The Armchair Traveller

Ja sam sretna

This would be the best way to describe how I felt when I touched down in Split in late July – Happy. After my experience in this beautiful part of the world last year I couldn’t wait to get back again, I have literally spent a year dreaming about coming back to this place and here it is at last!

This year I had two of my closest friends meet me in Split and join me for 5 days in Makarska with my family. It was great to have them there and to share with them a part of my culture that they knew about but had never experienced before.

Relaxation

It had been a really busy 6 months in my day to day life in London leading up to this visit to Dalmatia and when I got here my prime objective was just to relax and enjoy the break! So on our very first afternoon in Makarska we were already enjoying the refreshing Adriatic sea. Unfortunately on this day there was a bura (very strong wind) blowing so the water was not its usual crystal clear stillness but had a bit of a roll to it, not that this made the pleasure of swimming in the sea any less wonderful.

Our second day in Makarska we decided to spend the whole day at the beach, so that morning, with books, towels, togs and hats in tow we found ourselves a spot on the beach and spent the day enjoying being outside with nothing else to do but read, swim, talk to one another and eat! This is the best kind of holiday I think!

After a day at the beach we went home and got freshened up for an evening out in the town centre. Dinner was delicious local produce at a local restaurant in the old town square. I had lignje (calamari) which were amazing. Late July, early August is also festival time in Makarska so while we were at the restaurant there was an orchestra warming up for an evening performance in front of the church in the old town square. We stayed in the area after our meal to watch a bit of the concert then we got ourselves some sladoled (ice cream) and went for a late night walk up to the top of Sveti Petar (St Peter) peninsular where we could get an impressive view out across the marina and see Makarska old town all lit up – it was quite magical.

 

Cruising along the Adriatic

On the third day of our holiday my friends and I had a very early start to the day, we had a boat to catch that was leaving the Marina at 8am sharp! We picked up some breakfast from a local pekara (bakery) and found a good spot on our boat – the Makarski Jadran. There are a great many boats which depart from Makarska Marina each morning to take tourists out to at least two of the 1000+ islands of Croatia for the day. They all leave first thing in the morning and return again in the early evening.  Later in the evening you can walk up and down the marina and see all these boats moored there, some converted to restaurants for the evening, but most just advertising themselves with local staff standing around trying to sell tickets to passers-by for the next day’s sailing.

Our boat is one of the biggest of the choices available and possibly the liveliest. Makarski Jadran spends most of the year in far away seas as a fishing trawler and then comes back to Makarska for the summer months where the crew go from being fishermen to being hosts to hundreds of tourists wanting to spend a day on the water. It is a brilliant conversion from fishing boat to tourist boat as well, the back of the boat, where I assume they would normally drop and drag back their fishing nets, gets converted into a huge barbecue to cook freshly caught fish for all on board.

Our delicious fish lunch was served while we were on the boat before we reached our first stop of Jelsa on the island of Hvar.

Upon arrival in Jelsa we were given a couple of hour’s free time to just wander around. So once we were off the boat we took to the streets and explored the local area. Following a road up a hill we got a good appreciation for the local area. I really loved the stone walls and the matching stone built houses which combined with the blue sky and the surrounding greenery just made this area so picture perfect! On the way up the hill we encountered some locals who were selling their produce - lavender products (very common on this island), and local wines and spirits. By the time we got back down to the marina we stopped in a local cafe for some sladoled to cool off from the heat and then we jumped back on the boat ready for the next destination.

Bol on the island of Brac was the next destination where we had a good three hours to do whatever we wanted on shore. The best beach on the island is Zlatni Rat, a spit of land which changes shape slightly depending on wind direction. This beach is idyllic for finding a spot under one of the yellow and white sun umbrellas and taking a nap. Very relaxing!

After a good dose of sunshine and water we got back on our boat and cruised further around the islands, slowly making our way back to Makarska. Our boat, the Makarski Jadran is famous for being the “party” boat of the Dalmatian coast, and with the mixture of Croatian and English pop songs blaring out of the speakers so loudly that the people on the nearby beaches were jumping up to join us for a dance I can see why! There was a Croatian family sitting in the centre of the boat that were really enjoying the music and the drinks available for purchase and on the journey back to the mainland the singing just got louder and louder!

It was a lot of fun to do a boat trip like this with good friends.

And just before arriving back in Makarska we toasted our day with a shot of Rakia (a local specialty drink) – Zivila!!

 

Exploring the forest and the neighboring town

Day four began with a visit to another pekara to pick up breakfast as well as supplies for the day ahead. Today we were planning to walk from Makarska to the next town along the coast – Tucepi. Tucepi is my ancestral home, it is where my grandparents were born and raised and it is where my family still have homes, and some of them still live. It is a much smaller town than Makarska and although still a popular spot for summer tourism it is not as popular as Makarska.

We chose to walk to Tucepi rather than take the bus so that we could explore the whole coastline in between the two towns. There is a forest that sits between the two and a few paths along it to follow. I was told that it takes about half an hour from one town to the other but we decided to enjoy ourselves and take it slowly – so it took us about an hour!

Protected from the heat of the sun by tall trees it was quite a pleasant walk, although once we got to the uncovered part of the walk we suddenly wished we had left much earlier in the day! There were a few delights to enjoy on the walk such as the wild berry bushes we discovered and the olive groves we walked along the edges of… it really was a great walk

It is said that the beach in Tucepi is even more beautiful than the beaches in Makarska and I would have to agree. However I was really disappointed to arrive there with my friends only to discover the bura was out and was not only making the water much rougher than usual but also the beach itself much cooler than I would have liked.

Despite the less than perfect weather, my friends and I still managed to enjoy another lazy day on the beach with a few refreshing swims and some drying off in the sunshine – probably because it was still pretty weather good conditions, just not for a local!

For lunch that day we got ourselves some slices of pizza from a local cafe and then for afternoon tea we enjoyed some palacinke filled with jam – YUM!!!!

The walk home later in the day was after the heat of the day had gone and by the time we reached Makarska it was starting to get dark. We stopped by the sports ground near the house to see my cousin at his football practice and then we went home to sort ourselves out for the night ahead.

After a final dinner out in town with my friends, who were leaving me tomorrow to head back to London, we sat down by the marina and watched an amazing lightening storm over the island of Hvar. It was quite spectacular to see the island in relative darkness beyond our safe little harbour and then all of a sudden the whole island was lit up by the lightening and on more than one occasion you could actually see the lightening fork!!

After another day in the sun we were exhausted and so headed home for some sleep. During the night the lightening storm arrived on the mainland with earthshaking thunder and torrential rain as well!! The amazing part was that the very next morning it was as if the storm never happened!

Summer Carnival Time

On Saturday morning my friends and I did a leisurely stroll along the beach and stopped off for an early morning coffee at a cafe-bar on the beachfront. We walked almost to the other end of the town and then walked all the way back again, with a quick stop for lunch.

Then it was time to say farewell to my friends and drop them off at the bus station for their journey back to Split. I was really surprised when we arrived at the bus station by just how insanely busy it was! This was when I discovered that it is always busier on Saturdays, but in addition to that, today was the day of the Makarska Carnival so tourists were flooding in to enjoy the party. I felt very guilty when I later discovered that my friends had spent almost 3 hours waiting to be able to get on a bus!! In that time I had gone to the beach and been enjoying some swimming while they sat in the heat waiting for the next empty bus!!

That evening there was a lot of excitement around town, Across the road from our house there was a concert about to start of a very popular Croatian singer and then down in the Old Town everyone was getting ready for Carnival to begin. I went with my aunt and my cousin down to the Old Town where we wandered amongst the stalls, listened to a band performing from a boat anchored on the Marina and then found a good spot to stand so we could watch the carnival parade.

The parade was great fun, full of people (both young and old) dressed in all kinds of costumes, from the traditional local costumes to the more outlandish and ‘creative’ costumes dancing their way along the road towards the Old Town Square. We followed the end of the parade into the square and watched the award ceremony for the costumed revelers and then a band started playing and we all started singing and dancing, what a wonderful night!! I only wish my friends had been able to stay an extra night to enjoy this as well!

Family Time

In my last couple of days in Dalmatia I split my time between swimming on the beach and spending time with my family both in Makarska and in Tucepi. My evenings were spent sitting outside the front of the house talking to my aunt, uncle and cousins, eating and drinking and just feeling at home.

Then all too soon it was time to head back to London!

This beautiful place is forever in my heart, I love it when I am here and I miss it when I am not!

I am now counting down the days until I can go back again…

Trackback URI | Comments RSS