Sunday, February 9, 2014

Croatian New Year

As usual, it's taken me longer than usual to get around to updating this.  Well, I guess it happens enough that it really isn't longer than usual, it's just usual.  Time to admit that parenthood means less frequent blog posts.  Of course, all the work related to the Sochi Olympics hasn't helped, but more on that in another post.  For now I want to catch up on our New Year's trip to Croatia.

We started out by leaving late and barely made the train to the airport, but  a last minute dash got us through the doors just before it departed.  The travel couldn't have been better after that.  We had the smoothest check-in process ever and then Aiden slept for almost the entire flight.  The airport in Zagreb is tiny so we had our bags and were through passport control in less than 15 minutes.  Not long after that we were able to catch a bus into town.  It was a nice coach bus and the driver was so startlingly friendly (particularly when compared to the typically surly service in Russia) that I initially wondered if there was going to be a catch - like an extra $30 charge at the end.  But no, Croatians are just generally friendly and helpful!

We got to our hotel, which was very nice - we splurged a bit since our itinerary required us to spend two nights on a train - and then headed out to find lunch.




The first thing we discovered is that there is a strong Italian influence in Croatian cuisine.  It shouldn't be surprising given the proximity, but being as Croatia is slavic (slavic enough that I could understand a fair amount of the language), it was an odd juxtaposition.  We found a wonderful lunch in a brick vaulted basement and enjoyed smoked duck breast, pumpkin gnocchi, and some wonderful dark beer.



So we were off to a good start, but had a bit of a scare shortly thereafter.  Part of our plan was to spend a few days on the coast, which was most easily reached by train.  The choice was between a 6 hour train ride during the day or an 8 hour ride over night. With Aiden, the overnight seemed the easiest option.  So I made sure that the train was running on New Year's Eve and made our hotel reservations accordingly.  But when I got to the train station, the lady told me there was no overnight train on New Year's Eve - insisted that was so, even though I had an e-mail from customer service saying there would be one.  Desperate, but not defeated, I went to the customer service center, where a nice lady said that of course there would be a train.  She even sent a man with me to the ticket counter to make sure there was no further confusion.  It was likely a language problem, but it didn't really matter.  I got the tickets and with a sigh of relief went back to the hotel to get Aiden and Stephanie to go sightseeing.

It was overcast, but significantly warmer than Moscow, so we enjoyed ourselves.  Zagreb has beautiful architecture.  It's amazing to think that it was less than 20 miles from the front lines of the war with Serbia only 20 years ago.






We made our way around town into the evening, when all the lights came on and stopped at a nice restaurant with a fairy tale theme to enjoy some traditional Croatian food like strukli, which is sort of a twist on mac'n cheese, but so much more delicious.

We also enjoyed the advent markets, that run all the way until New Years.  They feature all kinds of festive treats like hot chestnuts, mulled wine, rum punch, sausages, and more.  There was even a stand that sold chocolate that had been made to look like rusted tools and pieces of metal.




By the time we got back to the hotel, it had been a very long day.  Despite being only a three hour flight from Moscow, there was a three hour time difference so it was past midnight by our clock when we went to bed.  Aiden was so far gone he didn't even wake up when we changed him into his pajamas.

After a good nights sleep we went down for a wonderful breakfast including local sausages and more strukli!  Plus there was a Croatian breakfast item sort of like spatzel, that was very good.  So I guess you could say there is also a fair amount of Germanic influence in Croatia - also not surprising given the location.

Now the tricky part was that we needed to check out of the hotel that morning, but our train wasn't scheduled until 11 pm that night, leaving us a lot of time to fill outside on a rather chilly New Year's Eve.  There was still plenty to see, including the Zagreb Cathedral, which like most of the churches we visited, had live Christmas trees inside.




The day passed faster than we expected. We visited the Dulac market, which reminded me of Shrek and made us jealous with all the affordable fresh greens, which are unavailable in Moscow this time of year.  And really, we just enjoyed ourselves wandering the quaint streets of the upper town and taking in the view of the lower town.







In one square there were a couple of boys playing the saxophone, they looked about 11 or 12 years old.  It was mostly Christmas music, but then they suddenly started playing the Star Wars theme.  But it looked like they were racking up some good change in their instrument cases.

In the afternoon, we warmed up a bit and gave Aiden a thrill by riding around in the little blue tourist trolley that is shaped like a steam engine. He was so excited and we were glad to be warm!


Most business closed down early on New Year's Eve, including restaurants, so we decided to eat at the hotel given that they had a very nice dining room and told us they would be open.  We were a bit disappointed, however, to learn that the dining room was reserved for a private party and were shown to a very spare, very hot room in the back by the kitchen door.  In some respects it was probably for the best as Aiden could run around without bothering anyone and the food tasted just has good as it would have in the nice dining room.

After dinner we had to brave the cold for a few more hours.  There was a nice setup in  the park near our hotel with live music and lots of refreshment stands.   There were even other kids for him to run around with.


There were also firecrackers. Lots of them. Some quite large.  They were lobbed into the darkness by kids of all ages, many of them encouraged by their parents.  Apparently, as in Tajikistan, not enough people have had fingers blown off by handing explosive devices for them to consider limiting the sale and usage of such items by minors.  I suppose Croatia isn't a particularly high target for terrorism either, but after more than 10 years post 9-11, I don't think I'll ever be comfortable with unexpected explosions.   We decided to abandon the park and made our way to the main square where they were gearing up for the big countdown.  No firecrackers there.



 But eventually it was time to catch the train and we had to walk past the park. Firecrackers had given way to small fireworks, which were a bit better because at least you can see what they are.  The downside was that Aiden had fallen asleep and woke up as we were making our way to the station and he was not happy about it.

The conductor for the train was extremely friendly and helped us get our luggage on board, gave us night kits including toothbrushes and let us get settled.  I think we were the only ones in the sleeper car, so it was nice and quiet.  Once Aiden went back to sleep, Stephanie and I shared a small bottle of champagne at midnight and watched the fireworks over the countryside as we rode by.  All in all, it was a wonderful way to ring in the New Year.

We arrived in Split, on the Dalmatian coast just before sunrise.  It was warmer and beautiful, situated right on the water.  Split is very old, having originally been the site of a palace for a Roman emperor around the 3rd century AD.   The old town is built entirely within the walls of the palace, so everywhere you go, you are walking inside the ruins.  It's fascinating.


We dropped our bags off at our hotel but couldn't check in until 11 am.  They were nice enough to give us a free breakfast even though we just arrived.  The hotel was located just outside the western gate of the palace and we passed through on our way to breakfast to be greeted by the sight of the city cathedral and campanile.  What a welcome!



The campanile is only a couple hundred years old, but the cathedral inhabits the mausoleum of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who had the palace constructed.   There are still columns and arches everywhere and the vestibule of the private quarters of the palace  looks much as it would have originally. What history!  Breakfast wasn't available for a bit so we walked around.  Everything was nice until we stumbled upon a man sitting on one of the old roman walls, apparently relieving himself.  Of course, that only made Aiden want to climb all over that same wall for the rest of our time in Split.  Needless to say, we didn't let him climb that one or any other.

Breakfast was great and we headed out to explore a bit.  Even aside from the original Roman structure, wealthy families over the centuries built their own little palaces within the walls, so there is lots to gawk at while walking through the narrow streets.  There are even sphinxes that the Romans brought in from Egypt, it's like having free reign in a living historical museum.  And as a bonus, we were there in the off season so it was not crowded at all and we were able to give Aiden lots of freedom to explore on his own (as long as we could see he wasn't climbing any walls.




Once we were able to check into the hotel, we let Aiden take a nap.  When the church bells rang for about 15 minutes at noon I thought he would wake up, but he slept for a good long while. We did some more exploring after that and then went for dinner.  We enjoyed a local pizza with seafood and olives along with their specialty of black risotto (black from cuttlefish ink), not to mention some nice local red wine.  What luxury - and for half the price of a meal out in Moscow.  It's funny, after all this time, we're having reverse sticker shop when faced with reasonable prices.


The town at night is, if possible, even  more magical at night and it was hard to go back to the hotel.


For a minute I actually thought this statue was some kind of sorcerer, but it's actually Gregory of Nin, a medieval bishop who opposed the pope and introduced the national Croatian language into church services.  He stands guard outside the golden gate to the city.


One thing I had been nervously watching in the lead up to our departure was the weather forecast.  The closer the trip got, the worst the forecast.  The day before we were supposed to leave, the forecast was for rain everyday and we had actually thought about cancelling the trip, but we wouldn't have been able to get a refund.  Luckily the forecast was extremely wrong and it never rained.  The weather actually got better each day.

On our second day, we got up early and caught a ferry to Stari Grad (old town) on the island of Hvar.  It was a beautiful way to see the nearby islands and Aiden was excited to go on the boat.


As we arrived at the port in Hvar, we could see the town at the head of the harbor through the mist and could see the bottom of the sea even a fair way from sure.



We enjoyed a nice walk along a little paved road by the cost until we came into the town proper, which was very quaint. We checked in at the visitors center and started seeing the sights.  Stari Grad was even more deserted than Split, but that kind of added to the mystery.



Like Split, or maybe even more so, Stari Grad has a long history.  It's still possible to see Roman era carvings along the road, but more impressive, are the remains of the ancient Greek city of Pharos.  Seeing the extent of these empires in textbooks is never quite the same as seeing the evidence of their presence in such far flung places.



Most of the restaurants are closed, although some funny signs were still up.  It didn't make a whole lot of difference to me as I was having some stomach trouble that day - it really caught me by surprise because not much has been able to affect me since my time in Tajikistan.  Luckily that same experience taught me what to do in such circumstances and I was just fine.


One thing that hasn't come to Croatia is the idea of no smoking in restaurants, or even non-smoking sections in restaurants.  One person told us that it's technically against the law to smoke indoors, but that after a year or so, people stopped paying attention to that.  Lucky for us, the sun came out and it was warm enough for us to sit outside.  Stephanie had a nice octopus salad and I had a clear fish soup that was both tasty and gentle on the stomach. 

Our return ferry wasn't scheduled until 5:30pm, so after lunch we took a bus ride to the town of Hvar on the other side of the island. It was a lovely town with a beautiful harbor full of boats and we enjoyed exploring it as the sun set. 





When it was time to go home, the bus we came in on was full.  The driver didn't speak English, but told us "OK" and put us on a coach bus with a driver who also did not speak English.  I was pretty sure I had explained successfully that we needed to catch the ferry - it was the last one of the day - so we went with it and got to the ferry right on time.  When we got back we went to a restaurant recommended by our hotel and had some of the best grilled squid I've ever tasted.

We dedicated the next day to seeing more of Split itself, starting with the inside of the Cathedral, which had a neat mix of Roman architecture and early Christian decor.


Then we climbed the campanile, which was actually somewhat terrifying because unlike most where the stairs wind up a central column, this one had stairs going around the inside of the walls so you could see straight down the center.  Further up, the stone stairs gave way to open grill work, which was even scarier, but the views were worth it.


From there we visited a former temple of Zeus that was converted to a church.



Then we were able to walk through the vestibule of the palace and take in the views that would have greeted the emperor from his apartments.  Well, sort of.  Based on the older paintings of the palace, it looks like it was originally built closer to the edge of the water so that the basements led right down to the sea.  I guess either the water level receded in time, or the city was built out into the water over time because now there is a broad promenade between the walls and the water.

For lunch, we went to the bazaar to get some local flavor.  The variety of produce was very exciting after the limited selection in Moscow. We were particularly hoping to find soparnik, a thin pastry filled with swiss chard, but apparently it sells out earlier.


Instead, we got some famous Dalmatian ham, local cheese, and some interesting berries that I still haven't been able to identify, along with some other fresh produce and bread.  It was a delicious meal. After naptime, we spent another nice evening walking the narrow streets and enjoyed a nice dinner on one of the main squares before heading to bed.

Hard to believe as it was, the next day was our last day in Split.  Once again, we had a fairly early checkout and a very late train, so we had a lot of time to manage.  We wrapped up our sightseeing in Split in the morning and Aiden got very excited about putting coins in the case of some local musicians.


We lucked out and found some Soparnik and got some more food from the bazaar before getting on a ferry to the island of Supetar (which made me want to keep throwing my hands up and shout "Superstar!").  It was a beautiful day with a strong breeze, so there were lots of sailboats on the water.



Supetar is closer in than Hvar, so our trip mostly ran along the coast, which is quite stunning...



Supetar is smaller than Stari Grad so we didn't even plan to eat there.  In fact, there were only a couple hours between the ferries, so we made a fairly quick tour of it.



Stephanie decided to take Aiden to a playground while I walked along the coast to see the local cemetery, which is more interesting than it sounds and provided some good views across the little bay to the town.





On the map, it said that near there were the ruins of a Roman villa, but the closest approximation I found was a square pile of stones, which was unmarked.  I like to think I found it, and if I'm wrong I'll probably never know.

Back in Split, we splurged on a nice seafood dinner complete with more grilled squid, and then made our way to the train for the overnight trip back to Split.  The train arrived at 6 am and our flight wasn't until 11 so I had arranged to have breakfast at the hotel we stayed at in Zagreb so that we could have one more helping of strukli before leaving and it was well worth it.  We even got to eat in the fancy dining room because the breakfast room was being renovated.


It was a bit sad to leave, because the more time we spent in Croatia, the more I learned about how much there is to see there. Maybe another time. We had a smooth trip home and a lot of good memories - and less than 3 months to go in Moscow, but I'll have more on how we're spending that time later...

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