In mid-October 2024, my dog and I went on a trip to the Croatian islands. What was planned as a vacation after a hectic summer, and the whole year, unfolded into a small odyssey. But because I’m a woman, Slovenian (with Croatian and Ukrainian ancestors), I live in the 21st century and I don’t have time for 10 years, I can’t name a 14-day ‘road trip’ in the company of a one-and-a-half-year-old white Swiss shepherd after a Greek hero – that’s why a new word coinage appeared: ‘oneyada’.
From Slovenia, we traveled through Croatian Istria to heal, relax and move away from people and consumer society … Instead of a veterinarian, because Tara began to suffer from some kind of allergy, or the already experienced feverish search for a job and a new home (the owner sold the rental apartment, and the end of cooperation with the language school was also indicated), this time I chose something different…
“Rooted in the Julian Alps, Istria stands upright, symmetrical, like treetops. At the bottom, with the Gulf of Trieste on one side and the lonely Čičarija on the other side of the trunk, the crown of the Istrian tree of life is the widest. These two lower branches represent the foundation of the wisdom and primordial forces of Istria (Čičarija – primordial, almost uninhabited, a kind of storehouse of the primordial forces of Gaia, from where the life-energy organism of Istria is supplied)…” (Medvešek: Slovenia Miraculous, Mysterious Istria)
We drove to the first island, Krk, via the Krk Bridge (formerly Tito’s Bridge), which was opened in the summer of the same year as the then Yugoslav president died in the spring, and in the fall my little me was born – i.e. in 1980.
Croatia has 1185 islands, but only Krk is called the Golden Island (Insula Aurea). Located in the center of the Kvarner Bay, it is adorned with a mild Mediterranean climate, a good geographical position and a variety of cultural and natural beauties, as well as the richness of land and sea. It is also called the cradle of Croatian culture, and at the beginning of the 20th century it was called the sixth continent.
The island is closely related to the number 7: the Croats inhabited it in the 7th century, it successfully defended itself against pirates seven times, the seventh Frankopan was the last prince of Krk, today’s golden island has 7 centers, and the legend associates the seven towns on Krk with seven deadly sins:
Dobrinj – pride, Omišalj – arrogance, Malinska – impurity, Poljica – anger, Krk – greediness, Baška – envy, Vrbnik – laziness.
I know most of the island from my teens and twenties, when I regularly vacationed in many tourist resorts as being ‘Dolenjka’ (woman living in Dolenjska – near Croatian border), but I haven’t been here for the last 15 years. So I was first positively surprised by the free crossing of the bridge, and then negatively by the crowd of shopping malls along the road.
First, we stopped in the capital of the island, actually a little bit further, at a campsite, where I spent quite an interesting days in the past. While walking towards the center of Krk, I noticed that tents have now been replaced by luxury mobile homes, the first rows by the sea are full even outside the tourist season, and puppies are obviously welcome here…
I put away my autumn jacket and wool sweater underneath, which protected me from the rain on the continent, and indulged in a quiet coffee in the camp. I was sorry that I had packed my summer sandals at the bottom of my suitcase, just in case, because it was a beautiful Indian summer with summer air and sea temperatures…
Then we drove to Baška, which, apart from a short stop before sailing to the surrounding islands, I haven’t explored yet. The road to Baška offers beautiful panoramic views of both, the sea and impressive mountain blocks, you have the feeling that you are driving into a completely different world… Most of the apartments, inns and pubs in the tourist town are obviously closed in the off-season, but you can still find something open (instead of about 30 bars on the promenade, only 2 or three), the dog beach is at the far right end of the promenade, and almost every corner is guarded by some sensible cat that isn’t shy or afraid of the tourist dogs.
If Tara’s allergy wouldn’t start to calm down, I planned to take her to the vet the next day, so I inquired and found out that the emergency – tourist variant – would only be possible in the city of Krk, but for bigger things you have to go to Rijeka.. 🙂
The fertile, green Baška Valley, surrounded by vineyards, figs and olive gardens, has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and got its current appearance in ancient times. Above the town stands the church of St. John with the oldest bell tower in this area (from 1431), a cemetery and a beautiful view …
The Baška Glagolitic Trail leads past the road – In the immediate vicinity of Baška, in the church of St. Anthony the first Croatian linguistic monument (Baška ploča) was found, so the town is considered the cradle of the Glagolitic alphabet in Croatia.
On the second day, after the morning climb to the church, in the afternoon we went to the most famous beach on Krk – Vela Luka beach. Although I was warned by many post online that the hike from in front of the fkk-camp Bunculuka was quite physically demanding, it turned out to be the longest 4 or 8 kilometers of my life. Most of the shepherd’s trail has really fantastic views, but it is also rocky with climbs or descends most of the time.
The restaurant, which was open during the season, was of course closed, the umbrellas and deck chairs were put away, and we were the only visitors to Vela Luka – next to the sailboat anchored in the bay. Half an hour of sitting on the soft sand and eating a sandwich was enough on my part to rest, which Tara didn’t need. I had to throw her rocks back and forth all the time for her to run, swim and jump around on an otherwise dogs not friendly beach.
The journey back accompanied by menacing clouds proved to be even more strenuous, so a year and a half of training: Don’t pull the leash! fell into the water – or rolled off the rocks. First, a juvenile shepherd dog cut her paw while chasing sheeps over the rocks, but that didn’t stop her from pulling the leash with all her strenght with me at the other end. And I admit, without it, I don’t know how I would have succeeded, although I probably have some physical conditioning with our daily 2-3 hour walks. The sin of envy obviously squeezes the last bits of power out of you …
Conclusion?
Returning to the Croatian coast after 8 years of abstinence, after 15 years revisiting this island, and exploring Baška and its surroundings turned out to be the right decision. After the hurricane weather in September, which cleared the entire Adriatic coast, the warm, although still occasionally cloudy and rainy (physically exhausting, but beautiful) welcome of the local nature turned out to be very beneficial. Tara’s scratching and biting began to subside, injured paw stopped bleeding, and my anxious psyche began to calm down, so the next (third) day we drove to the next island: Pag …
