In my last post of 2009, I did promise to start blogging again about ex-pat life in the Czech Republic rather than our October journey to Turkey and back. However, this afternoon, I had a brainwave as to how I could produce a map that I could put online to show our journey. So here it is! I hope it will help readers understand better my previous twenty-one posts about our trip.
Št’astný nový rok! Happy New Year!
When I wrote my first blog post about travelling to Asia and back which I posted on 30th October 2009, three days after our return to Prague, I promised to write about our trip ‘over the next few weeks…….’ As you can see, I was somewhat optimistic – it has taken me just over two months rather than a few weeks! But here on the last day of 2009 is my twenty-first and last post about our journey of 4,500 miles/7,200 kilometres, through twelve countries over a period of twenty-three days. Once this is posted, I shall return to writing about Church and expat life in Prague, something I’ve only done twice in the last two months on my blog.
We explored Trogir in the bright morning sunshine of Sunday 25th October before setting out to drive some serious kilometres in order to complete the journey home to Prague in two days. Initially, we continued driving along the main coastal highway reaching Premošten, the furthest south we had travelled in Croatia during our July holiday. Then it was on to nearby Šibenik where we left the coastal highway for the nearby motorway which runs parallel to the coast but some distance further inland. We rejoined the coastal highway north of Zadar where the motorway heads off further inland towards Zagreb.
After lunch, we drove further up the Croatian coastal highway with splendid views across to the offshore islands of Pag, Rab, and Krk. Then it was back onto another motorway which took us around the port city of Rijeka and on into the hills and to the Croatia – Slovenia border.
On the Slovenian side, we were most surprised to be waved across the border without even a cursory look at our passports bearing in mind this is the border of the Schengen area. The whole idea of the Schengen agreement is that thorough checks are carried out as people enter the Schengen area so that no checks need to be made at borders within the area. But if checks aren’t carried out at the border…….! Clearly we looked middle-aged and non-threatening!
We were only in Slovenia, (country number ten on our travels), for a relatively short time before we entered country number eleven, Italy. Here we headed downhill back to the Adriatic coast and into the city of Trieste where we stayed overnight.
The following day, we finally had to bid farewell to the sea as we headed northwards inland towards the Alps. One of the few disadvantages of living in Prague is that it is so far from the sea! We travelled via the Italian autostrade past Udine and up into the mountains to the Austrian border. Here we bought our final vignette, this time for the Austrian autobahnen. We then drove past Villach, Salzburg and Linz right across Austria, eventually reaching the small town of Freistadt where we had stayed on the first night of our journey to Croatia in July 2009 and where we stayed once more on the last night of our journey to Asia and back. Early the following afternoon, Tuesday 27th October, we arrived safely back at our Chaplaincy flat in Prague.
It was a most wonderful trip and our only regret is the number of places we had to drive by without the time to explore them. Looking back, on a few days, we were in the car for a bit longer than we would have liked to have been. I must admit to have forgotten how big Turkey is! But needing to attend the Synod meeting in Izmir, it was a travel opportunity not to be missed. In particular, it was fascinating for me to re-visit places nearly thirty-five years after my first visit and for Sybille to see them for the first time.
About 30 km along the coast to the west of Split is the gorgeous and tiny medieval walled town of Trogir. It is situated on a small island that lies in the channel separating the Croatian mainland from the larger island of Ciovo. (There should be a hacek over the ‘C’ but most web browsers won’t cope if I put one in!) There is a road bridge linking Trogir to the mainland and another one linking Trogir with Ciovo.
Trogir is littered with Romanesque and Renaissance architecture, the result of many years of Venetian rule. Chief amongst its many glories is the Cathedral of St. Lovro with another exceedingly tall bell tower. The Romanesque portal dating from 1240 features some amazing intricate carving as can be seen in the photograph of the Tympanum below.
The pillars on either side of the doorway have a carved lion (the symbol of Venice), above which Adam and Eve are depicted. These are very similar to carvings either side of the door of the Cathedral of St. James at Šibenik that I featured in an earlier blog post about our trip there in July.
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Wandering around the streets and alleyways of the old town, there are architectural delights to see at every turn. Below are two examples – the Town Hall and another Church whose dedication I was unable to ascertain.
On the evening of Friday 23rd October, we arrived in Split on the central Dalmatian coast of Croatia. This followed a day of driving through some of the heaviest rain I’ve experienced in a very long time. Our ferry crossing took place with only a few spots of rain falling. But as we passed through Herceg Novi and headed towards the Montenegro – Croatia border, it started raining with a vengeance. As a result, we drove past the wonderful historic Croatian city of Dubrovnik, only just able to make it out in the near distance through the heavy rain and mist.
Our journey through the driving rain along the Adriatic coast was also notable for taking us into the ninth different country of our trip. For 10 km, the main coastal highway passes into Bosnia-Herzegovina and through the town of Neum before passing back out into Croatia again. Finally, in the late afternoon as we approached Split, the constant rain started to ease, very much in line with the BBC online weather forecast we had looked at the previous evening.
Split is the second-largest city in Croatia after the capital Zagreb. It is also an important port and ferry port. However, probably its greatest claim to fame is being the location of one of the most imposing Roman ruins still in existence – the Emperor Diocletian’s Palace. But the palace is not a museum. Instead, it is the living heart of the city, consisting of a whole network of interconnected alleyways and squares containing shops, restaurants and bars, as well as the Cathedral of St. Domnius with its wonderful Romanesque bell tower. The B&B Kašel 1700, where we stayed for two nights, also lies within the palace, just inside the Southern Gate.
On my 1975 coach trip, I had stopped off in Split for no more than half an hour which had therefore only allowed me a very cursory glance at this amazing Roman ruin. This time, because of staying for two nights, we had the whole of Saturday 24th October to explore and take in the atmosphere of the vibrant historic city centre. And after all the rain of the two previous days, our full day in Split was spent once more enjoying fine and sunny weather.
From my brief April 1975 visit, I have precisely two pictures. However, by sheer coincidence, I took pictures of the same ancient buildings from similar positions during my October 2009 visit. As with the previous examples that I have already posted from Cappadocia and Montenegro, it is fascinating to see how little has changed in nearly 35 years.
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I hope that the map above will help to indicate the considerable indentation the Bay of Kotor makes to the coast of Montenegro as well as helping readers locate places mentioned in my previous post. What it also shows is the problem facing anyone wanting to drive along the coast road in a relatively straight line. – You can’t!!!
Fortunately, between Lepetane, (5 km northwest of Tivat) and Kamenari, (about 2km east of Bijela), there is a regular car ferry service across the narrowest point of the entrance channel leading into the Bay of Kotor. I gather there is a plan, at some future date, to build a bridge here. In the mean time a number of car ferries ply their way back and forth across the channel. Unless you use the ferry service, you are left with a scenic but very long and windy drive all around the bay!
With the BBC internet weather forecast warning of two further days of wind and rain if we were to remain staying around the Bay of Kotor, on the morning of Friday 23rd October, we reluctantly decided to set off and drive much further north in order to find better weather for the last few days of our holiday. So we drove from our hotel at Prcanj, along the narrow coastal road that leads to the ferry terminal at Lepetane.
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When travelling along the Adriatic coast road in April 1975, the coach party I travelled with also used this same ferry crossing. Above is an interesting comparison of how car ferry transport has changed in 35 years!
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I should really have written ‘vehicular ferry transport’ for in 1975 it was mainly trucks and coaches with relatively few private cars. Now in 2009, trucks and coaches use a larger ferry specifically designated for them, seen on the left in this picture, whilst cars use the slightly smaller vessels like the one on the right. |
What have changed very little in 35 years are the buildings around the ferry terminal at Kamenari. The picture below looks across to the same buildings that appear between the two ferries in the picture above.
