what she thought of Croatia. She smiled and asked, “Can we come back?” “Yes, I could spend more time here,” I replied. As I sat on the plane I thought of the old ferry captain and hoped that he had made it through. It’s a shame we can’t rewind and relive some of best moments of our lives. We can always go back, but its never the same as the first time. The best we can do is remember, appreciate all of our gifts and maybe preserve some of it in a blog.