Croatia Day 7: Longest Day Ever - Bosnia, Krka, Sibenik, Trogir, Split

Who knew that donkeys were SO loud

We woke early the next morning to the sounds of the farm – the braying of the donkeys to be precise. After quickly getting all of our stuff together, we set out to explore in daylight. Given the winding, uphill drive that we had taken the night before, we fully expected a spectacular mountain view, and that’s exactly what we had. Rolling hills in all directions, a wild, untamed countryside with no civilization in sight. It was great! Even more isolated that the dirt roads we both grew up on in Vermont.

The addition where we stayed

Random Tortoise 

The farm was full of interesting characters, from the escaped rabbits who ran all over the yard, to the three donkeys, to the completely random tortoise. 

Mara ran around, brought us a ball for fetch, and was unrelenting in her energy. After a long look around, we sat down for breakfast, which was huge omelets made with freshly laid eggs and more of the same sheep cheese, along with the strongest coffee I have ever had. The grounds were still in the bottom. We drank it black, and while I can’t say I loved it, it worked. The omelet was delicious and filling. After some more brief conversation with Davor, including learning that the tortoise was found nearby by his friend. Davor adopted it and researched its origins, learning that it was not native to the area. He suspects that tourists brought it here illegally and let it go, though why someone would travel with a tortoise is beyond me. I asked about the rabbits, and he said that he didn’t really care if they escaped, as he did not plan to use them for food.

We finally got on our way, though we somehow managed to take a wrong turn and drive much deeper into the countryside. It was actually a blessing in disguise because it was truly beautiful in a totally different way than the coastal areas. Eventually, we stopped near a school where we asked directions from a kindly looking woman who was the only person we met on this trip who spoke absolutely no English. We got past this when she finally understood my badly pronounced version of “Neum”, the town we needed to get to. Gestures got us going the right direction, and we basically just backtracked the way we came. It was easy from there.

The day started out beautifully sunny, and remained so for our entire drive north to a national park called Krka. Krka was the small, and closer, of two national parks in Croatia that are known for a series of lakes and waterfalls over limestone cliffs. Once we arrived, it got cloudy and rainy, but that did not stop Ben from putting on his swimming trunks! It took us awhile to get our tickets, map, and get on the bus that takes you from the entrance to the lakes, but when we got there, the wait was worth it! Despite the gloomy weather, the beauty was again overwhelming. I know I sound like a broken record, but I can’t help it.

The park is enormous, but the part we visited had a manageable walking path over the steams and around the lakes and falls. It’s hard to describe, so the pictures will have to speak for me. The whole time we walked, we smiled. Except when we were annoyed by the other tourists, who we thought might push us right over. I would not enjoy this place during a more busy time – remember, this was the “off season” on a cold rainy day! I can’t even imagine what it would be like on a sunny summer day. 

After many pictures, many oohs and ahs, and rolled eyes at the tourists, we made our way back to the bus stop. Along the way, there were many vendors hawking Croatian food products, all of which looked tempting, but which we had already bought several of, like figs, jam, and candied orange peels. Now, I regret not buying more – like tons more, especially of the orange peel. The bus took forever to arrive, and a large crowd had built up at the bus stop. We were a bit concerned that, without a queue, having been one of the first to arrive would not make much of a difference. It ended up not being an issue, but we were pretty quick to jump up and get on once the bus stopped. The ride to the parking area is basically one hairpin turn after another, which was interesting in this enormous bus – great turning radius! The views along the way were also great, as you could see the lakes from above.

After Krka, we headed towards the coast to an ancient port town (and another GoT filming site for season 5) called Sibenik. Sibenik was lovely, with a small concentrated historic area on the waterfront. We found parking, which took a few loops around. When we did finally park, we noticed that several of the cars were adorned with white bows, and that the car next to us was a man with a very large and complicated looking video camera. At first, we were like “Game of Thrones!!” but then realized that it was for a wedding. We saw the wedding party gathered outside a small, ancient-looking chapel, drinking and relaxing, and we assumed that it was the reception.

Church in Sibenik - we easily recognized this as part of Braavos in Season 5 with Arya

Another angle of the church

The wedding!

A small square off the main square - no idea who the statue is of

 We wandered for a bit, but hunger got the best of us so we stopped at a well-reviewed restaurant with another amazing view. This time, we had the water, as well as the main cathedral, ornate and ancient, to stare at. The food at this spot, called Pellegrini, was excellent. I ordered an antipasti platter – each item was delicious, especially the prosciutto – it was finely sliced, unlike most places where it had clearly been sliced by hand. It had capers, preserved peppers, and different delicious spreads. They did have a weird “cover charge” that they did not tell us about in advance (though I had read about it in the reviews), which including a bread and spread plate that was worth the money for the cover charge easily. 

Super tasty food, despite weird service at Pellegrini

The service was very odd – slow, and not especially friendly. And then the waiter’s baby mama and their infant showed up, sitting down at the table right next to us and garnering all of his attention. She was about 19 years old, not classy, and proved that point by smoking while holding the baby. Then, just when I was getting distracted by the baby mama drama happening at the next table, we realized that the wedding party we had seen as we walked over was heading towards the cathedral we were watching. It was what appeared to be a traditional ceremony, and we watched as the wedding party and guests proceeded into the cathedral to live music and pageantry.

After eating, I was eager to get on the road again because I wanted to avoid the difficulty of arriving in a new place in the dark. Our next destination was Trogir, a small island just off the coast – like ten feet, it’s divided only by a narrow canal – and very close to the airport. Trogir in another ancient city surrounded by water and full of ornate buildings with historic value. It is also a walled city, with a large fort just outside the walls. Despite my best hopes, we did arrive in the dark again, though it was much different than the previous night – it was very well-lit, and after turning around only once, we found a parking spot and walked to our last night’s lodging, a bed and breakfast called Vanjaka B&B.

We met our host, who welcomed us warmly. She had worried that we were lost but did not seem put out at all by our arrival time, and happily gave us plenty of information about Trogir and nearby Split, which we were debating whether to try and visit that night. 

We went to our room to decide on a plan for the evening. The room was small but very nice, warmly decorated in a traditional style but with all the modern amenities, in a 450 year old building with small reminders of the age, like a wooden window with shutters, and spots where the original stone still showed. I loved this room, and would gladly have stayed there a couple more nights. It was a perfect, romantic spot.

The Riva

After taking showers, we felt ready for more adventure, so we did drive to Split. Split is a large city, and it’s the most urban of all the places that we went. In terms of size, it’s neither large nor small. The population is around 200,000, similar to Akron, OH or Salt Lake City, UT. Some tourists don’t like it because it is too “real” – unlike somewhere like Trogir or Dubrovnik that seem to be straight out of a fairy tale. I did not hold its realness against it, especially since the place that we were visiting, Diocletian’s Palace and the waterfront pedestrian zone known as the Riva, were pretty unreal. It was easy to find from the highway, I did not take a single wrong turn, and parking was similarly easy and not crazily expensive. We wandered the Riva, popping into a couple of shops but mostly window shopping. It is a mix of an outdoor mall, with international brands and local boutiques, along with touristy souvenir shops. Eventually, we left the main drag and were really in for a treat with the Roman ruins. After being wowed and in awe all week, I thought that I would not be quite so shocked, but these were so totally different than anything we had seen yet. Far older than most of the cities we had visited, the ancient palace ruins were in surprisingly good shape. The network of streets and alleys running throughout and under the palace were full of activity – shops, restaurants, live music, and art vendors, even as late as 10pm. It was an interesting mix of people – trendy, local urbanites, older tourists, and teenagers out on the town.

We walked and walked, trying to see as much of the palace as we could. Several parts were off limits, only open during regular hours and for an admission price, but what we saw was really enough. Given more time, I would definitely go back here in the daylight and likely pay to see more, but this was just the right way to finish our adventure. We headed back to the B&B and managed to get a bit of sleep ahead of departure day.