After a morning walk along the sandy beach of Baška, we headed towards Pag, another Croatian island inhabited in prehistoric times. The ride around the island Krk is beautiful, and the Adriatic highway is unforgettable in the off-season, including its northern part, so maybe it’s right to mention it here.
The Adriatic Highway, 1,006 kilometers long, was mostly built between 1955 and 1966 and runs from Trieste (Italy) all the way to Ulcinj in Montenegro. It was built by 6000 to 10000 workers, also with the help of the army, and about 300 engineers and architects… About 6.6 million cubic meters of rock and soil are supposed to be excavated, a little less than 5 million cubic meters of building materials are to be excavated, about 4.3 million square meters of asphalt are paved…
I agree with many drivers that this can be one of the most beautiful panoramic roads in the world because, on the one hand, there are beautiful views of the beautiful sea and islets, pines, fig trees, and high, steep rocks of Velebit (in the north – then Mosor, Biokovo) on the other hand, which call for many, almost hypnotic stops …
We interrupted the ride on one of the most demanding sections (Sinj – Starigrad with 700 curves) in Prizna and took a ferry to Pag. Tara spent her first 20 minutes on the Jadrolinija ferry, which allows dogs to travel for free. Though the rules require the wearing of a muzzle, a few sailors, and even fewer passengers, did not bother with it, all were happy to see her, and no one even mentioned the muzzle, that was ready and waiting in the bag. I was a little afraid of how she would behave for the first time actually at sea, but it was mild with us, practically no waves, there was no need to visit the interior, which is forbidden for big dogs, and she turned out to be a true sailor. 🙂
On Pag, we drove from the port in Žigljen along the Lun peninsula to its extreme north-western part – we visited the Lun Olive Gardens. Olives, as a symbol of peace, life, eternity, loyalty, health, learning, and wisdom, represent immortality, fertility, marriage, and abundance, while the olive leaf represents wealth, glory, and peace. On the website of the garden, it is said that the olive tree could only have been created with God’s help, so in myths, it was created by the gods, and in Christianity, it is a symbol of God’s transparency and care for God’s children: https://www.olive-gardens.eu/https://www.olive-gardens.eu/
The specialty of this beautiful park lies in the fact that on about 75 hectares there is the largest number of thousand-year-old wild olive trees located in one place. There are over 80,000 trees in the park, which are preserved in their original form and morphologically differ slightly in size, number of flowers, size, and shape of the leaf, and also the fruit itself. DNA analysis confirms the genetic diversity within the olive gardens, which means that every olive tree is a potentially new olive variety. Thus, the olive gardens are unique in the world, which even the more famous olive groves in Israel and Greece can not brag about.
In the off-season, there is no entrance fee, and my heart sang and played along with the many olive pickers who also sang beautifully during the manual picking. Thus, while walking among the millennial trunks, I did not listen to machine sounds, but to the sounds of talking and singing… And well … fought with many flies (so that not everything will look so perfect) … 🙂
The oldest olive tree in the olive garden is 2000 years old. For a long time, it was thought that two or three olive trees were grouped into the thickest trunk, but DNA analysis showed that it was actually only one trunk.
During our contact, I was overwhelmed by respect, a sense of eternity… In fact, during the entire 2-hour walk, I felt like a ‘young mule”. 🙂
I had different feelings about the second oldest olive tree in the grove, 1600 years old. After the introductory greeting, I first had to apologize to her because my attention was demanded by Tara. She disappeared somewhere chasing the sheep (which I didn’t know were present, otherwise I would have tied her to the leash) and returned only a few minutes later.
So I turned to this olive tree irritated, but I was surprised by the first thought when I walked up to her, asked her permission, and then hugged her: “Take a picture with me.” Okay, right. Obviously, she wants to present herself to the world, to be not only seen but also heard and understood. 🙂 I put my phone on a stone wall, roughly in the direction of the tree, but the impromptu photo turned out to be perfect. She further urged me to surrender to her bosom, and there, sitting on her trunk, with my eyes closed and breathing deeply, I found my inner peace again…
Which was interrupted again later that evening. While preparing dinner in a new apartment (with balcony and sea view, second row from the beach, 10 minutes walk to the center – out of season 40 €, no extra charge for a dog) in Novalja, I found out that my first boyfriend, with whom I shared my first kiss at the age of 11, had died. A sensitive soul was not able to live in this world, in childhood, a beautiful and (too) smart boy became an addict early on and remained so all his adult life … an addict and an outcast… He concluded his difficult journey at the age of 48.
Thus, throughout the sleepless night, I went from a dark, with regrets, accusations and sadness cunning mental state to a miraculous, peaceful, trusting, loving (with olives) … on the other side.
After a sleepless night, we walked past sandy beaches (in some areas I saw a sign that dogs are forbidden, but not everywhere) to the center of Novalja, got acquainted with many archaeological finds from ancient times, and we also found one open bakery, bar and a restaurant.
Fortunately, the friendly owner of the apartment house offered a free late check-out, so we were able to take a nap before departure, save a walk along the Pag Triangle for another time, and set off on another beautiful panoramic ride. This time to the south of the island, over the bridge, then along the Adriatic sea to Murter – and the sun with pleasant summer temperatures did not leave us until the end of the trip…
