The 171km drive from Split to Ploce tipped the scales in favour of the best drive so far – back to huge mountains meeting the sea only this time with trees. Many small towns and villages hugged the coast with blue-green crystalline waters and isolated beaches.
Ploce (Pop 9,415) is a seaside district close to the Old Port known for its upscale hotels and rental apartments. Rupe Etnographic Museum houses traditional clothing and textiles, and the 14th-century Ploce Gate leads to the Old Town.
In actual fact Ploce is not
the nicest of towns. It is home to an oil refinery and huge port that receives
container ships from all over the world (especially China) for not only
southern Croatia but Bosnia-Herzegovina, the latter only having 20km of
coastline on the Adriatic, decided to outsource the port to Croatia. Instead it
chose to preserve the only city on the coast, Neum (Pop 4,960) as a holiday
destination for Bosnian-Herzegovinians. As a matter of fact you have to drive
across this 20km coastline to get from Ploce to Dubrovnik. This however will soon end with the completion of a new 3km bridge from the Croatian mainline before Bosnia to a Croatian peninsula that extends past the Bosnian coastline and into Croatian territory after Bosnia - clever !!!
In summer the population of Neum almost triples creating huge parking and traffic problems. Neum is also famous for its mussels – they are small but supposed to be extremely tasty.
Ploce is situated on the Neretva Delta – the only one in Croatia and home to widespread produce since the river is fed by winter snows and does not rely on rainwater – this means it is never in drought. This is also a huge wine growing area where I sampled my first home grown all natural local wines (see photos). The style is light and dry. Not many flavours. Just easy drinking – Croatians like to drink wine all day long.
Ploce was also home the best food we have eaten so far. We stayed in the only open hotel and the only open restaurant in the hotel. We were the only customers. There was nowhere else to eat and this was a blessing in disguise. The owner Mereke cooked up a storm. All traditional. Sea Bass fish stew, a mixed grill platter and stuffed veggies with mince – just like Greek “Gemista” – delicious and washed down by her own white and red wine which she so kindly gifted to us. What a lady. What a culinary night.
The drive from Ploce to
Dubrovnik via Neum in Bosnia-Herzegovina was also impressive continuing the
theme of mountains kissing sea. The biggest surprise was the town of Omis (14,936) which was surrounded by huge granite boulders.
Our journey to Dubrovnik ended with the meeting up with Leo Drinias, the third and final member of our party – not three Astronauts but three Balko-nauts that would spend the next 92 days together discovering the depths of the Balkan world !!!
Enjoy the journey from Split to Dubrovnik…
PS: Paris now officially has the HEAVIEST BAG !! Why? Just look at the photos. Not since Nick Drinias packed a 5kg box of Omo and 100 clothes pegs has there been something so funny – Paris packed a complete coffee set and computer set – the only thing he forgot was the kettle and a desk !!!
SPLIT TO PLOCE:
PLOCE TO DUBROVNIC:
Our private swim in Gradac
THE DELTA FIELDS:
THE NEW BRIDGE TO BYPASS BOSNIA !!!
NEUM (BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA):
OSMI:
CROATIAN FEAST IN PLOCE:
PARIS:
No comments:
Post a Comment