On the road in Dalmatia

Pardon the interruption… I have been away from cheap Internet access for several days and have been a bit too busy to update. After three nights in Dubrovnik, we headed back north to Split to catch a car ferry to Brac, a nearby island in the Adriatic Sea. It was nice to see Split again, which, for some reasons, I prefer over Dubrovnik. While Dubrovnik is more picturesque and relaxing, Split has more character. Dubrovnik has history and style, but Split feels more youthful and simply more lived-in.

Bol, Croatia

On Brac, we drove to a beach resort town on the far side of the island called Bol. Bol initially sounded pretty remote, but once we got there it was immediately apparent how touristy the place was. The town features a jumble of outdoor restaurants, each with a band playing American rock music, a tiki bar and timeless coastal views. The famous, pointy beach, just a few minutes from the center of the town, is the main attraction. Bol seems to have money… a new walkway leads to the beach from town and the restaurant scene is expensive for a seemingly obscure location. The water was nice, so I swam for the first time on the trip, and continued working on what has become an impressive tan.

Synchronized windsurfing in Bol

After two nights in Bol, we decided we were a tired with the island scene. We boarded the Jadrolinija ferry back to Split and focused on motoring as far up the coast as possible. We spent our last night in Croatia camping outside Murter, a little town along the sea. It took almost an hour to find a campground that wasn’t swarming with 1973-issue German car campers, but eventually we found a nice plot with sea views at the right price.

Sunset in Murter, Croatia

Sometimes I wonder how Europeans put up with the craziness of their campgrounds — concrete and gravel villages packed to the gills with motor homes, trailers and giant tents, each with its own clothesline drying a half-dozen speedos. Some campgrounds have grocery stores, others have tennis courts, swimming pools and Tae-Bo lessons. Whatever happened to a nice flat spot under a tree, next to a lake, beyond spitting range — let alone earshot — of your neighbors? I guess it’s a treat enough just to be away from the city and relaxing in the great outdoors, never mind the fluorescent light coming from the next tent, or the kid down the way crying in an indistinguishable Slavic tongue. I suppose the scenery makes it worthwhile: From our dock on a bay of the Adriatic — and with the pleasant absence of city lights for the first time in a long while — the stars were out in full force — a wonderful goodbye to a country that thoroughly surprised me with its beauty and character.

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Last night we landed in Ljubljana, Slovenia, after a full day of driving along the rest of the Adriatic. The flora switch from Croatia to Slovenia (the “Switzerland of The East”) was drastic… less than 30 minutes after leaving a dry Croatian coastline, we were back in forested hills, ravines and pastoral countryside. So far, Slovenia is a nation of great smells: the drive varied from lavender to watermelon. Small — for a capital city, at least — and cosmopolitan, Ljubljana is clean, funky and surprisingly modern. The central pedestrian area of old town is bisected by a tree-lined river, illuminated with Seine-like floodlights — without the Bateaux Mouches — and generally very pretty. More exploring to do here, and then the Bled resort area in northwest Slovenia is next.