BeachesIt is only fair to start the blog with the beach highlights as the trip is all about chasing the sun. We were very lucky to get the last days of the summer weather on the Dalmatian coast before Bura (the northern wind) cooled down the air. We spent 3 days on the beaches in Bol on Brac. I did not expect that the stony Dalmatian beaches are superior to the sandy ones… Why? Because after all day at the beach you do not carry the sand with you everywhere on your body, in your hair, in your shoes, clothes, towels and bag. Surprisingly, they are quite comfortable too, even without any padding, just lying down on a pareo. Sure they leave some marks but hey it is like a massage where elsewhere you have to pay for.
Another ‘beach’ highlight was the amount of fkk beaches. Not sure what it stands for but it is a symbol used to mark pieces of the cost designated for nudist. On Brac they were typically much nicer and more secluded ones, as one would expect…
And this is the photo from the sunset on our favourite beach in Bol. Sightseeing
Dubrovnik is as beautiful as they say in every tourist guide or an article so my blog would not add any more value in describing its charm. It is just a must see place when you come to Dalmatia. My favourite tourist attraction in Dalmatia was Zadar’s sea organs. The peculiar music created by the sea breeze or wind is very pleasant, especially during the sunset. Hitchcock apparently said that Zadar has the most beautiful sunset in Europe (or maybe in the world) at that was before the sea organs… So obviously I have to add the picture of that sunset too. I promise I will not bore you with more sunset photos at least until we get to India. 
The second highlight was Mostar. The bridge is in fact very impressive. I have even sat through a 15 minutes movie that was talking about its reconstruction in 2002-2004. The view of the bridge from every angle was beautiful although most of the time obstructed by masses of fellow tourist… Maybe I should not call them fellow tourist as they were all at least couple of dozens years older and they all flocked to the bridge from the big bus parking lot and moved rather very slowly. Luckily they also had more money to spare and paid the local diver €50 for the famous jumps from the bridge to the Neretva River. When asked about the next jump, we only heard: ‘No money, no jump’. Mostar is not only the bridge though. The old town surrounding the bridge is really old. You could see more of it if the tat/trinket (I had to use both words as I learned these two synonims of junk in Mostar) vendors did not decide to convert every little old structure to the junk stand. Food
I sometimes felt this week as if this part of our trip was the equivalent of the ‘Eat’ of the Elizabeth Gilbert’s famous book ‘Eat, Prey, Love’ where Italian food is replaced with the Balkan specialities. Dalmatia of course is all about sea food. I think that mussels provencal I had once in Brussels would keep the first place but the Dalmatian white wine, garlic, parsley version comes very close second. My by far favourite dish is octopus salad (or salata od hobotnice); very soft octopus with olive oil, onion and parsley, or its peasant and cheaper version with potatos that we had in Zadar, or sometimes more sophisticated with capers we had in Bol.
Also there is the almighty burek, with cheese, spinach and cheese or our favourite, with meat in Bosnia. You can have it any time during the day; it is equally good for breakfast lunch, liner or diner. And it is cheap, too.
Accommodation
This week we let ourselves be hunted by the private room or apartments owners at the bus stations in each destination. Right when you step out of the bus you become their prey when they approach you with the offers of ‘the best and cheapest in town’. It is all a matter of bargain and luck… We were very very lucky in Dubrovnik where we ended up in a lovely small apartment right outside the city walls and in Bol where we stayed in the beautiful private stone house with a terrace with the sea view through the lush plants spinning through the house. The owner gave us even a plastic half litter bottle of home-made wine and the recommendation of the hidden family run restaurant with the cheap daily menus. We were double lucky as it was on the other side of town from the crowded corner with expensive hotels and close to the small beaches surrounding the old monastery (see the Bol sunset photo). We were not so lucky in Split, where we ended up staying downstairs from the studio where they practiced folk music and dance to the late hours of the night or in Mostar where the lady decided to put the anti-insect powder everywhere in the room and did not tell us about it…
Summary The week went by very quickly and the day we departed from London seems like ages ago. The only downside was that we exceeded our budget by hmmmm 60%:-) Croatia it is not really a cheap destination but it did let us get some tanning (so that we would not be the whitest people next time we go to the beachJ and eat its wonderful food). Let’s see how we’ll do next week in Montenegro.
No comments:
Post a Comment