Sunday 20 May 2012

Adriatic Croatia - My last PhD trip in Europe


My last trip in Europe during PhD was to Croatia* - a beautiful holiday destination with lots of Sea and the Sun and to add to that more and more beautiful people all around. Where else can you expect the host to come to receive you at the bus terminal and you reach ho(s)tel in chauffeur driven car at 6AM in the morning. The lady of the house then greets you with a traditional welcome drink -- honey and vintage liquor (may be) half as strong as Becherovka burning your throat -- What a way to start a day!!!

Ferpect (There is nothing perfect in this world) for a last minute travelers like me, one of the curious practices in Croatia is that you do not really have to book ho(s)tels etc. in advance. For one, you will have a lot of residents looking for travelers to offer them beds/rooms. Renting places and tourism is their major source of revenue. If you are unlucky to find none, I was informed that you are free to just knock on any door in the neighborhood and request them if they have a place to stay. Worse come worst, the residents will guide you to another neighbor and most likely you will get a bed at least.

With more than thousand islands, Croatia is one of those beautiful marvels that it becomes too difficult to imagine that the country was at loggerheads with neighboring Bosnia just a two decades ago and the war stories on the dinner table leave you shock shelled. 

For most prominent traveling destinations, there is a lot and lots to see. While The pearl of Adriatic -- Dubrovnik, described by G. B. Shaw as "Those who seek paradise on Earth should come to Dubrovnik and see Dubrovnik" should not be missed in any circumstances the tranquil park in Plitvice will certainly leave you far away from the mundane day to day routine that you will hate to come back. It's one of the decent places for adventurists too as there are quite a few water sports options to bask in. The passing beauty of the islands when you travel on roads close to Sea is simply mesmerizing and it would be a huge effort to give a break to your shutter. Here are a few shutter bugs...

Dubrovink - The pearl of Adriatic


Lokrum - An island close to Dubrovnik


Croatia - A country with more than thousand Islands


Pristine -- A natural cave in Lokrum

Plitvice Park water fall - small and sweet
   
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* By the way, Gary Kasparov travels to Croatia for vacation every summer. Not only he relaxes in the summer house with his entire family, he works on his Chess too. Being hugely optimistic, I was hopeful that an ounce of sand would be fly into my head to improve my Chess performance. Height of optimism :-) 

4 comments:

pranjali said...

Great travel writer!! Really enjoyed..keep writing spirit on.

Anonymous said...

Nice post and nice pics... now Crotia is on my travel list too :)

Jun said...

Somedays ago, just got back the contact with a friend from Croatia. She invited me to visit her before I leave Europe. I has been telling her since long time ago that I will visit her with my beloved boyfriend. Maybe this time I have to visit her alone. Hope beautiful place can clear aways all unclear thought. BTW, I was also a bloger before I met Daniele, I will become a bloger again. I will send you my blog one day.

sprightly said...

Ah, finally u are writing again! Good account and I agree with you, Dubrovnik not to be missed. In fact, we liked it so much that we extended our stay by one day! And so you confess, you are indeed a last minute planner! ;-)

This weekend I was looking through the photos from canary islands! Boy, we look much younger just 3 years ago, especially, you, Lei and Tiannan! Miss those wonderful days! :-)

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