As I entered Croatia (Hrvatska in Croatian), I had no expectations, only certain images in my head. I knew that Croatia has been ruled by others throughout history – first declaring independence from the Austria-Hungary empire in 1918, then joining Yugoslavia in 1943 and declaring independence again in 1991.
Since then, the Republic of Croatia has grown into becoming a new and trendy tourism destinations in central Europe. Croatia is member of the United Nations, Concil of Europe, NATO, World Trade Organization and CEFTA and also a candidate for European Union Membership.
Firstly, it hit me was how incredibly beautiful Croatia was. Secondly, I realised how clean it was and how everything seemed to be pretty organized. The highway between Ljubljana and Split was a highquality highway and parts of it along the coast, so I really enjoyed that…
I can see the Adriatic Sea! Wonderful coastal landscape.
Clear blue sky in Croatia. I later discovered that I had a very charming white stripe across my chest from the seatbelt, haha.
Somewhere south of Ljubljana the navigator stopped working. The maps were too old. :) From now on traditional map reading…
Rijeka and Pula are cities in the west at the Italian border. Split is located on the coast further south and was my final destination.
I found a very decent hotel 15 minutes walk from downtown Split as soon as I arrived. This was the view from my room.
Evening walk in Split…
Evening walk in Split… My father later called it the “St Tropez of the Balkans” when he saw the pictures.
Very Italian/Venetian architecture…
I sat down at the water for a while and realised I hadn’t sat down like that for the whole trip. I realised I was in the middle of Croatia, realised that I had come this far. It was a nice feeling.
Photos: Courtesy Anna Wiman.
They say that preparing is the most important part of a road trip. I didn’t prepare a lot… For example, I didn’t book any hotels before-hand (in Croatia I didn’t have any friends to stay with), I left home with a three year old navigator that stopped working south of Ljubljana due to old maps and didn’t buy a map of Europe until I reached southern Austria.
Roadtrip to Kosovo: Split – Dubrovnik
No more highway south of Split. :) There is one under construction but most roads went back to basic so one had to know what foot is where… and where the other cars are at.
I think this was somewhere north of Omiš, a coastal city south of Split.
I stopped the car several times to take pictures of the beautiful landscape. This one made me want to jump into the refreshing sea…
Said and done!
There is a small part of the coast that suddenly becomes Bosnia and Herzegovina… that’s also where one can choose to carry on towards Dubrovnik or to leave the coast and go towards Sarajevo (capital of Bosnia) and Mostar.
Reached Dubrovnik safe and sound! This was the view from my hotel room. Once again, found spontaneously. I didn’t want to leave!
Yachts and other boats outside the hotel.
Dear Opel Corsa to the left, thank you for bringing me all the way here!
Two friends relaxing in the harbour.
Good view of Dubrovnik city walls. Isn’t it gorgeous?
Tall houses and narrow cobble-stone streets in the old town…
Having quite a romantic dinner made of fresh fish with myself. :)
Photos: Courtesy Anna Wiman.