The 76km drive from Zadar to Sibenik was totally different from our trip to Zadar. Instead of those soaring peaks we had low-lying soft hills with trees on them. It was sprinkling. First rain I have seen since arriving in Europe! Just as well. The scenery was not as spectacular and therefore not as magnetic to photograph. It stopped raining as we arrived in Sibenik and after a brief conference with Paris we both decided to continue to Split, leave our bags and return to Sibenik to give the sun a chance to come out and photograph this idyllic, castle-ridden town by the coastline.
Sibenik (Pop 34,302) is a city on the Adriatic coast of Croatia. It’s known as a gateway to the Kornati Islands. The 15th-century stone Cathedral of St. James is decorated with 71 sculpted faces. Nearby, the Šibenik City Museum, in the 14th-century Prince’s Palace, has exhibits ranging from prehistory to the present. The white stone St. Michael’s Fortress has an open-air theatre, with views of Šibenik Bay and neighbouring islands.
The best view of Sibenik, in my opinion, is from the Smričnjak Šibenik Viewpoint - a hill just outside the city with a huge Croatian Flag on top of it. Sibenik itself has 3 fortresses and we chose St Michael’s given its proximity to the centre of the Old Town. Sibenik is compact and easy to cover – it only took us 2hrs. The harbour is simple and not over-run with tourists. It still has its share of narrow cobbled stoned alleyways and the ancient continues to rub shoulders with the modern – Croatia excels with this theme.
Our 86km freeway trip to Split was quick but not nasty – those humble hills before Sibenik unfolded and transformed into a huge tall mountain range reminiscent of the trip to Zadar and Split unfolded like a huge apartment covered umbrella. Our apartment was right on the border of the old town so we had to park the car and walk a bit to drop off our bags. Before we knew it we were back in the car and driving back to Sibenik to photograph it under splendid sun…
Our 87km journey back to Split was the same distance as the freeway but longer because of the picturesque seaside towns we passed lined with pine covered hills and views of the continuing islands offshore. Paris and I had beaten the weather but the casualty was the Krka Waterfalls in the Krka National Park – it was raining when we arrived there and we had to move on in order to drive to Split and back to Sibenik to film it in all its glory. Speaking of glory, Sibenik is the only city on the Adriatic to be founded by Croats and not Greeks, Romans or Ottomans !!!
Split is strange. The city as a metropolitan area is sprawling and full of apartment blocks – many of them look like the old Soviet buildings – boxes, unkept and lifeless!!! The Old Town or should I say, DIOCLETIAN PALACE is quite the opposite – a splendid, sophisticated area full of glamour shops amidst ancient ruins both medieval and Roman all set with the backdrop of a palm lined harbourside. In many ways this is a grand city but overrun with tourists. The only grace is that it is big enough to fit everyone. Split was founded by the ancient Greeks in 250ish BC but became famous in AD305 when the entire Old Town now was actually a brand-new completed palace for the Roman Emperor Diocletian !!!
The one thing we learned in Split is that Croatians love Sardines and Apple Strudel. The former I knew because of my good Croatian-Ozzie friend Simo Popovac but the latter surprised me – I thought that only Austrians liked strudel but this is no longer true. Paris and I also discovered steak stuffed with cheese and fish stuffed with capers as in the photo below – delicious and somewhat nutritious.
Our last day in Spilt saw us sail 3 islands of the coast in a 9hr, 100km cruise. Simply stunning. Our first stop took 90min to Necujam on Maslinica Island. We spent 45min snorkelling a fishing trawler called Contessa sunken 15yrs ago in an “alleged” insurance job – owner could not afford repairs so sunk it and collected insurance !!! Wreck was ordinary, colourless and not worth filming !!! Next stop was the famous Blue Lagoon consisting of Drvenik Veli island which reminded me of Gilligan’s Island in my atoll adventures. Blue green water and a fabulous 2.1km swim in 20C water with underwater views of rocks, fish and sea urchins – lots of them !!! Our final destination was 40min away in the main but small port of Maslinica on Maslinica Island. Another 500m swim capped off a great day. This cruise featured a terrific mackerel fish lunch (see photo) and wait for it – UNLIMTED WINE !!! But wait there is more… as expected the wine was watered down !!! But who cares when you need some relief in a sun-soaked day overlooking the magnificent Split…
PS: Paris has a credit card with a security code of 666 !!! I kid you not. Our last night in Split was proof. Walking home form dinner a takeaway delivery cyclist speed “at great haste” towards Paris and when he looked up at him he literally stopped on the spot in front of Paris flipping over and falling in front of him. Shaken but not hurt he rose to his feet wobbling all over the place and when Paris approached him saying “are you all right mate” in his fake Ozzie accent, the guy said Da Da (Yes Yes in Croatian) and fled away.
Damien Omen the 4th !!!
Let the hauntings begin from splendid Split !!! Enjoy !!!
ZADAR TO SIBENIIK TO SPLIT:
SIBENIIK:
SPLIT:
ISLANDS:
FOOD - Sea Bream
FOOD - Beek Steak stuffed with Fetta:
FOOD - Charcoal Mackeral with Cabbage Salad
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