On the Road Again – Exploring the Adriatic Balkan Coast
Week 1: down the coast to Velipoje, Albania through Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro.
After over a year of travel restricted to my amazingly beautiful home region, the Salzkammergut of Austria, it was time to see other sites as soon as the borders opened. I have wanted to get to Albania and the North Macedonian side of Lake Ohrid for a number of years, but for one reason or another it just didn’t happen. This time, though, I packed up the car with dog food and dog bed and Nori, my 2 year old Lab, and headed south. Given the changing COVID restrictions and travel with a four legger, it seemed best to take our chances with booking most of the places to stay ahead of time. This generally seemed to work out well.
The first day we drove through Slovenia, past Zagreb and on to the Croatian coast. We stopped for a walk around and through the old town of Nin, which is on a little spit of land just north of Zadar. There is an abandoned 9th C Greek Cross styled pre-Romanesque Church of the Holy Cross in the archeological area. The windows of the church capture the solstices and equinoxes, creating an early town calendar. Almost next door is the former cathedral where the kings of Croatia were crowned. There was a service going on at the time, so I couldn’t go in, but did see the over-life sized statue of Grgur Ninski, the Bishop of Nin, who promoted the local script and language rather than just Latin. His statue is in the square by the main church beside a 12th C Gothic tower. He was a well respected and renown humanist in the 10th C, who successfully argued against the Pope’s wishes for local causes. Near the West Gate is a Romanesque Church with Gothic additions dedicated to St. Ambrose. Unfortunately, the local museum was closed when I was there, but a walk through the small walled enclave gives evidence of the many architectural and political eras the people of the region have experienced. The old town of Nin is a well maintained medieval tourist venue, while the new town hosts a number of beaches along the coast. It is a bit more relaxing here than in Zadar.
I had intended to spend some time in Zadar, but the heat was oppressive, the parking lots full, and masses of people all around the old walls. It didn’t look like it was going to be a pleasant experience with the puppy, so we headed straight down the coast to Sukosan, where we had our first night’s accommodation. The hotel was directly across the street from the town’s pebble beach and Nori had lots of fun playing along the shoreline and prancing in the ripples that weren’t quite waves. The beach was used primarily by locals, although the marina next door clearly catered to an international, and fairly wealthy, clientele. The sunrise over the little bay the next morning was spectacular.
On our way to Split the following day, we stopped in another medieval town, Sibenik, which is noted for its St. James Cathedral and Gothic-Renaissance-Baroque Divnic Palace. Concerts are held in front of the loggia and there were seats arranged in the square for the evening performance. The town itself, however, was fairly empty while we were there, probably due to the heat. It seemed that others had the bright idea to leave concrete and stone structures and head out into nature. The Krka National Park north of Sibenik is known for its waterfalls, and water cascading down with sprays on passersby sounded like heaven on a very hot and humid day. The National Park has a number of entrances; we took the one near Skradin. From there, there are two alternatives, one is to take a ferry up the Krka river to the Skradinski buk Falls or the other to go through a different entrance where there is a walking/biking trail to the falls. As Nori really needed to stretch her legs, we opted for the trail. I had hoped the trees would provide some shade, but was mistaken and the trail was very hot. Luckily it was only 3.5 km. and there really were magnificent waterfalls at the end. And stands selling much welcomed cold drinks. According to the guide book, the falls cascade over 45 m in 17 steps covering 800 m in distance. I have to trust this is accurate; all I can say for sure is that they are magnificently beautiful. There are, I believe, 8 National Parks and 11 Nature Parks in Croatia, many with waterfalls. The most famous are the Plitvice, which I wrote about a few years ago. Krka doesn’t have as many as Plitvice, but the large falls are spectacular.
After the afternoon respite, we traveled on to Split. I had been there once before when I had driven from Dubrovnik to Salzburg along the old coastal road with my father in 1971. I met him in Rome and we drove in my old Anglia, that shook like crazy if it hit 80km and had a hard time climbing, which presented problems as we had to cross the Apennines to catch the pre-booked ferry from Bari to Dubrovnik. Tito was at the height of his power then and Yugoslavia was attempting an economic recovery. The people we met, with the exception of one old rural couple who kindly hosted us for a night in a literal storm, were quite unfriendly. The hotel we stayed in in Dubrovnik wasn’t quite finished, but was already showing signs of decay. The drive from Dubrovnik north along the coastal road was a total nightmare. It had started to rain, then storm, and as I clutched the steering wheel with all my might, we passed truck after truck overturned over the cliff. After the seventh truck, we both had had enough and stopped at the first sign indicating there was a free room. It was a tiny closet-like space with just enough room for a bed in the small cottage. The old couple who owned the place were incredibly kind, and offered us tea. To make it, she went out to the backyard and took leaves off the tree and boiled them in water over the fire. It was like something out of an historical novel, and a stay that will always live on in my memory for the kindness of strangers. They clearly had no financial resources, but they made the best out of what they had and were generous with it. The following morning the weather cleared, and we continued our journey north. We had intended to spend some time in Split trying to locate my grandfather who left the family when my father was five, but after looking in the telephone book, there were so many Rodins that it seemed impossible to locate him. My father was also frustrated with everything around him, in hindsight probably because of the family issues, but highlighted when he finally was able to order some food, what came was an old slice of ham on a stale piece of bread. At that point, he made the definitive decision that we were going to drive straight through to Austria regardless of how long it took. I do remember that we were both grateful to be back in Styria once we had crossed the border. So much for my excursion to what is now Croatia fifty years ago. What a difference time makes. Sometimes for the best, and sometimes people and things just get old. Split is an example of this.
The district around Diocletian’s Palace is remarkably restored. The riva along the coast is a modern clean park-like boardwalk and the primarily pedestrian zone of the old town is filled with interesting shops, cafes and restaurants. The wooded Marjan peninsula offers a bit of shade and outstanding views of the shoreline and islands across the waters. The Marjan park has a few noteworthy old churches as well, including an old hermit’s cave and a 13 C St. Nikolaus Church. The main attraction in Split, however, remains Diocletian’s Palace complex.
He must have been a complicated man. He came from Greek heritage in the old town of Solona and had no birthright to fame or fortune. He made his way from a simple soldier to ruler of the entire Roman Empire. Realizing that the Empire was too big to rule properly, he created the first tetrarchy, which led, after his abdication- the first in Roman history- to eventually having Constantine become emperor. Diocletian, who early in his career had nothing against the Christians later became the leading persecutor of them. He was subsequently replaced by a man who granted religious freedom to all, which culminated in Christianity becoming the state religion. Time and politics change things. In the 6th C, his mausoleum became a Cathedral to St. Dominius, one of the saints he martyred. The pagan Ceasar must have been turning in his now lost sarcophagus. His temple to Cybele across from the Cathedral, is now the Treasury, which is a small museum with artifacts from the palace, and the ticket office to the main sites around the Peristyle. The crypt is supposedly where he had Christians incarcerated, but this story is subject to scholarly controversy. His Temple to Jupiter is quite small and was later used as a baptistery. There is still the baptismal font in the center and a modern bronze statue of Jupiter behind it. The tower offers views over the palace, town and coastline. Inside the old town walls, all of which was part of the palace, is a very good small museum. On the first floor there are well written descriptions of Diocletian, his times, and his palace. It is easy to sympathize with his wanting to escape the stresses of ruling such an odd mix of cultures and religions that the latter 2nd C Roman Empire entailed and the constant battles to enlarge and sustain it. The thought of retirement on the sea near his homeland was probably pretty appealing. As he was first and foremost a soldier, he built his retirement palace as a fortress as well as a residential facility. The four gates are named after the four Greek eras: gold, silver, bronze and iron. It is unclear how he died, but the structure he built was slowly taken over after his demise first by Roman exiles or those banished from Constantinople, including Galla Placidia, Emperor Theodosius’ daughter and her son Valerian VIII in 424, then by locals, who fled Solona after the destruction of their city by the advancing Avars 630. The Bishop of Solona was one of them and he was instrumental in changing the pagan sites within the palace walls to Christian ones. During the following centuries Split was controlled by the Byzantines, Croat-Hungarians, and Venetians. During the Venetian period Marko Marulic fostered the beginning of Croatian literature with his work, “Judith.” There is a museum recognizing his work and its influence in the palace complex. The French under Napoleon came for a short period after the Venetians, and then the Austrians arrived. In 1918 with the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Split and all of Croatia became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which later in 1931 became Yugoslavia. At the end of WWII Tito took the helm of the country and was able to form a communist yet not Soviet Yugoslav Republic. After his death, with the fragmentation of the former Republic, Split took on a major role in the independent country of Croatia. Croatia’s independence from the other Slavic nations of the former Republic was one of the many causes of the Croatian War in 1991, when Serbian forces bombed and destroyed much of the country including large tracts in Dubrovnik. After four years of war, Croatia found peace and the start of prosperity in 1995. By 2000 Croatia was stable. The country joined NATO in 2009 and joined the EU in 2012. The funds from the Union have made remarkable renovations and improvements in infrastructure as well as with the national parks, cultural and archeological sites. Some of those sites are still undergoing renovations, as is the Archeological Museum in Split, which currently only allows access to garden, not the exhibition rooms.
One of the other sites, however, that is open, is the old town of Solona, the birthplace of Diocletian. The ruins are fairly extensive and have a main center. There is a bit of an odd almost oval shaped amphitheater about a half a kilometer away from the main site. At the entrance there are the remains of an old basilica. Informative plaques with English descriptions are posted throughout the site.
Given the COVID restrictions, I wasn’t sure whether we would make it over the border to Bosnia – Herzegovina or not. I thought I’d try, though, as I wanted to get to Medjugorje, where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared before six village teenagers in 1981. At the border, I was told I was allowed to enter for up to 12 hours without any problems for returning to Croatia. The highway to Medjugorje stops just a few kilometers into the country. I found out later that this is because the government doesn’t want to award the contract to just one construction company, but rather prefers to spread the work around to multiple firms, which means the construction will take somewhat longer, but will be fairer to local businesses. The local road is good and goes through small villages. Medjugorje, however, is the main tourist/pilgrimage site in the region. It reminded me not so much of Lourdes as of a temple in India, with all the trinket shops lining the streets and alleyways. It was somewhat cleaner than the sites in India, but the commercialization of the sacred site was similar. The main church, the Church of St. James, is in the center of town. It is a large very modern structure with some beautiful stained glass window panels. The main site, however, is Apparition Hill with the shrine where the appearance took place. The Madonna is supposed to still appear to the villagers who originally saw her. Next to Apparition Hill is the Hill of the Cross, which is considerably taller and has, not surprisingly, a cross at the summit. These hills are wooded with junipers and small trees, not like the mountains behind Split that are rocky and fairly barren with only little green.
As there was still time and Mostar wasn’t far, I decided to drive to the famous bridge. It was a good decision. The bridge and old town of Mostar are impressive, and the puppy was able to play in the river to cool down. Others floating on tubes or paddling kayaks had the same idea. After a refreshing break, we headed back toward Dubrovnik and the multiple border crossings. We took the main road back, which meant we crossed the border into Croatia at Metkovic, then back into BiH near Neum corridor to return to Croatia after the 20 km that BiH occupies on the coast. Dubrovnik was for a long period of its history the independent state of Ragusa, and it was in Ragusa that my grandfather and his father were born, (his mother was from Split), and the physical separation from the rest of Croatia is reminiscent of this independence. The coastal road from Neum to Dubrovnik is now wider that it was fifty years ago, but it still winds around the sheer cliffs down to the Adriatic. Luckily this time, the sun was shining and the roads were clear. There weren’t even any trucks – and no one was falling off the cliff.
After staying in the middle of the city in Split and having trouble finding a grassy area for Nori, I decided to stay closer to greenery in Dubrovnik. We stayed in a delightful place behind Sunset Beach up a series of staircases leading to the woods on the hill above the bay. Sunset Beach is appropriately named as the sunsets are truly magnificent. There is a boardwalk all along the bay with stairs going down to flat bathing areas on the rocky shore. Perfect for the dog to play on the rocks in the sea without annoying anyone else.
The next morning I left Nori on the terrace at the hotel in the shade with her toys and water and took the number 4 bus into the Old Town. ‘Game of Thrones’ appears to have done for Dubrovnik what the ‘Sound of Music’ did for Salzburg. There are ‘Game of Thrones’ tours and memorabilia all over. I was luckily that the cruise ships had not yet started and the bus tours were relatively few. Normally Dubrovnik is so overcrowded that a sign on the main street warns people not to stop moving. Mass tourism takes its toll on the visitors as well as the locals. The revived tourist season had not yet started in full, and while there were visitors from mostly former East Block countries, by the look of the license plates in the parking lot outside the gates, it was a pleasant visit, except that I spent over an hour going in circles trying to find the archeological museum that was shown on Google Maps, that now doesn’t exist. On the other hand, going in circles through the windy narrow alleyways of the old fortress town Dubrovnik is an interesting experience in and of itself.
The site of the city has probably seen habitants since the 7th C BCE, but the actual fortress city today has remnants starting from about the 12th C. The great maritime rulers, the Byzantines and the Venetians, both influenced the development of the city and port, although the city’s citizens tried over decades to negotiate out of foreign control. By 1272 they proclaimed their independence, although this was only a partial victory as the Treaty of Zadar in 1358 identified the city as part of Croatia- Hungary. It didn’t break away from this arrangement until 1526, when it became the Republic of Ragusa, which it was even under the Austro-Hungarian rule. The 15th and 16th centuries under Venice’s influence saw the development of new palaces and structures, not least of which is the Rector’s Palace. Along Luza Square architectural history traces the changes in the city’s façade, with Gothic, Renaissance, and Venetian doors, portals, and windows. The Bell Tower dominates the skyline at the end of the Placa when arriving through the West Gate from the bus station. Given the city’s history, there are Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish worship sites, although the majority are Roman Catholic and what is called Old Catholic, which is a mixture of Roman and Orthodox, i.e., the Pope in Rome isn’t recognized as God’s messenger on earth. One of the more unusual structures is the Big Onoforio Fountain near the entrance of the West Gate. It is a large circular structure with water spouts covering the circumference. It was built in 1442 to “give drink and decorate the city.” In other words it allows all who need refreshment to quench their thirst. This is especially important in the heat of the summer.
The day was uncomfortably hot and Nori needed to get out, so we took a boat trip to a few islands in the late afternoon. I was able to swim in the caves and she was able to play on rocky beaches. There were only three human tourists and the puppy on the boat tour; the other couple, a son and mother from Sarajevo, were delightful company, and the captain’s young daughter adopted Nori for the time we were on board.
From Dubrovnik, we headed south the next day to Montenegro and the Bay of Kotor. I had planned on staying in Igalo near Hercig Novi, but it was so reminiscent of the mass beach sites along the Italian coast, like Bibione or Jesolo, with no green anywhere, that I decided to drive on to Ulcinj. We stopped along the Bay in Perast, which is known for its 17th C sea captains as well as for its 13th C church. There is a small museum in Perast, which charges E8; which is highly overpriced for the exhibits, but as this is the Bay of Kotor the prices are sky high. I had planned on staying in Kotor, but as in Zadar, the parking lots were overfilled, the heat oppressive, and the masses of people going through the gate were enough to make me continue on to Tivat. Tivat was a small fishing village until just recently when an entrepreneur built up the harbor and constructed a five star hotel. The harbor is now quite impressive. There is also a nice city park just a few streets up from the harbor with grass, trees and flowers; a good complement to the stone and concrete harbor. From Tivat it is possible to take a ferry back to Hercig Novi, but we continued on past Budva to Ulcinj.
Ulcinj was a former pirates fortress. It was Venetian, Ottoman and pirate. The fortress and old town cascade down the hill to the sea. It is a fascinating town. The fortress has a museum that is quite good for only E 2.50. This museum is definitely worth visiting, not only for the well-marked exhibitions in the numerous buildings, but also for the views from the top. The bay at the foot of the old town has a pubic sandy beach. The hotel we stayed in was off to the right side the old town down a fairly treacherous windy up and down cliff road that was barely wide enough for the Subaru and yet was two way. I learned later that the government had tried to make it one way a number of times, but the one way sign kept disappearing. The folks at the hotel earn my gratitude for helping me make sure no one was coming in the opposite direction when I was driving. The hotel had a number of bathing areas and the puppy was able to play ‘catch the crab’ amid the moss covered rocks and little waves. The Bay of Kotor is rightfully renown for its beauty, but a more authentic experience coupled with outstanding views can be found in Ulcinj.
From Ulcinj it isn’t far to the Albanian border. The border crossing took longer than elsewhere due to traffic, but was hassle-free. From the border it took only about 45 minutes to Velipoje, where I had booked a room not far from a sandy beach for a couple of nights before heading to Tirana, i.e., back to city concrete and, hopefully, a good historical museum.
