Croatia From the Sea

 

 

Every sailing that I go to starts in Piran. Piran is protected by a fort and the church of St. George. My favourite thing in Piran is walking on small streets that go up. There you’ll find colourful houses, some still look as good as in when they were built, some lost its charm in time and in lack of money for the renovation. I never know where the streets will end and my effort of going up hill is always rewarded by the view of the sea and hills in the distance. Piran has its charms and they are best discovered in Youth Hostel Piran. 

 

Then, when the wind is right and there’s enough food on the sailboat, I sail away. I sail by Istria, watch the houses on the coast, the mighty cities and the islands. In one of those cities, Poreč or Rovinj, I have to stop to report on the border. And I can feel the summer vibe again. The crowds are warming the thousand years old stones and the people are rushing in the shadow. But soon I leave this city too. The sun is setting and I still feel that the best sunsets are in Istria. The sun is sinking in the sea and it’s changing its colours. From blue to gold and then it sinks into the sea. After I watch the animals on Brioni, favourite islands of Tito, I find myself in the waters of Pula. I sail by the big cranes that change colours in the night. And when the last fishing boat floats by me, I find myself in front of the city. And what does Pula offer?  Pula has its own Roman amphitheatre where music lovers and world known artists find their home. Pula has the whole Roman city in its history. It also has shops on the main street and wild beaches and built beaches for every swimmer. 

 

The next day I go to Kvarner. Kvanrer is an area of blue sea and bora. Sailing gives you a contact with the sea. I get lost in the waves and look at the fighting waves and fall asleep on the soft wind. From time to time, I talk to my friends, the seagulls. Islands Cres and Lošinj, one of the biggest Kvarner islands, are connected by a bridge in an old city Osor. Every time we sail under that bridge, we are accompanied by a crowd of people. And the next moment I saw the villages on Lošinj. 

 

Pretty, lively. They are very much alive in the summer. Traditional parties give a special atmosphere. One of my favourite summer festivals happen in Vele Lošinj on the island of Lošinj. It looks like the whole island comes together, hangs out and has fun. And you can really feel the happiness in the air. In July I sailed to Vele Lošinj and had fun at Veloselska Night. I watched broom fighting on kayak and a competition with wheelbarrows and pulling the ropes. Everything was alive. It seemed like everything lives for this moment. Veli Lošinj is, as it says in my book Cres and Lošinj that I read at least five times, a place with the right climate for lung patients. It also has a rich history of sailors who sailed the world seas. And you can see that on tall houses where women were waiting on their husbands on the balconies. There are a lot of stories of Lošinj and Cres. They come alive at night. When the island is making noises that you can’t find an answer to. Every now and then you can hear moving in the trees and then plop in the sea. Then you know that wild animals are managing this island and they are moving to places where a human can’t enter. If you want to discover the histories of this island, book a vacation in Omladinski Hostel in Vele Lošinj. And don’t forget the book Cres and Lošinj. 

 

The smell of the pine trees can’t be missed in the sea. It doesn’t matter where you are. And you can smell that when sailing past the islands of famous sailors or past less famous farmers. And finally I saw Zadar. Zadar is always bursting of life. The first look at it is always great. Zadar is a big city. While coming closer, I look at the hundreds of houses on the coast and the seashore with tourists in fine clothes. And by fine clothes, I mean swimwear. I watch at people bathing. The landing is always a fun adventure. Especially for those, who are watching from the pier and other sail boats. Usually the whole audience doesn’t have a good opinion about a sailor that is parking their boat. 

 

 

And in the next moment, I’m watching the big ferries that travel on the sea. From the land, I run on the streets of Zadar. I run past white houses and many confectioneries. I stop at the mighty white church and quickly move on. I stop at the market at the coast and see if there’s anything new. I watch the people, the salespeople and try to learn something about a human character. But I’m bad at that and the night is approaching so I move to the organs. The sea organs that work with help of water flows. I sit and listen to the wonderful music where I get an inspiration to write some new sentences for my future articles. Before I say goodnight, there’s some hopping I need to do. I hop with other children. 

 

And now it’s time for bed or reading in my cabin. But for you, I recommend sleeping in HI hostel in Zadar, the biggest hostel in the city.

 

And new morning quickly arrives. I sail to the sea after buying bread. To Biograd na Moru, even the name draws a smile on my face. From Biograd you can see island Ugljan, one of the longest Croatian island, always full of Slovenes. And if I think a bit more, you can find Slovenians at Biograd also. 

 

I’ve been watching the coast and the waves playing. The sail boat makes its own waves, and they run into sea waves. And on them you can see the sunlight. It turns from blue to orange when the evening comes. But before I write everything about sunsets, I’ll wake up and write about Biograd. I parked my sail boat in a marina. Marina is an interesting community of boats that don’t know each other yet. But they still creak with ropes all night. And the animals sit on the boat and chatter. They try to be heard. Marina is close to the city centre. Biograd was built on the remains of the antique city Biadona, which means that it has a long history and it’s certainly worth exploring. Of course it also has many churches like every other city on the Croatian coast. One bigger and two smaller. And if you’re tired of wandering the streets of the city, you can go to the Krk’s national park nearby. I also recommend hostel Hrid for accommodation. 

 

And then some music, some quiet, wind, then seagulls and new day. A long sailing trip was waiting for us this day. We sailed to Hvar. But bora came soon and we were racing down Adriatic Sea. Sailing is especially fun at the bow of the boat when the sail boat hits the wave and the bow gets all wet. Well, not just the bow. Once we were so wet that we dried the pillows for days. Sailing also consists of switching the sails from left to the right and sailing into the wind when the main sail is putting up. We sailed on one side for so long that I almost went to the cabin and packed the urgent things. We sailed by the island Kaprija where we went picking clams that we will later eat. But in the last year there are less clams so I’m afraid that someone else also discovered them on this place. 

 

When I watch the islands moving from my view, I can imagine my life on them. I imagine how it was in the old times when there were just farms and animals. What the life was like before ferries and the only connection between land and island was a boat. What it was like when children were running on paths and the older met at the lime tree. Today only old stone houses tell stories about the history. Sometimes the houses are so old that there’s no roofs and the only inhabitants are birds. The stories of ex inhabitants can be found on graveyards where their names are set in stone. 

 

 

In a few hours and after cooking lunch and sailing we saw Split. But our goal was Hvar. Town Stari Grad with an excellent hostel Sunce. Hvar has, as every Croatian island, its own soul. Stari Grad is a city with big main square where parties are happening in the day and in the night through summer. At night there are a lot of colourful lights that are sold on every step. And there’s a show every night. If not, any other, there are dancers performing. But the prettiest are the musical performances that wake up the soul of the city. While listening to them I can imagine things that I can’t in a hot summer afternoon. So I listen to songs about fountains in the middle of the village, about pretty girls, unhappy love and about fishermen and seagulls. Songs also tell stories about a harbour, full of colourful boats. 

 

From houses back to the sea. We also went to Dubrovnik. We sailed the island Hvar, shared the sea with many other boats that were here on holiday. We were waiving at each other while sailing past. We were only scared by big speedboats. On the east of the island, I saw a pretty church on top of the hill. It is definitely worth it to climb to these churches that have a stone wall and offer great view on every side. And then we sailed by the land to south. In the distance, I saw a lonely lighthouse on the island Pločica that shows the way to the ships for centuries. This lighthouse can now be a home for those who want a Robinson-like vacation and in the past, the lighthouse had a keeper. And so goes another chance for a job for me. Soon I also saw the magical island Mljet, one of the most beautiful Croatian islands.

 

 

We were approaching Dubrovnik. Hills above the city and in the city, houses with orange roofs inside the town wall. The town wall with forts is the first thing that you see. You can almost imagine the knights, protecting the city. And because we came to Dubrovnik at night, we were welcomed by the lights of the lighthouses. There are two in the entrance, one with the red and one with the green light. You drive past the red lighthouse on the left. Dubrovnik is a real sea city with a long seashore where you can find the soul of the city. Hundreds of people are walking on it and discovering the secrets of the world or only the city. Next to the seashore is the main street Placa where you can find anything a tourist could want. Festivals that bring you to the Roman time, time of togas and legionaries happen just here. The soul of Dubrovnik is its market with fruit and vegetables. Here you can also smell freshly caught fish. Then we went for a walk and quickly, in 15 minutes, we came to Youth Hostel Dubrovnik that you can find in a stone house with a terrace that offers beautiful view on the city. 

I ended my sea vacation with Dubrovnik. Soon the leaves will fall off on the fig trees and the fall will start. The tourists will leave and only locals and romantic souls will stay on the island.