Central Croatia

23 June,
Another easy over start - we drove first to Trogir, old parts - this is a fascinating small settlement established around 7th Century by Croats and in 14O9 Venice bought Dalmatia - and Trogir refused to accept the new ruler and so Venice bombed the town into submission.This waa evidently not complete submission as  they were able to  pursue their own interests in art etc. The old town is situated on a small island separated from the mainland by a canal - which we walked over via a road bridge one way and a gorgeous curved pedestrian bridge the other way.

We saw a local market with sellers anxious to sell! thence into the old town where there were delicious winding streets threaded through the ancient sites of cathedrals , churches  - we followed a bridal party as they made their way to the very old and gorgeous Town Hall for their  wedding!


The general sense was of people who are currently living in this historic site. We just stopped and goggled at the merge of ancient and current.People live in these ancient buildings - signs of modernization do not intrude and almost all of the old 'attics' which look like they are about to topple over  are not inhabited.


We reached the sea front which gave us a great perspective of the extent of the old city - Palm trees line the sea front and many beautiful boats and launches bobbed about in the harbour.


Time to reflect - Croatians young and old seems very proud of their country - little graffiti - flags fly everywhere - there seems to just be a sense of who they are and my goodness they have fought for this and paid the ultimate cost. Today in one small church there was a small memorial - 2 flower arrangements with Croatian colours draped over them, above them photos of 30 or more people who had lain down their lives to defend their country in the civil war - along with a plaque listing their names - we were so moved.
They seem exuberant people but not the in your face raucousness of Southern Italians. Lots of dads appear in charge of small children. The young men seem very tall and the young women likewise - and slender but not always for wither gender.  In Italy the Roman nose is very evident - I haven't noticed a national feature characteristic for Croatia.

After Trogir we drove up to Primosten - a less well known settlement which seems to be more affluent than we have yet encountered. We found a nice long stretch of beach to relax on after our lunch in the shade of tall pine trees. Not a lot of people around which was nice. The beach of course was pebbly / small stone / small rock . We were pleased to find no debris floating in the water - nice and crystal clear - a steep slope which was indicated by the change in colour of the water from pale turquoise to indigo blue. We relaxed and swam - sea not as warm as expected but perfectly delightful all the same.

We returned to our Apartment via the coastal roads hunting for the 15th century fortified mansions built but the Split aristocrats who feared Turkish invasions that were rampant across Europe at that time. Well - we think we might have seen a couple - we followed the sign posts from the main riad and then they disappeared! No worries - we went of a wonderful tour of tiny roads as wide as the car - past huge properties -all with fences and prolific growth of plants / flowers and tress - along side very nice if more modest houses - all of which had gardens - some laid out like market gardens - and immaculate maintenance - quite different to what we have seen in inner Split - which is a jungle of high rise modern apartments ( new and in immaculate but a faceless jungle none the less) or out here in our suburb which is lovely and mainly geared to the tourists - with houses scattred hither and yon in the midst of the 'aparmani.'

The other aspect we enjoyed was the sight of local people - around 4.30 - 5.00pm enjoying their local beaches that lined these wandering narrow streets. They walked together - bevies of young men, young women , young adults with children and extended families and older people blobbing out - so cool and just what we love to see.


So - back to our very comfy apartment with all the amazing views and facilirties - and off to find a specila place to eat - earlier we spied Amigos on the waterfront - so we will see if we can get a table.