19 October 2003, Temperature - FREEZING!
Hola
Hola
Well I'm actually now back in Dublin....same old same....work
etc. But here's the remainder of my time in Croatia email...
I last wrote from the beautiful island of Hvar(Pharos in pre
BC Greek). The locals reckon the weather in this place is so
jolly fine (purported to have more sunshine than anywhere [for
some reason they have French keyboard configurations here,
hence the occasional muddles] else in the Adriatic), that they
used to offer a moneyback guarantee if the weather turned out
bad ' i.e. dropped below zero....quite unlikelz! The island
is covered with limestone cliffs tumbling into the ocean,
buff-coloured stone houses with the standard red-terracotta
roof tiles, bouganvilleas, cacti, pine trees, palms, beautiful
beaches (though thez are shale!) and when there haven't been
fires to burn it all awaz, the island is usually cloaked in
lavender ' the ladies in the stalls lining the waterfronts in
Hvar town sell it as agressively as they can - though i wonder
if thez imported this season's crop as there is none currentlz
growing anywhere on the island - as far as we saw, anyway!
Whilst on the island of Hvar we wandered round Hvar town,
walking along the palm and pine fringed coastline to the near
by beaches, looked at the 17th century arsenal, St Stephen's
cathedral and its Venetian campanile (1 window on first floor,
2 on second etc), Dominican monastery, the Leporini palace,
and wandered up the hillside to the Citadel, from
where you have magnificent views over the town below, and
out to the Pakleni Otoci (Islands of hell) which lie just off
the coast. We also spent good time soaking up the atmosphere
from the cafes that line the waterfront, eating burek
(delightfully oily cheese-filled pastries) and pizza, sipping
on kava s mlijeko (espresso with milk), and watching the
catamarans and yachts float in and out of the harbour. Most
of the sailors that cruise along the Adriatic dock in Hvar town
for several dazs, lounging around on their rather nice yachts,
drinking copious amounts of wine, and eating the fresh seafood...
We also caught a bus around to Stari Grad, the old capital of the
island. Here we spent our time wandering through the old winding
streets, admiring the Tvrdalj (summer house and walled garden of
the poet, Hektorovic), having a look at the Bianchini palace,
Dominican monastery and the Chapel of St Nicholas, where the
hermit Lukreciva walled herself in for 35 years and lived off
onlz bread and water...the chick had stamina!
From Hvar we caught a ferrz across to the island of Korcula,
originally settled by the Greeks and dubbed the Black Corfu,
because it is so denselz forested. We stazed in Korcula town,
on a small peninsula of land jutting out into the Adriatic,
just opposite the mainland's Peljesac peninsula. Korcula is
known for it's Moreška sword dance, thought to have Spanish
(Moorish) origins and linked with Christian battles with the
Ottoman Turks throughout Dalmatia. We didn't actuallz get to
see a performance as we were here a little too late in the year
and not on the right night of the week. In Korcula we wandered
through the walled old town, visited the Revelin (defensive
tower above the city), Church of Our Lady (filled with tombs
of Korculan nobles), the House of Marco Polo (noone is reallz
sure if it was his house or not, but it is a big tourist
attraction nonetheless. It is known he was caught in the 13th
century off the coast here by the Genoese, but whether or not
he shacked up here for a while is anyone's guess), the Icon
Gallery (I find this stuff surprisingly quite interesting) and
its attached All Saint's Church with an impressive Pieta
altarpiece. In the evening, not long after we arrived, we
heard what appeared to be a pack of local yobs celebrating
on their way home from the local footy match. Horns were
honking, flags were flying all over, people were shouting,
flares were flying.....quite chaotic...turned out a couple of
locals had tied the knot, and this was just part of the revelry!
I can't see us Aussies getting all patriotic about a wedding?!?!
We caught a boat across to Orebic from Korcula (finding all the
relevent keys finally!) late in the afternoon where we climbed
up the mountain side to the Franciscan monastery, and were
afforded divine views out over the waterfront to Korcula, and
along the Pelješac peninsula.
From Korcula here we caught a bus down the coast to Dubrovnik.
Dubrovnik was an independent state for many centuries (formerly
the Ragusan Republic), and at one stage had one of the largest
merchant fleets in the world. Nowdays it is a huge tourist
destination in the Adriatic, and the city seems to predominantly
subsist on its tourist trade. It was quite a shock to come here
from elsewhere in Croatia as it was jam- packed with tour groups
(many cruise ships dock here) and a surplus of German tourists!!!
(No offence to Arne and Anja, but they are in swarms!!). In fact,
there are so many of them in Dubrovnik, that I was constantly spoken
to in German!!! Thank goodness my German is better than my Croatian -
at the moment my vocabulary consists of the Croatian words for "Hi"
(Bog!! Can't bring myself to say it though), "please", "thank you",
"Good morning", Good afternoon" , "Good evening", "see ya", a
stack of menu items (e.g. "coffee with milk", "sour cherry/apple/cheese
strudel", open, closed, hot/cold, the numbers 1-10. Pretty basic, but
it's amazing what a difference it makes :)
Dubrovnik was heavily shelled during the 1991-92 siege of Dubrovnik,
but the government has done a great job in restoration. While some
buildings remain as rubble, many have been fully restored, the
evidence existing only in the slightly mismatched roof-tiling or
darker grey mortar on the stone walls of houses. As before, all
the stone buildings have forest green shutters across the windows,
perhaps to help dampen the cacophony of the cathedral bells in the
early morning!
Upon arrival in Dubrovnik we walked in a loop around the 2km long
city walls, that fortress off the city from the ocean and surrounding
suburbs. Parts of the original walls were built in the 10th century,
with additions in the 12th, 13th and 15th century (fears of Ottoman
encroachment), rebuilding in the 17th century following a whopper
of an earthquake, and large-scale restoration in the 90s, following
the Siege of Dubrovnik.
We then roamed through the old city streets - down the main street
(Stradun), which is rather shinily buffed from the constant trudging
of pedestrians up and down it (kiddies find this makes a great place
to run and slide on) and through the many seemingly identical
alleyways which criss-cross the old walled town, ducking into all
the shoe, clothing and jewellery shops we could find, in between being
enchanted by Dubrovnik's charming architecture!
Upon entering the walled town through the Pile Gate, we were faced with
Onofrio's Large Fountain, a monstrous dome-topped fountain with water
spurting from the heads (sculpted of course) of various human and animal
figures. It was here that the visitors to the city, used to have to wash
themselves to protect the city from the threat of the plague, back in
medieval times (Of course, living in Dublin, and going anywhere near the
Liffey, would put one at risk of that!).
The many Jewish families, who had fled to the Balkans to escape persecution
in Western Europe, were forced to use a separate fountain at the other end of
town - and Dubrovnik liked to think of itself as quite tolerant!
Just across the street from the fountain, we visited the Franciscan monastery,
with its Romanesque cloister, and home to what is purported to be the oldest
pharmacy in Europe. Amongst the relics in the monastery is a silver-plated
receptcle for St Ursula's (Can't say Ursula and I are on familiar terms) head
- charming!!!
We spent the next few days, visiting the Sponza Palace (formerly the custom
house and mint), St Blaise's Church, Orlando's Column (where naughty locals
were punished for their wrong-doings; the length of Orlando's right arm was at
one stage used as the standard measure of the old Republic), the Rector's
Palace (essentially an old prison, but now used as the city museum - its
atrium being the host to many evening concerts), Dubrovnik Cathedral , and
the city aquarium - home to a stack of miserable oversized guppy lookalikes,
colourful sea anemones and starfish, and strange displays such as shrimps in
symbiosis with sea anemones (Kinda like the clown fish and anemones in Finding
Nemo!).
Dubrovnik town is at the foot of Mt Srd, which, until the 90s, was a favourite
vantage point for the Yugoslavs. Cable-cars used to ferry people up to its summit
on the weekends to picnic wander in the woods, and take in the spectacular view
across the old town, and Elaphiti islands, lying just off the coast. Napoleon's
army had built a fort here in 1808, which in the 80s was used as a discotheque.
The Serbian army attacked the fortress heavily in 1991, pretty much blowing it to
smithereens, and destroying the cable-car. So, we had a long, windy walk up the
mountain road (decided not to bush-bash vertically, just in case there were a few
stray mines/UXO laying about), in the most miserable of weather.....but hey the
view was spectacular, and it was fascinating to wander through the old ruins of
the fort (trying to avoid having hanging bits of roof fall on our heads).
From Dubrovnik, we took a trip over to Mostar, in the Hercegovnian part of
Bosnia-Herzegovina. The whole town was largely destroyed during the (let's take
a punt and say the 1456th) Balkan war, and even now the town is largely in ruins.
There are European community efforts to restore the damaged buildings but there's
such incredible, widespread damage that it really is a ginormous task. Whole
buildings lie in ruin, and there are pock-marks from bullets, shelling etc.
everywhere you look. The Ottoman-influenced town still has its charms, in a
ghost-town kinda way.
There are a lot of people around, an blend of Croatians and Bosnian Moslems, but
it's very sombre and desolate in spite of this. We visited one of the mosques that
has been recently rebuilt (quite a beautiful, though very colourful building), a
traditional Turkish house, and saw the old Turkish bridge from the 16th century which
was blown up by the Serbs in 1995 (or maybe 96), and then spent our time meandering
through the cobbled-stoned laneways, across the beautiful Neretva river (lush
turquoise waters), and tried to imagine what the town must have looked like less
than a decade ago. Before the (most recent largescale) war, Mostar had 120 000
people, now only 60 000 people live there.
I don't know how much of this attrition was due to being killed in the war,
migration to elsewhere in the Balkans/Europe etc.....but the area is hardly
liveable. Much of the surrounding areas, which would have once been important
agricultural areas are now minefields. The city has a ridiculous 60 percent
unemployment, and the average monthly wage is €140 (AUD$233ish).
Our Bosnian guide (who was quite offensive and offered little insight into anything
whatsoever) offered the following comments :
- Holbrook (can't say I know Holbrook, but I presume he's someone I should avoid)
"was a cute little bastard".
The Dayton Accords were a "load of crap".
The salaries of people who work for the UN are "ridiculous".
The locals are "collecting funds for the next war" (she seemed pretty chuffed bout
this one).
When numerous Celt and Saxon miners came to work in the Balkans the locals were
terrified of all the "blue-eyed carrots moving around".
The Serbs built all their houses along the roads so they could "guard the Croats and
the Moslems" - this, is because "all Serbs are guardians".
She also claimed that many Christians in the region of present day Bosnia-
Hercegovina, got pissed off being taxed heavily by the Turks (because of their
Christianity), and decided it would be cheaper and easier for them if they just
became Moslems - many, perhaps even most of the Moslems in Mostar were fair haired
and skinned - I think this was actually true! Amazing!
We had pizza (again) for lunch - this time with a twist. We had the option of
Margherita or Cappricciosa, so went for the vego option, and were bemused to
have our pizza served up with large plates of mayonnaise and ketchup!! Pizza,
Bosnian-style! Very bizzarre, but we thought, it must be the standard way to go,
so gave it a go. Surprisingly quite delicious!! Though I think I will stick to the
olive oil and parmesan for my future pizza meals.
On our long journey back to Dubrovnik, we stopped in the Neum corridor for some
"bargain-shopping" i.e. where our tour company can make shit-loads of commission!
The Neum corridor is a 9km strip along the Adriatic coast which was given (maybe
returned? nabbed? I'm not sure what is the appropriate term) to Bosnia after the
second world war, so the Bosnians would have access to the sea. It effectively
splits Dalmatia from the Dubrovnik province of Croatia, and it seems to nowdays
have little purpose other than to allow the travellers through here to purchase cheap cigarettes and alcohol, as nothing else seems worth buying.
Not much to see here aside from the spectacular coastline that is typical of the
entire Adriatic coast south of Split. Probably a few good pizza places but once
you've been to all the pizzerias what's a gal to do?
On our last morning in Dubrovnik, Denise and I had one last wander round the old
town of Dubrovnik, perusing a few more shops, having one last pizza, and visiting
the small aquarium, which occupies the site of what once was St John's fortress and
has a good collection of Mediterranean sea creatures including very scary looking
half-sized sharky creatures that don't do much more than swim in circles around
their cosy pond. Denise had to fly back home today so we sadly had to part ways.
Only another 3 months til i'm back in Oz though - for who knows how long!? Latest
plan is to head continental for Xmas, and then fly home via 3 weeks in Borneo, but
that's liable to change - of course!
Denise flew out of Dubrovnik, while I headed back to Split on a long ride by bus
from Dubrovnik....well it wasn't so bad, though with the "klima" (air-con) not
functioning, and the afternoon's penetrative sunshine streaming through the bus' windows (which you
couldn't open), it was a little uncomfortable. There were some great Aussies on
the bus so that kinda made the ride a little more enjoyable. I thought I'd try out
the newly opened youth hostel in town, and arrived there to find i was the only one
staying there!!! Bummer!
I spent my last day in Split having a burek and coffee, down by the waterfront,
before discovering a place a few cafes down that did Aztec style chocolate fondue...
mmmmmmm....... all anisey flavoured. Then I headed out to the Ivan Mestrovic
(Croatia's best-known scultpor's) gallery, before relaxing with a book in the
afternoon in the Peristyle (formerly the courtyard of Diocletian's Palace) where I was amused to hear a delightful clash of musical talents -
Lenny Kravitz from the funky Luxor cafe opposite my perch, and then a little Liszt
playing in the cathedral behind me, for a wedding!
Anyway, not much new to report. They let me back in the country, and I'm back
slogging away at work.
I'm hoping to head off to the Ring of Kerry next weekend, but aside from that,
big for 3weeks, when I head to Edinburgh for the weekend - I'm hoping to move there
next year so am sussing it out.
Gotta go
Ciao
Belinda
xoxo
25 °C