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We met a couple in their thirties, from Dallas Texas, this evening at the cruise opening diner. Eventually, near the end of the diner, politics came up in the discussions. Nowadays, it’s a tricky subject and we don’t force it outselves. We quickly discovered that they were anti-Trump and very caution about the Democrats too. It’s refreshing to meet people coming from those areas of the US that shares some of our views about the US, politics and general values. I’m French Canadian, mind you.
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Travel update #13: Bye Bye Split, Let’s Do Another Cruise to Dubrovnik!
Today was our last day in Split, Croatia. We strolled through the streets of Split once again and had breakfast at the “Bepa” restaurant, which is accessible from one of the public squares. Once again, we ate very well. However, the prices for food are even higher than we expected. We’re coming to the conclusion that traveling in Croatia is almost as expensive as traveling in countries like Italy!
Today also marks the beginning of a short cruise that will allow us to visit the islands of Korčula and Mljet before arriving in Dubrovnik, our last stop before returning to Canada. We still have many beautiful things to discover, fortunately. I don’t know if it’s a good sign or not, but the early experiences from the beginning of our trip already feel distant.
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Travel update #12: Visiting Hvar, Bisevo, Vis Islands, Croatia
Once again, with a bit of delay, I’m sharing a new update on my trip to Croatia. Yesterday, the day was primarily spent on the waters in front of the city of Split. We took a small speedboat cruise to visit three beautiful large islands. The tour lasted more than ten hours. We also passed through the popular Blue Lagoon and visited a cave located on the island of Bisevo, where the turquoise water offers a surreal setting. It was absolutely magnificent. We had a mini lunch in Hvar and spent two lovely hours there, strolling and enjoying this beautiful place. A fishing village welcomed us. Fishing is still practiced there, but tourism is by far the largest economic activity. The architecture of the buildings is similar to what is found throughout the Croatian coast, with light stone buildings and terracotta-tiled roofs in shades of orange. This is also similar to what you find in Italy, by the way. We had a quite bumpy return to the coast as the sea was much more agitated than in early morning. It was quite an experience. Thankfully, the boat operator was experimented.
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Travel update #11: From Sibenik to Split, Croatia
Yesterday, I didn’t have time to write the daily update because it was a transition day by car to our next destination: Split in Croatia. Of course, we took advantage of our route to stop in Trogir to visit and have lunch there. It was our last stop by car as we had to leave it at the airport in the suburbs of Trogir. From now on, we will take a boat. More details to come on that.
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Travel update #10: Sibenik Take #2, Croatia
Once again, what a beautiful day we had in Sibenik. The main objective today was to visit the three forts of the city, which offer a splendid view of the town and the islands off the coast. The weather was magnificent even though storm cells were threatening the region. Fortunately, we were spared from rain and lightning!
We visited the three forts, which were overall interesting but are mainly worth visiting for the views they offer. We took advantage of the occasion to have a picnic at lunchtime while the wind was blowing moderately across the area. It was pleasant to hear the wind rustling through the trees, mostly mature pines.
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My next trip to the US is to see a Sting show in New York in October. After that, I’m not planning to visit the US for at least five years. I refuse to visit totalitarian states. Fuck #Trump. Fuck those who supports this buffoon and clown.
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On My Writing Style As a Traveler
As you probably know, I’ve been writing and sharing my travel notes since the beginning of my trip to Croatia. I’m proud of maintaining the regularity to post each day, but not as proud of my writing itself. I can’t quite describe the quality of my writing, but when I read it back, it feels rather superficial. Why do I feel this way?
Well, my writing tends to list the places I visited and whether I liked them. But I almost always fail to explain why I loved visiting them. Take yesterday’s travel update, for example: I wrote that I fell in love with Sibenik and shared a photo of banners adorned with children’s drawings. What exactly resonated with me in this place? What were my emotions when I entered the narrow streets of the village and first saw the banners everywhere? It was surprising—the children’s drawings added a contrast to the old buildings’ walls, giving the city a sense of humanity. And you know what? It was the children’s festival! It’s a great way to celebrate humanity.
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Travel update #9: Krka National Park & Sibenik, Croatia
It’s been a day with ups and downs. We left the apartment at around 10:30 AM in direction of the Krka National Park, 45-minute drive to see some other waterfalls and translucide lakes. The first part of the visit was really nice because it was like a repeat of the other visit to the national park that we visited earlier in the week with great waterfalls and gorgeous lakes with transparent blue water. Unlike the first national park, this time, it was much more crowded to a point of being unpleasant at some point because we had to wait for people to finish their selfies. 🤨
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Croatian national park entrance fees are kind of steep but I appreciate the quality of the installations and general maintenance of the parks something that cannot be said of every national parks. 👌🏻
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Travel update #8: Kornati Islands, Croatia
Here’s today’s travel update. What a wonderful day we had, thanks to this day-cruise around the Kornati Islands, starting from Vodice’s port at 9 AM. We had lunch at around 11:30 AM, right before a 3-hour stop at one of the island (can’t remember the name!) where we could spend some time swimming at the beach or in a very salty small interior lake. I decided to go for the trail around the lake instead, a 2.2KM quick trekking. While the temperature at the village was expected to reach 33C during the day, weather on the sea was cooler and very nice, with very little wind, except in the trail where the temperature probably reached more than 30C with partially shaded trail sections, thanks to tall pine trees. A bit scary discovery: while walking the trail in the forest, I encountered many big spider nets at about fifteen feet high each with a gigantic spider standing right in the middle, waiting for the next prey. It was a bit scary and disgusting, not my favourite thing to see. Overall, it was a great day.
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Travel update #7: Vodice’s Beaches, Croatia
We didn’t do much today: taking our time early in the morning when preparing and having breakfast and then spending time on the beach and relaxing. I did some writing too, from my iPhone while sitting on my sunbathing chair. It’s far from being ideal for writing longer posts but it is what it is. I had some thoughts to share about AI, generative AI more specifically (like this thought, this one and that one).
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Travel update #6: Zadar + Vodice, Croatia
Today we left for Zadar and Vodice where we will stay for five days in a small apartment. We arrived at noon in Zadar and had a nice picnic in a small park, under the shade of big trees. It was a quiet place and we wondered about how few tourists seem to be present since we arrived in Croatia. It might not be peak season just yet. We spent nearly three hours in Zadar, a great coastal city of Croatia, to walk in the city’s small streets behind the fortified perimeter. It felt a bit hot even for a coastal city, yet the weather was splendid. We saw (and heard) the sea organ and we were pleased by the sound of it.
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Travel update #5: Rastoke, Croatia
Earlier this morning, the weather was better than yesterday, so we decided to revisit Plitvicka Jezera National Park. The improved lighting allowed us to better appreciate the lake’s renowned blue and green hues, and there were fewer tourists. However, we didn’t stay as long as our previous visit because we wanted to explore a small village called Rastoke. This village, known for its charming houses and numerous waterfalls, was highly recommended by our host. We enjoyed a picnic there before exploring, and we were not disappointed; the place was delightful.
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Travel update #4: Plitvicka Jezera Nation Park, Croatia
We left Zagreb today to go visit the Plitvicka Jezera national park. it was a two hour drive from Zagreb. After a nice and smooth ride we arrived at around 11:15 AM in the park ready to tackle the 4-6 hour circuit. Boy this place is wonderful! It took us about four hours. We had a rain shower or two but each time we were lucky to be at the right place either on the boat or in the forest so we didn’t get wet! Lucky me because I wasn’t ready for rain with my unprotected photo equipment. Speaking of photography, I don’t know how many shots I did but I’m pretty sure there are a few quite impressive with such natural surroundings. I can’t wait to process those images.
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