2024 • Croatia & Balkans
June 15, 2024 to June 19, 2024
For my first stop on the continent, I decided to head towards the Balkans and enjoy the coast of the Adriatic Sea, from Trieste in the north to Dubrovnik in the south. While most of the time I was in Croatia, I spent a small amount of time in the neighboring countries of Slovenia, Italy, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. To get to Croatia, we flew into Pula Airport in the north of the country on the Istrian Peninsula. Istria is notable because it has changed hands quite a bit throughout the past century and is still home to a decent number of people of Italian descent. Today, the peninsula is mostly in Croatia, with Slovenia and Italy both controlling small parts, but up until the end of the First World War, it was under the control of Austria, then Italy in the interwar period, and then Yugoslavia controlling the Slovene and Croat parts of the peninsula until 1991. Anyway, while in Pula, I was able to enjoy the coast and even fount an underwater tunnel that you could swim through—which I did multiple times until I injured my left foot! Also in Pula are numerous ruins that date back to the times of the Roman Empire, including Pula Arena, which is a Roman amphitheatre that still hosts events to this day. Driving north along the coast of Istria, we found ourselves in Slovenia near the town of Piran and eventually in Trieste, Italy, where there was quite a bit of activity in the central part of the city as people were gathering to watch Italy play in the Euros.
After heading back to the hotel in Croatia, we continued south along the coast until reaching the small town of Jablanac, which is about halfway between Rijeka and Zadar. Just outside of the town is an inlet known as Zavratnica, which is notable because there is a sunken Siebel ferry (Siebelfähre) dating back to the Second World War. The former Nazi landing craft was hiding in the inlet where it sank, and its shell remains there to this day. It is also the only known example of a Siebel ferry left in the world in any condition. Another interesting aspect of Zavratnica is that the inlet has a mixture of fresh and saltwater, with fresh spring water on the top and salty seawater underneath. This made it so the water on the top of the inlet was quite cold while the water beneath was much warmer. Also, when swimming around, it causes the water to mix and makes seeing anything rather difficult without going down underneath the mixing. Needless to say, it was an interesting experience. The next day, we started just outside of Zadar and continued south along the coast until arriving on the island of Murter. Again, I was looking for some history from the Second World War—a bunker that was built during the war that goes deep into the hillside of the island. It took a while to find it, but I eventually did, and we went fairly far into the pitch black of the bunker and explored some of the passages before turning back and going to the beach.
That evening, we were in Split, which is a city that has a history dating back to the Roman Empire. The old quarter of the city contains a palace that once belonged to the Emperor Diocletian and other Roman-era ruins. The next day, the plan was to continue driving south towards Dubrovnik, stopping along the coast and in the neighboring country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The adventure began shortly after crossing the border into Bosnia—the front driver-side tire had a flat. So, here we are in Bosnia, on the side of a rural one-lane road, in temperatures pushing 100º with a flat tire. Also, I should add that there was no roadside assistance because we were in another country. Luckily, a local saw our predicament and called his cousin, who happened to own a tire shop, and then, 400 Bosnian marks later, we had two new front tires and were on our way. While in Bosnia, I wanted to check out the Kravica Waterfall and the old quarter of the city of Mostar before heading back to Croatia. Visiting Kravica was a success, while in Mostar, I wanted to see the old bridge crossing the Neretva River. Likely because of the heat and the mental exhaustion of what happened earlier in the day, I mistook the Crooked Bridge for the Old Bridge, went back to the car, and started driving back toward Croatia. While it did not look quite right when I was there, my mind was not in a state to question things. Oh well, I guess I will just have to go back! For the final evening in Croatia, I visited the old city of Dubrovnik, which inspired the appearance of King’s Landing in the Game of Thrones franchise. It is a beautiful locale in the Adriatic. The next day, we had to make our way north along the coast back to Split and then to Warsaw!
