WATERMILLS AND THE WELL OF LIFE!

Our journey was taking us roughly parallel to the coast but several miles inland as we headed towards Zagreb, close to the Slovenian border.  We travelled up a lovely road across hills covered with forest and through pretty little villages.  The most interesting and unusual one was Rastoke, just outside of a slightly larger town called Slunj at the junction of the Slunčica and Korana rivers.

Rastoke was begun more than three hundred years ago when this area of pools, rapids and waterfalls formed from travertine (calcium carbonate dissolved in rains higher in the lime-stone mountains and re-deposited here) was chosen for a collection of water mills for grinding flour, clothes washing and flax-stamping. 

The mills, built out over the natural waterfalls, were connected by wooden gangways.

The water rushes under the buildings...

...and cascades out into the lower river...

 driving horizontal waterwheels like those we saw at Krka.

As we travelled we passed many war-damaged houses and even the occasional deserted village.  There were also frequent memorials to those who died in what they call here “The Homelands War” in the 1990s. This one on a lonely hillside out in the country was, perhaps, the most unusual and moving with its figures seeming to emerge from (or return into) the limestone.

We stayed at a lovely site at Belaviči – a village outside of the industrial town of Karlovac.  The lanes around the site gave us an enjoyable cycle ride and the next day we were able to take the train into Croatia’s capital city, Zagreb.  Although a typical city with sprawling suburbs, the centre of Zagreb is rather pleasant if not spectacular.  There is a fine railway station…

…and some interesting sculptures.  This is “The Well of Life”, one of several by local sculptor Ivan Meštrović.  Dating from 1912, it shows people, at various stages of life, trying to scoop water from the bowl.

We recognised much more of the northern European influence in the architecture than in other towns and cities in Croatia.  Many buildings were of the "beginning of the 20^th century" style, similar to those we had seen in cities from Berlin to Talin, with facades decorated with sculptures of muscular men and stately women.  The Cathedral, however, was unusual…

… not so much in its relatively simple design but because it is surrounded by well-preserved defensive walls built from 1512-21 when the threat from the Muslim Ottoman Empire was at its height.  Inside part of the wall are buildings like those of that period.

In a square surrounded by Government buildings is another interesting church – St Mark’s – with its colourful roof tiles depicting the coat of arms of the old Kingdom of Croatia, Slovenia and Dalmatia and that of the City of Zagreb. 

With its many restaurants spilling out into the streets, the large open air market, crowds of University students and pleasant parks, the centre of Zagreb is a vibrant and interesting place.

DUBROVNIK

Travelling to Dubrovnik presented us with a bit of a problem.  The direct route would take us through about 9km of Bosnia – a country not covered by our motor insurance!  We decided that the risk was not worth it even for such a short distance.  The alternative was to catch a ferry over to Pelješac (pronounced Pel-ye-shats) a long thin peninsular attached to the mainland at its southern end.  It only cost about £35 each way and we were very glad we decided to do it.  

The crossing was hazy but the views still lovely and the mountainous peninsular was worth seeing.  We travelled up and down a good but winding road through a great wine producing area, past little coastal villages, crossing from side to side of the mountains.

At the southern end is Ston – once an important fortified town.  In fact the fortifications crossed the peninsular, no doubt defending it from the encroaching armies of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. 

Ston’s other claims to fame are its oyster and mussel farms and the salt pans where mineral-rich sea salt is still produced.

Dubrovnik is amazing (I’m running out of descriptive words for this wonderful country!)  Built on a hillside, its ancient walled centre occupies a small headland sticking out into the Adriatic.

Its massive walls have survived many attacks – most recently in 1991-5 when, during the Balkan War it was seen as a powerful symbol of Croatian independence and was heavily bombed and shelled.  The siege lasted nearly seven months and although many buildings were badly damaged, most by fire, the walls were never breached and the city was liberated by the Croatian Army.

 Now, after having rebuilt the roofs, refurbished internally and carried out little more than cosmetic surgery on the outside it it very difficult to see signs of the terrible damage which is recorded, along with details of the men who died defending the city, in a small, low-key memorial room off the main square.

The old monuments were sand-bagged and survived including Onofrio’s Large Fountain of 1444 in which visitors were required to wash themselves before being admitted to the city.

Like many of the towns we have seen, Dubrovnik has lovely churches and fine palaces but none of them are spectacular.  The main street, rebuilt after the devastating earthquake of 1667, with its outwardly unadorned town houses (now mostly containing tourist shops, ice-cream parlours and restaurants) still display a civic commitment to purity and order.  There are no garish shop fronts anywhere in the city and all window frames and doors are painted the same shade of green!

On the return journey up the Pelješac peninsular we had another night right by the sea before catching the ferry back to the mainland and stopping, for the last time by the sea, at Omiš.   Omiš, at the seaward end of a deep gorge, was a bit too touristy for us but very popular with climbers, most of the routes starting from the main car-park in the town!  We drove up the gorge which was very pretty with lots of wild flowers, but not as spectacular as we had hoped.  We turned north on a very good main road along which we passed some strange ancient tomb-stones…

…and a ship!

We wondered if a captain was so much in love with his ship that he had his retirement home built to look like it.

A WATERY WONDERLAND

Travelling south down the stunning Croatian coast we were delighted by the turquoise sea, the islands that keep this part of the Adriatic calm most of the time, the towering limestone crags and the pretty villages.  The (mostly) very good road surfaces made driving a pleasure but the Croatian drivers coming round bends on the wrong side of the road were very scary and one of them hit our wing mirror smashing the plastic housing but fortunately our “Mirror Guards” prevented the glass from breaking. The driver did not stop!

We spent a day walking up the gorge of the Paklenica National Park.  It is very popular with rock climbers having many bolted routes and the possibility of climbing new routes with permission.  The views were superb.

On the way we passed the remains of ancient villages and a water mill. 

The curiously shaped roof is called the helmet.  We followed the stream up as far as the mountain hut but the climb up to any of the surrounding peaks would have been long and arduous especially in such heat.

By complete contrast the Krka National Park is set in a deep gorge cut through a high rocky limestone plain.  As you approach it, it is invisible until the road starts descending steeply into the gorge.  We decided to go on a minibus tour organised by the site owner and as a result were able to see the best parts starting with the complex of lakes and islands at Skradinski Buk. 

The islands are connected by wooden walk-ways and the lakes separated from each other by waterfalls and rapids.

It is all incredibly beautiful.

In some of the restored buildings you can see a working watermill grinding flour, a forge and traditional crafts like spinning and weaving.

Our tour took us to more waterfalls…

…and the island monastery of Visovac.

 We were provided with an excellent lunch of traditional cold meats, cheese and bread washed down by a couple of glasses of local wine.

Finally we were able to visit the Orthodox monastery at Carigradska Draga. 

The frescoes on the walls were wonderful but not old…

…and we saw the catacombs where the first Christians worshipped and many were buried – their bones still lying on a stone shelf.

The whole area was fascinating including the many houses partially destroyed during the Balkan War and the new villages built to house survivors and refugees from Bosnia.

We were heading towards Dubrovnic and en route stopped at two more lovely little coastal towns, each with its well preserved old town.  In the first of them – Sibenik – there was a fountain with lots of colourful, live turtles swimming in the water and basking in the sun... 

...and in the peaceful old town, the Cathedral had a frieze of carved faces round the walls said to be sculptures of all those local people who didn’t contribute towards the cost of the building!

The second town –Trogir – was built on an island just off shore.  Once again we were camped right by the sea on a second island and just a short walk from the bridge over to the old town, now a very popular destination for tourists and sailors (this really is the sea and not a river)...

...and guarded on its seaward side by an old fort.

Like many of these coastal towns, Trogir was delightful but had few unusual or dramatic features.

CROATIA - HOT! HOT!! HOT!!!

The contrast between Croatia and Italy could hardly have been greater.  Everywhere we have travelled so far the roads have been excellent, the towns and countryside have been clean and well cared-for and the icing on the cake is that it has turned hot and sunny with day-time temperatures rising into the thirties!

We just drove straight across the neck of land belonging to Slovenia and into a large peninsular in the north of Croatia called Istria, stopping briefly at the small hill town of Bizet which was very peaceful but in need of a little TLC.  We spent our first night at Motovun, another hill town. 

The small site was half way up the hill and run by the hotel in the old castle at the top.  It was quite a hike up the old cobbled road…

…to reception – but worth it.  We were able to walk round the old walls and swim in the indoor pool at the hotel.  The views were splendid.

We turned west to get to the coast.  On the way we passed through the small town of Pazin where there is a very deep gorge which ends suddenly as the stream disappears into a hole in the ground.  We enjoyed the walk down into the gorge, round an interesting trail with boards pointing out the different flora and fauna and back up to the other side.  Reaching the top we found a zip wire right across the gorge to near the castle – we were not sure if we were glad or sorry it was not operating that day!

We reached the coast at Poreč with its unusual and interesting church – the Basilica of St Euphrasius where we had views over the town from the bell tower. 

The Basilica had some lovely mosaics and in the museum we were able to see archaeological finds from much of the Basilica’s past back to roman times.

Travelling south we came to Rovinj (the j is pronounced like the y in yes) where we camped right by the sea...

…and visited the old town next day.  Rovinj, like most of this part of Croatia, was once ruled by Venice and the winged lion – symbol of St Mark, Patron Saint of Venice, can still be seen on the gate into the old town.

Continuing south towards Pula we came across a re-constructed shepherd’s hut remarkably like the houses called trulli that we saw at Alberobello in Italy.  Perhaps the original settlers in Alberobello came from this area.

Pula’s only claim to fame – its huge Roman amphitheatre – sits somewhat incongruously between hotels and shops and overlooking the busy commercial port.

Nothing could have prepared us for the coast of the Kvarner Gulf south of the city of Rijeka!  The journey took much longer than our sat-nav said it would because we stopped in nearly every layby to look at the ever changing scene of seemingly barren off-shore islands and limestone cliffs.

In the bays and inlets were lovely, clean little towns with small harbours and delightful piazzas and the sea was as calm as as an English village pond.  Wherever we stopped we saw new wild flowers for Jane to photograph such as this Bladder Campion…

… and interesting wild-life like the Scarce Swallowtail Butterfly.  (Not as rare as its name would suggest!)

Senj had a castle high up on a headland and a pretty little Cathedral with an eclectic mix of old and modern decoration.

From the village of Jablanac…

…we walked round the coast to the idyllic Zavranica Cove…

… before reaching the Paklenica National Park.