"Magic Croatia 2003" - my summary & photographs
It was many moons ago when I last dipped my feet in the warm waters along the beautiful Adriatic Coast. Things were a bit different back then though - the country was called Yugoslavia and Slobodan Milosovic was the name of an unknown law graduate working for a local gas company. Now many years later under the new name Croatia I re-enter this wonderfully scenic region of the former communist state, to an area known as Istria bordered by Slovenia to the north and out-staring Italy across the Adriatic to the west.
So what's changed here? Well to be honest it appears at first glance to be pretty much exactly as I remembered it (rustily) from childhood - basically very green and lush, with enchanting well-preserved coastal towns, a billion campsites all around, and locals selling Sladoledos (ice-cream - my first Yugoslav word) to parched holiday makers!
So what *has* changed then? Well for the Croats I suspect life here has changed very dramatically, but for the tourist the main change is an increase in prices as the country attempts to line itself up more with Western Europe, which is a shame for us Westerners as we lose yet another 'bargain country'. Nevertheless value for money can still be had. I ended up staying in an 11 GBP a night room in the centre of Rovinj - a town which must be one of the - if not the - most prettiest along the Istrian coast. Couldn't ask for a better location at a better price!
So here's the places I checked out:
ROVINJ
This is time-travel par excellance - with cobbled streets, Venetian architecture and a stand out cathedral all perfectly preserved over many centuries. Wandering around here feels like walking through the perfect movie set - it's all a bit surreal.
PULA
The king of all the Roman towns in this region - it's almost totally intact Roman Amphitheatre is the central showpiece. More complete than the one in Rome though smaller in scale this takes you back to another time where you can almost hear the roars of the lions and the screams of the gladiators as they rip each other apart for the entertainment of the 23,000 strong crowd that thronged in here many moons ago. Today the most dangerous thing likely to occur in here is a Croatian rock concert. Exploring around town reveals more evidence of Roman occupation as one stumbles (well follows the map that is) upon Roman gates and fortresses etc in various states of completeness or ruin. Seeing things like this really brings home the extent of the Roman Empire in Europe and their sophistication and architecture. And then down the road to....
MEDULIN
This is a smaller town of population 1,700 again set on the coast and to this extent the caravan sites and sun worshippers are in full swing lining themselves up along large lengths of coastline. The town itself is pretty to view but offers little else to really grab the interests. But this area is - probably because of it's peacefulness - particularly favoured by the naturists (mostly German of course) who have a large caravan site at their disposal here.
POREC
Going back up the coast this time and I arrive at the first resort that appears to be a bit more British in character. Not quite sure what it as exactly - maybe it was hearing more Brit accents than usual or maybe it was the look of the place slightly resembling a quaint English seaside town? This added contrast to the fact that Medulin was very German and Rovinj very Italian. (the restaurant menus reflected this too). The must-see here is the Basilica Euphrasius and the Venetian Tower offering pleasant views over the rooftops of Porec and out across the Adriatic.
Food / Beaches.
This is where northern Croatia loses out. If you like Pizza and Pasta you should be okay as nearly every restaurant does one or both. But if you want to try anything else however then you will have to lower your standards as the Croatians do not go to town on quality. To them food appears to be practical and not for pleasure so if you bear that in mind then their rather basic, unadventurous concoctions should be ok enough. As for beaches - there's no sand! Instead there's various combinations of rocks, concrete slabs, and sometimes grass. Which is fine if you're not out to build sand castles - you could build some really good real ones though. In fact the region does has several rather spectacular castles to boast about but these are to be explored next time..... and there will be a next time - because this is only half the story ..... there's plenty more yet to discover --- the "jewel of the adriatic" Dubrovnik and southern Croatia still await! So until next time......
Here's the link to see some picture highlights....
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Best Wishes!
J.E.L.