A Croatian Coastal Getaway

Penned in June 2017

SLOVENIA

We started off the first leg of the trip by flying into Munich, Germany. In the span of our first day, we covered three countries in our trusty white Volkswagen mini-van, traversing some 400 kilometers from Munich – Austria – Slovenia, passing by green fields dotted with cows lazily munching on grass, past hulking hills half shrouded in mist and clouds, through long dark tunnels cutting through mountain rock, past sleepy alpine towns… I’d forgotten just how vast Europe is, to be surrounded by nature, my mind wandering, to have the freedom and space to be idle is a luxury in itself.

Our lunch pit stop was at this ski town called Flachau, nestled in the heart of the Salzburger mountains.

We ventured up this winding narrow path up the hill to get to this beautiful old Austrian restaurant Gasthof Sattelbauer, where we were greeted by several inquisitive looking, beady-eyed goats, before tucking into a hearty meal of pork and beef dishes. I spent some time outside, feeling like Maria in ‘The Sound of Music’, gazing at the verdant rolling fields, the forbidding snow-coated mountains wreathed in mist and mystery in the distance, overlooking the tiny rows and rows of houses and steepled white town down in the valley, taking in the silence, untouched and unspoilt by everything.

Woke up bright and early at 6am on our second day to explore the forest trails around our little holiday home at the small town Ribčev Laz, at Lake Bohinj – which is said to be Slovenia’s largest lake and fed by glacial meltwaters, and also less visited compared to its cousin Lake Bled. The weather was gloomy and downcast, and I was reminded of the lake in the novel ‘Housekeeping’ and how it cast a perennial influence on the townsfolks’ psyche.

Lunch was a succulent meal of freshly caught salmon and lemon-infused trout at family-run restaurant Gostilna Erlah at the town of Ukanc, where our waiter Marcos served with plenty of flourishes and enthusiasm, sharing stories about how his father fought in the war some 16 years back when Slovenia was still known as Yugoslavia.

The sun finally came out on our third day! Good riddance stormy clouds, hello hiking shoes and trail exploring.

We set off to Slap Savica, home to Slovenia’s most iconic waterfall. The inner geography geek In me read about how the glacial waters flows through an underground cave karst system before pouring relentlessly forth from a height of nearly 900 metres off the sheer cliff surface. Forging upward the 500 step staircase, we weaved our way through sun-dappled woods and fern-embossed rocks, past crystal-clear springs, enjoying the solitude and crisp air that only morning can bring, when without warning, we were greeted by the dramatic sight of great torrents of water gushing downwards, pounding with an angry ferocity over the steep limestone cliff face, even as the faint outline of a rainbow peeks through the mist, with “thunder in our ears” as the waters “below me roar and shake the river banks”, to quote a poem by one of Slovenia’s great poets France Prešeren.

The journey to our next destination to Mostnica Gorge was fraught with difficulties – we couldn’t find parking, battled hunger pangs, mistakenly took a longer route up the mountain, and lost Papa and Yifeng halfway… But eventually we ended up passing by this field with an entire herd of cows roaming about before locating the trailhead where we walked the 2-mile stretch along the Mostnica River. The rushing currents eroded deep gorges, turquoise green waters cascading into mini waterfalls and rapids forming small whirlpools, even as we clambered up the stony path heading deeper and deeper into the forests’ depths.

Slovenia is often described as “fairytale” – in fact the Chronicles of Narnia was filmed here. There’s description I really like from a travel blog that sums it best: “The jagged peaks of Triglav National Park biting the sky like dragon’s teeth, the supernaturally blue-green alpine lakes, the fern-laden gorges carving through misty valleys – it’s a truly mythical place.”

And indeed it was the constant thought in my head as we lazed about at a tiny restaurant overlooking the gorgeous blue Bohinj Lake, eating freshly-caught trout and salad, dipping our feet in the icy cold waters shivering with delight, watching the paragliders land at the open field nearby. In the evening, I get a blissful half an hour of absolute peace, lying in the warm bath staring up at the endless blue sky through the skylight, listening to Devendra Banhart crooning folk tunes… It’s so easy to lose all sense of time here.

It seems unreal that elsewhere in the world people are rushing about in harried fashion, where stress is the only constant, while over here people just seem so content with the simple life – be it serving customers at a tiny bakery or whipping up meals at a family-run restaurant or doing road repair works – there’s no sense of shame or feeling that you’re ‘lesser’ in some way. It’s just good ol’ fashioned hard work, and people here do it with pride.

ZAGREB

We spent just a short day in the capital of Croatia so it’s hard to say if I liked it or not, only that we had a delicious lunch at Restaurant Vinodol at Teslina 10, in the very heart of downtown Zagreb; to hiking up to the Church of St. Mark where we stumbled upon the city’s marriage registry where dozens of brides and grooms were gathered, and exploring the enormous and wonderfully cool underground Tunnel Grič which led us to an avant-garde exhibition.

RASTOKE VILLAGE AND PLITVICE LAKES

We ended up in this picturesque watermill town called Rastoke village and had lunch at the charmingly quaint Petro restaurant, which was nestled amongst tiny waterfalls and wooden houses… It was blissfully idyllic.

After settling into our Airbnb – a humble wooden cabin abode ringed by rolling green fields – the next two days were devoted to exploring Croatia’s crown jewel, the Plitvice Lakes National Park.

Water has always been one of my favourite elements and it’s hard to describe how totally at peace I felt walking through the park… It has a surreal, other-worldly beauty to it, and seeing the Veliki Slap (Big Waterfall) from above is a sight to behold.

It’s one thing to see the mighty falls cascade down into emerald green pools, and another thing to be able to “walk” down the waterfall on the boardwalks.

Venturing deeper into the park, I was constantly amazed at the sheer variety and gorgeous palette of blue and green hues – from glassy grass-green, emerald green, sapphire blue, aquamarine, teal, cyan, malachite, turquoise.

The landscapes are vastly different too.

The Lower Lakes hold some of the more dramatic waterfalls, enormous lakes brimming with calm while entire skeletons of trees lie submerged beneath, while on the other hand, the routes in the Upper Lakes feel wilder, less discovered and traversed, and it feels like we’re the only humans to stumble upon every nook and cranny for the first time (I wish!)

THE SUN, SURF AND SEA AT THE ADRIATIC COAST / DUBROVNIK

At the ungodly hour of 5:30 am, we set off to the fish market to get the best catch, before exploring the old town of Dubrovnik. It was still early, so it was blissfully free of crowds and the sun’s glare had not come out in full force.

Enjoying the cool air, we wandered through well-trodden cobblestone pavements, stumbling upon a morning market in one of the squares filled with plump old ladies hawking their wares, before having a leisurely breakfast of egg omelette, toast and a cup of coffee each. We were one of the first in the queue to walk on the city walls, a 2 km loop around the old town (or more famously known as King’s Landing in the Game of Thrones) – overlooking an endless stretch of red-tiled roofs, which took us past the expanse of the blue ocean, and had us clambering up and down stone turrets and precariously steep inclines.

By around 10 am, the tourists began arriving, and we navigated our way to this cliff side café called Café Buza perched on the rocks, first by entering through a concealed ‘hole’. We sipped icy cold lemonade, lounging about in little chairs while the locals sunbathed in their bikinis and the men cannonballed off the rocks and into the waters.

Upon reaching home, we splashed about in the freezing cold seawater down by the beach, caught a siesta or two in the afternoon.

SPLIT

Over the span of three days, we did some sightseeing at the crumbling Kliss Fort which was shot as the slave city of Mereen in Game Of Thrones, strolled around the Riva Promenade under the unforgiving sun and learnt about Roman emperor Diocletian at his palace, another GOT filming location.

KRKA NATIONAL PARK

The last day in Split was spent driving out to Krka National Park, the lesser-known cousin of Plitvice Lakes, but still provided a lovely cool respite from the heat, with its thick trees blocking out the bulk of the sun’s glare, the sound of cascading waters, as we walked on wooden boardwalks over crystal clear waters filled with fish that darted here and there.

We were finally rewarded with the sight of the gorgeous Skradinski Buk waterfall, where people are allowed to swim!

ISTRIA, CROATIA'S OWN 'CINQUE TERRE'

Istria has by far, been my favourite part of Croatia. It’s indisputably ‘local’, still pretty much untouched by the hordes of international tourists, with its small-town vibe, and abundance of seafood. As a local tells us, the rich and powerful love to visit Istria because it offers them utmost privacy and yet has so much to offer. While Istria is made up of various towns, we made our base at Labin, a hillside town which used to be the largest mining centre.

LABIN

Initially I hadn’t expected anything much from the town, as nothing spectacular jumped out from my research.. so you can imagine how pleasantly surprised I was when upon visiting the town, albeit a little sleepy one, held various gems…

Like how we discovered their local market with the fishmonger ladies hawking their fish while stray cats prowled around or waited patiently around for their breakfast, friendly locals offering us cherries to sample from their shelves laden with fruit, a sister-and-brother pair selling hand-crafted ceramic tablets and a farmers’ market that sold everything from honey, tea, wheels of cheese and even live chickens.

Walking down the twisting alleyways of the old town, we followed a somewhat nondescript sign which eventually led us down a narrow flight of stairs and to a virtually deserted street, save for a bright blue door.

With some trepidation, I stepped over the threshold, as the owner, Mr William Negri warmly invited us in for a round of wine and olive oil tasting. With a touch of pride, he explained to us what makes his brand of olive oil so special – it’s been part of his family business over the last 500 years, known to be one of the oldest and wealthiest families in town. Today, his oil is supplied to the world’s finest chefs and Michelin-star restaurants.

We ended up lugging back two whole boxes of olive oil back home! So yes, little things like this which still have yet to be extensively chronicled about in travel blogs, feels most authentic that we’ve ‘discovered’ it on our own…It’s a thrill that I miss in this age, where everything seems to be featured on TripAdvisor and what not.

ROVINJ

Another highlight was the gorgeous seafront port of Rovinj, nicknamed the ‘little Venice on a hill’ for its strong Venetian architectural influence and for its close proximity to Italy.

An hours’ drive away from Labin, we weaved our way through cobblestone alleyways, admiring the delightful crumbling houses, some turned into shops selling little trinkets, handstitched leather bags and assortment of artist handicrafts, and truffle-infused spreads and fresh berries, past streets which suddenly open up and lead to the ocean… It’s a romantic place.

SEGUTRA RESTAURANT

Also, we had the best meal of the trip here – at a small family-run restaurant called Segutra, which is situated close to the harbor but partially tucked away in a particularly lovely street filled with flowers and brightly-painted walls, where we had a scrumptious meal of seafood pasta, freshly grilled sea bass and clams and tasty tiramisu.

CRES ISLAND, VALUN, AND THE BLUE CAVE

One of the best days of the trip was heading off by speedboat to the islands, starting from the family-friendly town of Rabac.

Pictured below - happy faces of my family members.

We visited Valun town, which is part of Cres island, and had a great meal at Na Moru, a 150-year-old family run restaurant perched by crystal blue-green waters overlooking a harbor of dozens of baots, where everything we ordered – a 1.4kg lobster, fish platter, spaghetti, chocolate and vanilla gelato – tasted amazing.

Later on, our boat skipper took us to a secluded beach where we leapt into the glistening sea, and swam our way to the pitch-black cave entrance and were guided by the sound of each other’s voices through a narrow opening with rocks jutting overhead when it suddenly opened up to an atrium bathed in a glowing blue light from the ocean.

TRGET

About a 15 minute drive from our Airbnb at Labin, we reached there close to the twilight hour, and set against the dusty salmon pink sky, there was little town filled with twinkling lights by the ocean.

I remember writing in my journal: “Paradise is stumbling on little coastal towns tucked at the foothills during the twilight hour, locals enjoying their wine and evening meal on the decks of their boats, totally carefree and with all the time in the world to spare

BACK TO DEUTSCHLAND

All too soon, we bade farewell to Croatia, and to get to our final Airbnb at DieBen am Amersee, a farmhouse on the outskirts of Munich in the country, we drove almost six hours, an arduous journey crossing through four countries of Croatia, Slovenia, Austria and Germany.

While driving towards the Croatian border, we happened to spot this signboard which said ‘truffle’, and we took a detour to this town called Buzet, which we later discovered is famous for being a “truffle town” and visited the shop Zigante Tartufi where we did truffle tasting! I discovered some fun facts about truffle as well. Did you know that the white truffle is a “spontaneous” plant: there are no truffle farms nor can they grow in all types of soil? Also, contrary to truffle pigs, trained dogs are mostly used now for hunting. The truffle is also called the kitchen diamond, the black queen, the fragrant nugget and the black pearl. Lastly, one of my favourites…. In the Middle Ages, monks were forbidden to eat truffles for fear they would forget their vocation!

In the last few days of our trip, we took a day trip to the Bavarian town of Landsberg am Lech, which proved to be pretty lively. Snapped up loads of Rittersport chocs, bought some Muller yogurt and practiced my German.

And soon, it was over! Auf Wiedersehen, till next time.