Dalmatia Riviera

Our town Kastela
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After a 20+ hour bus ride and the lone american on the bus making people wait while he had to get his passport punched we arrived in Kastela, Croatia.   The weather is not what I expected, it was cloudy and raining.  It was suppose to be 80 and sunny all week so I could enjoy some seaside fun.  We arrived at our hotel right which was located on the beach.  The hotel looked like it was a 4 star hotel in the 70's but the problem was it had not been updated since the 70's.  Now it was only a 2 star but was better then some of the hostels I have been staying in.  The first thing Ania and I do is to tour the local area and walk along the beach.  The area we were staying in was right between 2 major areas.  Split which is the 2nd largest city in Croatia and Trogir which is a popular tourist destination.   In between the two cities was a bunch of little villages in which our hotel was located.   I started to like our location for our visit.  We were close to two major tourist places but didn't have the higher prices.  There were nice beaches and cafes along the seaside near our hotel.  It was a perfect location for our travels. In the background were high mountains that emptied right into the sea.   The first thing that needed to be done was a decent meal for the both of us.  We found this "fast food" place that had good prices.  I order the cheeseburger but figuring it was nothing like the ones in the states.  I was right, it was a large pita type roll, with seasoned lamb meat topped with mayo and ketchup, the toppings were cabbage, tomato, egg, and local cheese.  It was better than any burger I would of found in the states.  Lucky for us we only had to get lunch, breakfast and dinner were provided by the hotel.  The food in the hotel was at Mich Tech dorm quality but it was part of the price so we ate it.

Rub the toe for good luck
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The next day we jump on the bus to Split.  Split has a old city that has some things dating back to Roman times.  Most of it that remains comes from the 1500.  We climbed the bell tower and got an excellent view of the city.  We stepped outside the bell tower at just the right time as the bells started to chime.  The people behind us weren't as lucky as they got their bell's rung.  The weather was perfect, just like I was hoping it would be in Croatia.  We tour the city and after lunch we wanted to head back to take advantage of the weather.  We were able to start our tans before clouds moved in.

In the background were high mountains that emptied right into the sea.

City of Split
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Our second day we headed to Trogir.  Trogir also has Roman roots but most of the city is from he medieval times.  It covers an entire little island with the city's wall going around the entire length of the island.  Trogir had no cars inside the city and the narrow streets and old buildings set you back in time.  Along the island there were some large yachts docked. I think that cruising the Croatian Coast would be a great vacation.  If you see all the beautiful islands and coastline they have you would skip Italy or Spain and go there.   I think it would of been tons of fun exploring the islands with your own boat.

Trogir old town
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On the third day we rented a car to head to Dubrovnik.  Everywhere you read about the city it is said that it is the gem of Croatia.  We took our little French car the 230 km trip.  Originally we measured it about 170 km by the map but the road curves on the side of mountains along the coastline all the way there.  there were breath taking views on the drive and it was pleasant drive. It ended up being a 4 hour trip.  I even got to go through Bosnia and Herzogvina.  When we finally got there we got to see a wonderful city.  Debrief has a large wall that circles the entire old town.  The best part of the visit is when we got to walk around the city on top of the wall.  We got to see the entire city and beautiful coastline from there.   Before it got to late we wanted to find a nice beach to swim and tan.   As we headed home we stopped at some roadside stands to get strawberries and cherries.  They had some homemade alcohol and wine in 2 liter pop bottles.  There were many different flavors.  I tried cherry and apricot liquor.

Dubrovnik city wall
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The next three days we decided enough sightseeing and time to work on the tan.  The weather turned bad one day but the others were nice and sunny.  On Saturday we left for Poland.

I would have to say I enjoyed Croatia.  I think I just got a tiny bit of what it has to offer.  I would like to go back a cruise the islands and enjoy the sea more.  I didn't get to go out on a boat or do any fishing.   The water was cold to do snorkeling and swimming.  Also Croatia is still recovering from the war and doesn't have all the conveniences that most tourist need.  I would still recommend that if you have a chance go visit a different part of the world in Croatia.

Now a few days rest before a Polish wedding.  See all the pictures from croatia:

http://photos.yahoo.com/moose127