Category: Croatia

Why Croatia? Facebook said it was the place Rosie must go.  All of my feeds are showing me pictures and articles of a beautiful country that lives perpetually under bright blue skies.  The orange of the rooftops, the beautiful beige walls of the old towns with higgeldy piggedly buildings jammed together on wee islands.  Pictures of houses towering over narrow streets that look so welcoming and exciting set against the backdrop of the clearest, bluest sea and beaches ever. 

Heres the plan of attack for Croatia, Rosie and The Operator will be starting at the top and working our way down the  skinny ribbon of country that is Croatia over the next 19 days, sounds simple really…but where to stop and visit? Well, Facebook told me to visit Croatia so Google can now give me a hand by telling me ‘where are the best places to visit in Croatia?’

We are getting nearer to Zagreb, capitol city of Croatia with a population of 790,000. This city like any other major one in the world is huge vibrant and sprawling.  Although the compact Old Town, does have a small town vibe with its winding alleyways and narrow streets.  You know you are somewhere special with a checkered past as the style the buildings are built in depict who was in control of the city at the time.

We are staying in the Old Town of Rovinj, touted to be the most romantic town in the Mediterranean.  The town itself was originally built on an island, the restricted area has resulted in crowded houses, narrow alleys and small squares untouched by any hints of modernisation.  This town as you see it today is the legacy of the Venetians who ruled it and built it in the 17th century. 

The main attraction is the Pula Arena, a beautifully preserved Roman amphitheater on the waterfront right on the edge of town.  It is truly stunning, you basically drive up and park in its shadow.  Rosie and the Operator arrived early, too early, one hour early. Rosie was working from their summer opening hours, they had just changed to their winter openings.  Never mind said The Operator we will go for a walk around the outside of it and you can take pics.

Bale is a tiny town on the road between Rovinj and Pula, Rosie and the Operator called in on the way home for a look around as recommended by a waiter in Rovinj who said this town was one of the best kept secrets in the area.

Its Sunday in Senj, the road is quiet and so many families are out walking around the bay in the sunshine.  Stopping for ice cream, skimming stones in the harbor and kids playing frog jumps over the bollards that edge the road and the harbour.  The older Senj residents sit on the benches watching the people, boats and sea.  Some folk are fishing off the piers and so many are out walking their dogs of all shapes and sizes enjoying the autumn sun.

Rosie and The Operator said good bye to Senj and drove out of town with the sun already burning fierce in the bright blue sky.  Our journey today was a three hour drive along the Croatian Coast road to Zadar. The Adriatic sea stretches out on our right hand side with barely a ripple on the surface. The sea is framed by long stretches of barely habited islands and the sea merges with the horizon.

Zadar is a great place to soak up the atmosphere of a beautiful, timeless, ancient city which has discreetly incorporated a lot of modernity into it. This overall enhances the whole city experience without being detrimental or irreverent to the history in the least.

Motoring into the port of Hvar, Rosie is always overwhelmed as the harbour becomes bigger and bigger.  High on the hill a fortress looks down on the town of orange roofed houses whose white painted fronts gleam in the light. Masts stick up everywhere as pleasure boats dock close to the town.  Smaller row boats and wee fishing boats are scattered between them barely bobbing on the waveless sea.

We are off to explore of the Island of Hvar!  Rosie and The Operator have had some of their best holiday times on a scooter.  Today was no exception!

From the sea, watching the city getting bigger and bigger Split certainly looked like the second largest city in Croatia housing 178,000. This huge sprawling metropolis was the first city where it wasn’t obvious where the old town was on approach as it was not the first sight to greet us like the other towns.

The tourist town of Split is all about the Old and revolves around The (jaw dropping) Diocletian Palace that is a City built within a City within a Palace. Confused?  It is a bit like that!  On arriving in Split we didn’t even know it existed until it was explained to us at the tourist office. 

Korcula is just picture perfect in every way, if you were to describe paradise this is pretty much it.  Not only taking into account the beauty of the place which would encompass the town, the beautiful bay and the amazing weather but the laid back island lifestyle that also goes with the package as well.

Another day in the paradise that is Korcula and what better way to explore it to broaden our island experience than by scooter.  Rosie and The Operator were off following the coastal road out of Korcula Town toward the town of Racisce.

OK… traffic was shooting past us at a million miles an hour we were high on the hill, we turned around to survey where to go and…..OMG, there was the ancient walled city of Dubrovnik at the bottom of the hill perched along the sea in all its glory.  It was mind blowing.  The sight Rosie has seen so many times in pictures and online….was there, for real!  

This area of Old Town Dubrovnik is breath taking, Rosie was slowly spinning around taking in the beauty of the buildings surrounding her.  The end of the Stradum opens up into a square that houses a beautiful church and impressive decorative Venetian style buildings.

Rosie and The Operator are off, we are going to walk the City Walls of Dubrovnik today.  A distance of just over two kilometers that takes you on a loop around the entire city. There is no escaping these mighty walls as they totally dominate the landscape with their height and imposing solidity.