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Croatia - Day 1

Travel diary, Day 1 - BAŠKA, KRK, OPATIJA

Travel diary, Day 1

I woke up on the bus as it began to curve and take sharp turns, now to the right, now to the left. Through the window, in the early twilight, one could barely make out the grey mountain ridges. On the morning of 7 August this year, at around 6:00, we set foot on Croatian soil for the first time. Slightly stiff, not quite rested, but looking around with curiosity. It turned out we had arrived at the southernmost tip of KRK island - BAŠKA. Starting with the very name of the little town and ending with the peculiar narrow streets with equally small cars parked along their edges, the feeling arose of something so foreign yet at the same time something imagined many times over on the theme of "who lives on that side of the world."

Some followed the group leader's invitation for a morning swim, others for a stroll and morning coffee. As the morning was fairly damp, we opted for the second choice, but driven by curiosity we headed toward the waters visible in the distance. And then we saw it - the Adriatic Sea with its incredibly crystal-clear water. Its salinity turns out to be twice that of the Black Sea.

What could be better than a view of the sea, the mountains and morning coffee?! So we spent about an hour, eyes fixed on the marina, enjoying the fresh morning air and, of course, a kava mleko.

Our path then led onward to the town of KRK itself. And there you have it - sunny Croatia - as a cold, dreary rain began to drizzle. The grey mountains wrapped themselves in an even greyer haze. Plans had to be changed, but it turns out that setting out to sea on a little pirate boat is just as exciting in the rain. The captain, instead of traditional rum, offered šljivovica.

We stepped ashore on a small island. There stood an ancient monastery building with a church, a cloister garden and monks' graves. Still active, though it appeared very much oriented toward tourists. In the monastery museum we viewed various craft works: clay jugs, painted plates, also examples of ancient manuscripts, etc. A stone wall encircled the island from one end to the other. In the monastery garden, an air of medieval antiquity - palms, stone-laid paths.

Returning by boat to the town, the view opened up onto the walls of KRK city, lapped and ceaselessly worn by the sea water. The grey stone harmonised nicely with the bright orange tile roofs, so familiar to a Riga eye.
And then on the road again. This time I watched carefully how skilfully the drivers navigated the sharp mountain roads. They wound the whole time along a steep mountain ridge, leaving the waters of the bay on the other side. An expanse and mountain grandeur unfamiliar to a Latvian.

In places the road's edge disappeared and we were already somewhere above the sheer cliff, above the smooth mirror of the Adriatic Sea.

But down below, the calm life of a seaside town continued.

OPATIJA - the town where we settled at a hotel for the night - was not quite so quiet and peaceful, thanks to the large number of tourists. Essentially this town consisted mainly of its many hotels, restaurants, cafés and souvenir shops. What surprised us was the great number of pizzerias and fast food eateries. We had been hoping for small fish or seafood restaurants.

The town was made magnificent by clusters of palms, well-tended flower labyrinths, small parks with various unfamiliar trees and laurel trees serving as hedges.