OAT Tour, Crossroads of the Adriatic, Part 1

The Overseas Adventure Travel Tour, Crossroads of the Adriatic, was a 15-day guided tour of Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, and Montenegro. The bus tour commenced in Dubrovnik, Croatia, and terminated in Ljubljana, Slovenia. We shared the tour with 12 companions. You will meet them all as you read through this blog. 

Our trip leader, Edo Poljarevic, and our driver, Tony, were with us for the duration. 

In addition, there were local guides at major stops.

Most of our lodgings were in first-class hotels, with uniformly spacious rooms, clean and well maintained. Breakfast buffets were elaborate, with many foods new to us. Besides the standard items muesli, yogurt, and fruit, there were the choices of eggs in several preparations, boccacini with basil and anchovies, caviar, banana frappe, numerous cheeses, breads and pastries, smoked and pickled fish, prosciutto, sausages, bacon, sauteed vegetables, and champagne mimosa!  Always a great start for a busy day of touring!  

One lodging was unique: The Skelpic Living History House. This is a family-run guest house to be described in the section on Karanac, Croatia. It is a delight.

Crossroads of the Adriatic

Part 1: Croatia

We toured for nine days in Croatia to visit Dubrovnik and Zagreb where we attended concerts and ballets. The itinerary also included numerous smaller towns; Karanac, Zagorje, Kumrovec, Samobar, Motovun, Hum, and Lovran. There was a delightful day in Plitvicka Jezera National Park with it's incredible collection of waterfalls.

At the Beginning, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Our Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) Group assembled in Dubrovnik for our “Meet-and-Greet” drinks, a short walk and dinner together. The next morning our group used the local bus to access Old Town Dubrovnik, founded in 7th century and incorporated in 1272.  The old city was heavily bombarded during the 1990s war, but fortunately has now been restored to it's former glory. 

For some shocking photos of the war situation in Dubrovnik click on the Link.  https://www.google.ca/search?q=dubrovnik+during+bosnian+war&rls=com.microsoft:en-US:%7Breferrer:source?%7D&rlz=1I7ADBR_en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=MCXVVODSHoXkapWagvAD&ved=0CEUQsAQ&biw=1093&bih=514

Our Local Guide, Lydia, took us to the Old Pharmacy (operational since 1317), the Franciscan Monastery (14^th century) and the Rector's Palace (15^th century). Dubrovnik has had public Medical Services since 1301, Old Peoples' Home from 1347, and Quarantine Hospital from 1377. Lydia oriented us to the locations of historical sites, museums, shops and restaurants.

We enjoyed a City Wall Tour with Edo.  Click on the video below to appreciate the fantastic view from the top of the city walls.

Then we were “on-our-own” to visit the numerous museums with our Dubrovnik day pass. Highlights were the Ethnographic Museum, the Maritime Museum, and the old synagog (from 1652).

We enjoyed an evening concert with Anne, Dave, Lou, and Edo. It was the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra Tvdava Revelin, classical jazz improvisation, with guest Canadian performers.

Into the Countryside of Croatia

The next region of Croatia to explore was Slavonia, the eastern-most province of Croatia, bounded by the Drava, Sava and Danube Rivers. The fertile farmlands, rich hunting grounds and robust wine industry make Slavonia the “breadbasket” of Croatia. This region was heavily contested during the 1990s war. It was part of Hungary during the 1700s. Road signs are a combination of Latin and Cyrillic, reflecting the ethnic diversity of the region (Croats, Hungarians, Serbs and gypsies).

Marilyn, one of our traveling companions was always happy to find a friendly cuddly dog!











Our primary destination in Slavonia was Karanac village near Osijek, close to Hungary. The rural village of Karanac is characterized by traditional Pannonian houses, usually L-shaped with entrance on the sides.

Our lodging was at the Skelpic Guest Home “Living History House” where we received a warm welcome from our hosts with an aperitif.  

Our rooms were charming country-style. 


Chickens, geese, ducks and turkeys wandered the courtyard.










It was a pleasant stroll down the village road to the Kuca for dinner of beet soup, salad and cheesecake, after our welcome aperitif of local brandy.






 





We enjoyed the local folk musicians, singing with accordion and guitars.

Check out the video below to see our enthusiastic dancing!

And still more dancing!

The next morning there was a hearty breakfast at the Skelpic Guest Home, of beignets with homemade jams, juborach, smoked meats, spicy cheese, homemade bread, coffee, alder flower and apple juices.

We stopped at Vina Belje, one of the largest (and oldest) local wine producers and stretched our legs through their vineyards, now dormant for the winter. 

 After visiting the cellars of Vina Belje we enjoyed wine sampling and, of course, bought bottles of Grasevina and Cabernet Savignon.

On our return to Karanac we traveled through rolling hills and farms of apple, pear, and chestnut trees. There were swans, storks, and herons. We visited an ethnographic collection, part of a Centre for Developmentally Challenged Adults, learning to make jams, crafts and juices. We helped support the centre by purchasing some of their hand-prepared items.

Then there was a cooking class for beef peka, fish/roe and paprika soup prepared outside and accompanied, of course, with brandy aperitif and estate wines. It was a sunny fall afternoon, perfect for the outdoor event.

The Next Large City, Zagreb, Croatia

A long bus ride to Zagreb was the perfect time for Edo's history lessons, interspersed with jokes, stories and other silliness on the bus PA system.

Serious discussions included the issue of unexploded ordnance left behind from the 1990s war. Substantial progress has been made in locating, signing and removing the old land mines, but many remain. Unfortunately, some farmers use signs stolen from mine fields to protect their wild asparagus fields, leaving some of the real minefields unsigned.

Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia, intermittently, since 1557, is a city of museums, culture and commerce.  

We puzzled over some local customs.

We met our local guide, Ivana, near the statue of King Tomaslav Jelavitch, a nationalist, (taken down to storage during Tito's regime). Our City Tour included the funicular (cable car) to the Upper Town to see Zagreb's medieval landmarks.

The city tour ended at the open-air market in the Dolac section of Zagreb.

The market at Zagreb is massive, including produce, fish and meat, plus the usual souvenirs. 

We enjoyed the "fruits" of our shopping at the Kras Bonbonniere!  

Magnificent dark chocolate!









At the Mirko Virius Gallery, we liked the Naive Art paintings by Miroslav Pintar. (http://www.hd-naiva.hr ). We visited the Archeology museum (excellent, with a 4-6 century loom exhibit), the Museum of Broken Relationships (pop culture), and the Joan Miro Exhibit at the Zagreb Art Pavilion (not particularly impressed).

The Assumption Cathedral was originally built in 13-18th century in Gothic style and is being renovated to replace the original limestone (dissolving under acid rain) with Italian marble. It was severely damaged by earthquake in 1880. Inside we viewed the tomb of Cardinal Stephanac, soon to become a saint.

For that evening Edo arranged choice seats for us at the Zagreb National Theatre for a performance of Ana Karenjina Ballet, a terrific performance in a beautiful theatre.

Back into the Countryside of Croatia

We left Zagreb for the small village of Zagorje, in the hinterlands of northwest Croatia.

Lunch in local restaurant Gresna Gorica overlooked the 1400s castle. We were greeted with cornbread dipped in salt, and honey brandy. We had lovely chicken noodle soup and salad, followed by a platter of sausage, chicken, veal, beef, and mashed potatoes.

We continued to Kumrovec, birthplace of Josep Broz, born in 1892 and nicknamed Tito, the seventh of twelve children. He was drafted into the army, was a prisoner of war in Russia and later becoming Marshal and then President for Life of Yugoslavia.

We explored the small town of Samobar and hiked on forested hills to the 13th century fortress ruins. Our reward was the coffee cream cake, “kremsnita”, in the town square.

On returning to Zagreb from our countryside day trip, we attended the Zagreb Filharmonia held in beautiful Vatroslava Lininskog, directed by dirigent Dmitrig Kitajenko for a wonderful symphony. There were 31 violins, other string instruments, wind and percussion. Thrilling!

Next day we departed Zagreb to Plitvicka Jezera National Park, UNESCO World Heritage

site, the largest and oldest (1949) of Croatia's eight national parks. Plitvicka Park with it's 16 lakes and over 100 waterfalls is the second most visited site in Croatia, after Dubrovnik.

Click on the short video below for a sample of the magnificent beauty of this site.

To see more pictures of this Croatian treasure, follow this link. http://www.np-plitvicka-jezera.hr/en

Istrian Peninsula

We stayed for two nights in Lovran, an idyllic Kvarner seaside town, famous for lush vegetation, chestnuts, cherries, asparagus and the marunada. It is an old town from 12^th century, formerly named Lauriana, after the local laurel, and greatly influenced with Austria-Hungarian architecture. We could have spent more time in this delightful town to see more of the Austrian style buildings dating from 1900. Lovran is now known as “The Pearl of the Adriatic Riviera”.

We hosted a “happy hour” on the balcony of our hotel room, and later strolled together to the Bistro in the town square of Lovran, where the highlight of the dinner was vegetable pasta with minced truffles. We adored “Kremitza” with dark chocolate sauce (similar to clotted cream).

The next day, traveling up the switchback road, we enjoyed views of the islands of Cres and Krk surrounded by a calm Adriatic sea. Excellent roads and a five kilometre tunnel under Ucka Mountain and lake brought us to the “hinterland” of the Istrian Peninsula with it's spectacular landscapes. 



 We learned that the lush forest is home of their famous mushrooms and truffles.

The Teran Malvasia vineyards surround the town of Motovun.


A local legend tells of giants who built the town with Istria's longest staircase (1052 steps) which we walked up to the old walled city. 





We were expected on the patio of the shop/restaurant for wine tasting, truffle lessons and samples of white and black truffles. We were intrigued to hear about the botany of truffles, their commercial value, preparation, and tastiness.

Peter and I bought jars of truffles in olive oil and of minced truffles to share with friends back home. There was also a bottle of medica (honey grappa with mistletoe).

We stopped for a “learning and discovery” session, a reenactment with truffle dog, Nera, finding truffles on the hillside near oak trees.

She found the "planted" truffles!

Afterward, we visited Hum, a town of 17, enclosed in walls dating from 1102 with a bell tower built in 1552. We learned of Hum Glagolitic writing from the Middle Ages and tried writing our names in Glagolitic. 

We visited shops and sampled brandy, liquors and, of course, grappa.







In the medieval church at Hum there are amazing frescos peeling from the ancient damp walls. 

No funds for preservation.







We had a lovely tour of Croatia and certainly recommend it. For more on Croatia visit: http://croatia.hr .

Our next post, will be Adventures in Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovenia, Overseas Adventure Travel Tour “Cross-roads of the Adriatic”. Part II:

We hope that you enjoy it.

Catherine and Peter, now aboard S/V “Charlotte D” in the Southern Caribbean (www.svcharlotted.blogspot.com )

“All roads lead to Rome. Take a new one everyday!”