Croatian Coastline

Beautiful rocky coast at Bratus, Croatia

Like many Germans, Heinie makes August his annual summer vacation month, and after discussions in the spring, we decided that this year we would discover Croatia.

Kroatien is a uniquely captivating country that makes up the westernmost slab of former Yugoslavia. It straddles the length of the Adriatic from a northern border with Italy down to its southernmost Grenze with Serbia. From the heart of Germany, it took us a total of about 16 hours drive-time to reach the town of Bast near the rocky coast of the Makarska Riviera, with stops for coffee and an overnighter at a farm guesthouse in Austria.

Left: a most beautiful rocky beach in Bratus (photo by KS)

My first impressions of Croatia are that it is a wild and rustic land with exceptional natural beauty that teems across the rugged silver mountains and wayward pine trees. Variable weather extremes add to its undomesticated character. On our way to our destination, we encountered three severe thunderstorms while cruising the Croatian Autobahn, and it has rained heavily here at least three out of the past 13 days, with clouds looming above as I type. Hot humid afternoons transform rapidly into gusty downpours out of dark clouds that gather over the Biokova mountain range, only steps from our antique stone rental. A neighbor told us of the winter wind -- the Bora -- that is so extreme one must install security doors and go without windows on the mountain-side of the house.

Pictured below: a beach in Brela, post "hurricane" (photo by KS)

During one afternoon excursion to Brela, famous for its giant stone just off the coast, we experienced a hurricane-type storm that cleared the beach within only a few minutes. That was an invigorating event! Croatian beaches are very crowded on hot summer days, unless said hurricanes move in. It was lovely to see them barren of human life, if even for only an hour or so.

There are many tourists here. We encountered people who hail from neighboring countries, including Italy, Poland, Bosna and Herzogovina, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and of course Croatia, packing die Strände on each beach we visited and occupying every bay and inlet we viewed from afar. (Their license plates give them away.) Our neighbors upstairs were two families from the U.K., and I did not go without hearing an American or two while walking old city streets and beach promenades. It is interesting to me how Croatia has become so popular in such a short time, but I was informed by Heinie that this part of Yugoslavia has always been a tourist destination, and no wonder! It's gorgeous.

Fortunately, because of Jack, we found places on two different dog beaches where there weren't excessive amounts of people, perhaps due to the fact that they didn't want to swim in the same water as any canine. Pech -- we enjoyed those people not cluttering our views or pathways to the clear, aquamarine blue water.

Jack the dog enjoys a dry dog day afternoon on the stone walkway of our 15th century Bast rental (photo by KS)

On alternating days, we drove along the coast to different cities, including Baska Voda, Brela, Makarska, Split and Omis. These communities display commonalities: cream-colored apartments and buildings constructed from the beach straight upward into the hills and upon outcroppings, with locals holding up "Apartmani" signs advertising vacancies; occupants and tourists crowded together in small spaces, speaking a myriad of languages; a dire dearth of parking except at a hefty price (10 euros a day or more); and beach promenades interspersed with hotels and restaurants and crawling with customers. Croatia's coastal towns are swarming with tourists, and it can be difficult to enjoy their history and natural beauty. At times I felt like I was in southern California, taking part in the hectic summer rat race to reach the edge of the ocean, to bake in the sun with thousands of others, and thank goodness we didn't beach it every single day.

No matter where we went, we moved langsam, stopping for a Radler or a cup of coffee, ice cream or a bite to eat. The food here is delicious, fresh and tempting. Hamburgers are served on soft artisan breads; salads are seasonal and made of hearty red tomatoes and crunchy cabbage. Pizzas are wood-fired, and meats are grilled.

The culinary delectation began our first night in Bast when we meandered uphill to the local tavern, Konoba Nevera, a name meaning something like "breezy tavern" or "tavern of the breeze." There we were able to unwind from our long drive for several hours while listening to Slavic music and drinking local wine, eating homemade bread and delving into fresh octopus salad (a Croatian specialty), and smelling the wood-fired grill that would sizzle my cevapcici, a mincemeat sausage made locally (photo below), to a crunchy texture. It was here that I also tried my first Mangold, or cooked chard -- something I had dreamed of eating before this vacation started. (Funny to have cravings for a food I've never tried.)

A third of our evening meals were taken at the tavern, simply because it was so homey, atmospheric and zwanglos. The dog was treated like royalty, getting hugs and pets from our waitress Eli -- who speaks at least four different languages including excellent German and English. She kept us entertained and sated, and I have a feeling that I will miss Konoba Nevera more than I miss any other place in Croatia.

Left: a plate of cevapcici with fries, ayvar sauce, and traditional rice (photo by KS)

As said earlier, many German tourists visit here as well, and waitresses like Eli, bakery salesgirls, hotel owners and pretty much anyone in the service industry must speak German, English and other languages in order to be understood. It is said that Croatian is a difficult language to learn, and for me there was not enough time to learn more than a few words or phrases before arriving. Sadly, we tourists tend to expect that hosts will speak what we do when we visit their country. In this case, Croatians are up to the task.

Croatia is relaxing, not only because of its beaches, beauty and weather, but because it feels geared for pleasure. However, not so long ago -- about 30 years now -- Croatia and its neighbors were not nice places to visit. Naive me came here with the notion that this country had very little tragedy in its past. That is not the case. I only truly realized this after finishing the novel The Hired Man by Aminatta Forna. I found the book online while looking for something about Croatia to wile away hours on the beach, and the book definitely gave me a sense of this country. What I didn't expect were references to the war among neighbors that come only later in the book, making for a not-so-happy ending and something to dwell upon. Immediately I began to view this little town of Bast as something out of a horror story, because its scenery matched that of the book. Were bodies still waiting to be uncovered somewhere in the dangerous hills?

Naja, as soon as I did some research, watched some videos on YouTube and talked to our Bosnian-Croatian neighbor, I learned more about local history. It is my impression that the war among the people was less about religious affiliation, as proclaimed, than each nation wanting self-government after many years of being grouped with ethnic groups dissimilar to themselves. I'll have to read more to get a better bearing on what happened.

Above: clouds form behind the Biokova mountain range near the Makarska Riviera (photo by KS)

Not to worry -- Croatia today is peaceful and the coastline has become a hedonist's paradise. Now it is so geared toward fun in the sun that foreigners are buying up land in remote, historic towns like Bast and constructing oversized, modern homes that look like they belong in California, with swimming pools that look out over the ocean -- why bother to check out the waves? and giant umbrellas, and railings to hang brightly-colored beach towels. It is my opinion that these garish monstrosities belong elsewhere and not in a time-tested, centuries-old village bordered by pines and olive trees, a Dorf that teeters on the rocky slope of a great mountain, enduring the Bora every winter. Worst of all, these vacation homes block their neighbors' views to the ocean, seascapes that have been treasured for generations. What a travesty and what a crime. Pleasure-seekers with lots of money tend to ruin a good thing. Oh, well... as the neighbor pointed out, one fantastic storm could wash a few away.

Me, I'm happy to sit among the rocky walls of this old home, staring up at the Biokova or down at the Adria, inhaling the scent of the pines, listening to cicadas buzz and figs fall, and writing about how the Croatia that is far away from the swimming pools and the beach crowds makes me feel.