On Saturday August 27th Nicole, Uwe and I left Fiume Veneto early in the morning to take the long drive to Croatia. We took A4 east to Trieste to go through Slovenia and then to the Croatian border. Croatia is not yet part of the Europian Union so our passports were required. Once in Slovenia,we went on the E61- a small 2 lane highway which was a shortcut to the border.
On our side crossing into Croatia- no problem- but on the other side consisting of German, Austrian & Italian vacationers going home- there were miles & miles of lineup. Those poor people must have taken hours to cross back into Slovenia.
Once past the border we got on a great 4 lane highway which took us almost to our destination- Ciovo Island next to Trogir.Along the way we went through various terrains- green rolling farm hills, hilly pine forests and strangest of all, a desert landscape reminding us of Arizona.
Once we were on Ciovo Island, we had little trouble following the directions to the condo we had rented for the week in the village of Okrug Gornji.
Here is the view out over the Adriatic sea from our condo balcony
After settling in- we were on the top floor of a 5 story building- no elevators- we went back out to a local grocery store and bought breakfast and kitchen essentials. Because we were all pooped after our 7 hour + drive ( Nicole did most of the driving) we decided to have dinner at Luigi's Restaurant which was attached to the complex- a great fish dinner.
Next day we went to the island's main public beach. This was a short drive from our condo. We settled into our lawn chairs for the day and enjoyed.
The beach had tiny pebbles rather than sand- typical of all beaches in the area- and the clearest cleanest water. As well, a pedestrian walk went along the entire beach area- +2 KM- with lots of bars/restaurants, beach shops etc.
The bar we had our chairs in front of
And more views along the beach- please note male readers- this was like all European beaches- topless -so great people watching for Uwe!
No, I did not take any pictures of the participating women.
View from the beach boat dock
The next afternoon we took a boat ride to Trogir, an ancient city now a major tourist hub. Here is our view back to our beach.
And coming into the Trogir harbour.
A beautiful pedestrian walkway along the pier
And many,many private boats- who says there is a recession going on?
Including some amazing yachts
Lots little ancient streets that we explored
And of course lots of piazzas with many bars and restaurants
We had an excellent and expensive dinner at a highly recommended restaurant. We would have been better off financially finding a little know gem- live & learn.
We left Trogir to go back to our island well after dark- boats left every 15 minutes until after 11PM.
Our next excursion was catching a boat to Split- one of the most beautiful cities I have seen on our trip so far. The boat left from Slatine, a village on the other side of our island approximately 6 kilometers away.
Having a beer waiting for our boat to arrive.
And leaving Slatine for our half hour boat ride
Approaching Split we saw many Cruise ships- this is a major destination for Mediterranean cruises.
And on to the Split pier where our boat docked.
Our boat arrived at 12PM and we had to catch the 4PM boat back so we had a little time to explore this amazing city. Just back from the pier is the ancient section, fully restored, with lots of pedestrian walkways, bars and restaurants.
And some well preserved old architecture.
Where people obviously still lived- judging from the clothes lines!
We spent some time walking along the market- lots of clothes, purses, tee shirts, jewellery and fruits.
Besides driving and cruise ships,there are several options to getting to Split including a ferry boat carrying cars & passengers from Ancona, Italy.
After a nice lunch , we walked along the pier gawking at some extrodinary looking yachts.
Four hours is not enough time to explore this amazing city. We got back to our boat in time for our ride back to Slatine.
Later that week we decided to go to a more private beach that we had read about which was a couple of kilometers past Slatine. The road turned into gravel for the last part- we were real adventure people! We finally arrived at our location which included an amazingly clear beach with few people plus one restaurant/bar where we could get our daily dose of birra and lunch.
The water was amazingly clear and a few private boats joined for a swim.
My favorite part of this beach experience was the incredible 'eye candy' that I could look at all day- a view of the sky line of Split in the distance.
Early Saturday morning we started on our long drive back. It had been a wonderful vacation week- great condo, wonderful food, clear water and amazing beaches plus lots of history seen in both Trogir and Split.
We decided to take a slightly different route home- leaving the main highway A1 part way to take a smaller road along the Adriatic coast.
The scenery was wonderful and we were making good time until we were held up for almost an hour when a traffic accident happened several cars ahead of us.
When we reached the Croatian city of Rijeka we had to make up our mind which border crossing to head for. Taking a chance, we decided to go back through the same entry point we had come through a week earlier remembering the terrible line-up we had seen leaving Croatia. Luckily for us, the major vacation time was over and there were only +8 cars in front of us when we reached immigration- woohoo!
