The Croatia Trip

A Week of Relaxation

A few years ago I went to a summer school in Italy as part of my PhD programme, and there I met a Croatian who spoke for hours about the beauty of Croatia. Since then, I have always wanted to visit. Easyjet now runs a flight to Croatia, so getting there was very cheap. In fact, there was no reason not to go.

Embarking from Gatwick at the start of the holiday.

We had to get up very early in the morning to catch our flight. My brother kindly gave us a ride to the airport, and we were there in plenty of time for the flight, which was short and uneventful. Two hours in the air saw us at Split airport, a short bus-ride from Split.

Split, our first port of call, with its market that wraps around the Roman Palace.

The first thing I did was buy boat tickets for the island at which we would be staying, but we had four hours to wait until the boat left. We relaxed, ate and drank at a restaurant for an hour or so, then ambled around the market that overflowed from the market square into the roman ruins that ran along the waterfront. It was hot, and we were tired, so after a while we just sat down in the shade of a palm tree and relaxed until it was time for the boat.

We relax and recharge in a restaurant while waiting for the Catamaran service to Korcula island.

The boat was a beautiful, modern catamaran whose route took it island-hopping from Split to Dubrovnik in the south. Korcula lies about half-way between the two, and took about two hours to reach. By the time we arrived in Vela Luka, the fishing port on the west side of the island, we were too tired to take the bus to our final destination. Instead, we walked into the village and found a cheap room in a small hotel. While Anne bathed Noah, I went out to find an ATM and a shop at which to purchase supplies.

We stayed one night in Vela Luka, a small fishing village on the west side of Korcula.

After a mediocre and confrontational meal at the "best restaurant in town", we moved on still hungry and spent a wonderful couple of hours sitting outside a pizzeria eating pizza and drinking beer. Once the sun had set, the evening was warm and breezy. Perfect weather for chatting, which we did for hours.

A short climb up the hill from the shore (top), our apartment most excellent feature was it's huge, ancient stone veranda (bottom), with a view across the straight to mainland Croatia.

We got up the next day with just enough time and energy to get to the bus-stop before the 10:00 bus left. It took us two hours to get from Vela Luka to Korcula town. The route wound up some very steep hills, and stopped at every picturesque village along the way, but finally we arrived in Korcula. After a brief lunch in a restaurant, we took a taxi to Lumbarda, the next town along and our final destination. We went into the tourist office there, and were shown where we could rent apartments. Then I sat with Noah while Anne went off to choose one. She chose well!

Noah and I relax on the Veranda.

Our apartment, for which we paid 18 pounds a night, was just around the corner from the sleepy village centre, and just down the hill from the church which struck every hour and half-hour. There were two bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen/dining room, but the best feature was the ancient stone veranda, all that was left of the original house which was destroyed in a war some years ago. Our hosts, Vedrana and Ive (pronounced ee-vuh) lived upstairs. Just up the hill and around the corner there was a supermarket at which we went shopping as soon as we had dropped our bags on the floor.

Noah helps with the shopping.

The next few days were spent doing nothing much of anything. We relaxed on the veranda, went for walks around the island and generally did nothing in particular. Most of the time we would cook for ourselves, but we ate at restaurants a couple of times. I made a point of eating ice-cream at least once every day. One evening, we were in a restaurant, and had just splashed out on a lobster, when Noah started to fuss and we realised we didn't have a bottle. I jogged back to the apartment to collect the bottle, and on the way I saw a boat being tied up. After a conversation with them, I discovered that they could take us to Korcula town, the largest town on the island, the next day - if we were able to get out of bed and down to the dock by 9 o'clock.

A fussy eater samples Lobster for the first time.

Despite our best intentions, we were predictably unable to get up so early the next day. We were on vacation after all. We did, however, take the bus into Korcula town. A lot of young people were on the bus, and it struck both Anne and I that they were all very good-looking. It took us about 30 minutes to get to Korcula as we stopped all over the place on the way there. We arrived at 2:30. Korcula is a picturesque old fortified town on the eastern side of Korcula island. Reported to be the birthplace of Marco Polo, the town is full of stone buildings and cool, wide alleyways. Down at the dock, I noticed the same boat I had seen the previous day. I went and talked to them, and they said they could take us back at 3:30. Anne and I were both very happy to not spend so long in the town as the sun was hot and we just wanted to relax on our veranda.

Our short boat trip back from Korcula town was one of the highlights of the holiday.

We did a little souvenir shopping, then got on the boat. It was jam-packed full of a German tour group who were heading back to the mainland after a quick stop-off at Korcula. The two men who operated the boat helped us to carry the push-chair to the wheelhouse, and then I went out on deck to take some pictures. 20 Minutes later, we had the boat to ourselves after all the Germans disembarked and got on a couple of coaches. We had a wonderful little boat ride back to Lumbarda.

Vedrana pours us out a litre of her home-made grk wine.

Our hosts were wonderful. They were a middle-aged couple named Ive and Vedrana. They had built the house themselves, bit by bit. They started with our downstairs apartment, then they had lived in that while they built the upstairs floor, where they lived now. Whenever we went upstairs to ask for something, they always gave us a glass of their wine and had me sit at their kitchen table where they could chat with us. They showed us their photo albums and even did our laundry! They were absolutely wonderful.

Noah takes a bath.

Anne had been asking about getting hold of some fish. Vedrana had said she would buy some for us from the fishermen at 5am, but had (for vaguely explained reasons) failed to do so. Ive, however, offered to take me fishing with him. We went down to the quay at 6:30 and got into a small fishing boat where Ive's brother Rocco was waiting for us. We travelled out over the Adriatic watching the gorgeous sunset accompanied by the constant BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG of the British made diesel engine.

Ive (above) and his brother Rocco (below), out fishing on the Adriatic.

After two hours, we reached a tiny island inhabited only by sea birds. The light had almost completely faded, but there was still a smudge of colour in the west. We sat down and had a tranquil cup of wine and a sandwich. Then we got to the business of fishing. Without turning on the engine, Ive rowed us out a little, then Rocco let out the net while Ive rowed in a big arc. Then, with the 250 meters of net set, they turned on the engine and went up and down the inside of the arc several times. Ive drove and flashed a light into the water while Rocco picked up what looked like an enormous wooden sink plunger and splashed it into the water. Then they pulled the net in and and extracted the fish that were trapped in the weave. They had caught about 20 small fish.

The best meal of fish I've ever had!

We then travelled an hour or so to another tiny island where the process was repeated, but only about 10 fish were caught that time. Ive told me that once they had caught 124kg of fish in one night. Then Ive's mobile phone rang, and that meant it was time to go home. I spent a very sleepy two hours trying to get comfortable on the tiny wooden bench, looking up at the sky full of bright stars and drifting in and out of sleep. The next day, Vedrana fired up the barbecue and cooked up the fish for us, then fed us at her table. They were delicious.

The view across the fields to Lumbarda.

I don't know where the time went, but all to soon it was time to go home. We got up at 3:30 to catch the bus back to Vela Luka, then got on the ferry back to Split. On getting off the boat, we were almost assaulted by a small gaggle of old women, all wanting us to stay in a room in their house. We agreed a price and then we walked for about 30 minutes to get to the apartment. The spry old woman took us along a route that had sets of steps every 200 meters, but the room wasn't bad.

The Split Maritime Museum's collection of amphorae.

After a nap, a shower and some food, we decided to go for a walk. There was an old fortress just around the corner from where we were staying, and so we walked around the walls looking for a way in. The entrance was right on the other side, so we were hot and sweaty once we had got in. Inside the fortress entrance was an art school and a museum. The door to the museum was locked, but we rang on the bell and were let inside. There was a small entrance fee, and that entitled us to a guided tour. We were the only visitors to what was an excellent little museum. One side was devoted to Maritime history, and the other side to naval history. They had the world's largest collection of torpedoes, but I guess that doesn't include the great navies of the world.

Our last view of the beautiful blue water and sky.

Later that evening we wondered down to the waterfront to time how long it would take us to get there from our room. We took a different route, one that we were promised had no steps. It was another pleasant walk, and we could just make out the red clouds of what must have been a beautiful sunset, but the buildings got in the way of seeing the horizon. We wanted to eat at a restaurant, but we were at the end of our money. We had enough to buy a cooked chicken and something to drink in a supermarket. After that we had money for breakfast and the bus to the airport, but nothing else.

Looking forward to getting back home.

The next morning, everything went smoothly. One of the few advantages of travelling with a baby is that you get to board the aeroplane first, important with Easyjet, who don't assign seats. Before the day had ended, we were back at home, enjoying a much-needed nap in our own bed.

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