Adriatic - where dreams come true
Tour bought in the company "Sakums". Holiday accommodation - Hotel Medena ***. Transit hotel - "Small Paradise" Zagreb. The leader of the group is Taras Kuziv.
The beginning of the tour was on September 6, the very end of the high season, which determines some specifics: since the school year has just begun, there were few people involved (children, students, their parents), mostly pensioners. In my group it was probably 70%. Actually, even walking along the promenade (promenade))) you see that the end of the season - some bars and cafes are closed, there are relatively few people. In the beginning, in the bar at the hotel, there was live music, but then it disappeared (.
The hotel itself is a monstrous socialist building, partially reconstructed. Therefore, let 3 stars not scare anyone - the main thing is to get into the reconstructed part). The hotel itself did not guess to take a picture, but the view from the window - see the photo. Nevertheless, traces of some “fatigue” are visible everywhere: the stainless steel no longer shines, the LED indication does not work in some places, the taps in the toilet work every other day. I didn’t like the bathroom cubicle - I wouldn’t put one like that at home. But on the other hand, what claims can there be if tomorrow the maid comes and cleans everything).
Transportation from the hotel is twofold: a bus runs once an hour, costs 10 kunas, a boat runs from the pier in front of the hotel every 15 minutes, costs 20 kunas.
The hotel itself is located 3.5 km from the center of Trogir, which, apparently, is a market and a parking lot). Moreover, the market is combined - on the one hand, souvenir, on the other, food. If you cross the canal, you find yourself in the old city where there are a lot of cafes, restaurants, ice cream parlors. The town itself is built of white stone and looks very specific. Subsequently, it turned out that this is a characteristic feature of all old cities in Croatia. There are many tourist information points around the city where you can take a map and book a tour. Prices for excursions are shamelessly high, much higher than the prices offered by the tour operator. Although there are interesting tours, for example, to the Kornati (islands) - it costs almost 90 euros.
If you go in the opposite direction, you will get to the Konzum supermarket, which seems to be the only one in Trogir. Although there are enough small shops on every corner.
Food prices are also quite high. Lunch in a restaurant will cost 12-15 euros. But I must admit that they know how to cook, everything is incredibly tasty. On the other hand, "bakeries" are scattered throughout the city - they sell, among other things, pizza and sandwiches. The edibility of sandwiches is highly dependent on the particular bakery. The cost is about 14 kunas (2 euros). A slice of pizza (large enough, I ate enough) - about 25 kunas (3.5 euros). Takeaway pizza - 30-40 kunas. Ice cream from 7 to 14 kunas a ball, in some places you can also find it on a stick.
In Konzuma, milk costs from 7 kunas, there is pasteurized and fresh, a small package of sausages (horseradish in Croatian)))) from 4 kunas, but sometimes there are promotions. They recommended an olive oil for 55 kunas, I don't know if it's expensive or cheap.
In addition, there is still a lot of such garbage as a bar. Bars only sell drinks. By the way, draft beer (tochene)) costs 16 kunas (2.3 euros).
In general, the price level is quite high, and the understanding that in Ukraine there has not yet been a change in prices in euros, the desire to spend money was completely discouraged (if it is September 2014). By the way, the euro exchange rate is 7.1 kunas for a purchase. However, it is far from always necessary to pay in kunas, often, especially in souvenir shops, you can pay in euros.
Farther. The sea is clean - see photo), if you sit on the pier you can see schools of fish swimming near your feet !!! . We were not lucky with the weather, it often rained in the evening. Therefore, in the morning it was possible to observe a special effect - a thin layer of cold water on top, hot on the bottom.
By program. I would like to say that most of the sightseeing places are located relatively close to the place of deployment and the day was organized as follows: in the morning to the beach, at 12 departure to the place, there is a sightseeing tour of about 1.5 hours and free time is also 1.5 hours, then return. For a large group, this is a fairly rational plan, but there is practically no time to walk around the city and museums. Sightseeing tours around the cities are similar and the information provided is somewhat monotonous. With the exception of an excursion to Dubrovnik, they can be omitted. Therefore, for small groups, it will be optimal to rent a car and drive on your own. The roads there are wonderful, but toll (.
1. Plitvice lakes. We were not lucky with the weather - it was damp. The sun appeared in fragments, and these waterfalls show their greatest beauty precisely in the rays of the sun. But we went to the far end of the complex, where tourists usually do not go.
On the way to the permanent place of deployment - Meden, we stopped by for a tasting and a possible purchase of cheeses and rakia. The chip is next. They have small family farms that produce cheese, brandy, honey ets. Moreover, they are allowed to sell brandy in small containers (up to 0.5 l) without excise tax. Therefore, their outlets stand along the road and try to sell it to everyone (see photo). It should be noted that there are the cheapest (although not cheap by our standards) prices.
Cheeses. I have suspicions that the recipe for these cheeses is similar to those of Pag, although it is far from Pag. So, we were offered four brothers of Pag cheese: sheep and cow ordinary and smoked. Very tasty. But PRICE! Cow cheeses (cheaper) cost 10 euros/kg. On the other hand, prices in supermarkets are shamelessly high, I found varieties for 270 kunas. You can buy not only a whole head, but also a part. Everything is packed in a thermopack. When buying, they said that it is freely stored at room temperature. So - not stored (verified by me).
Rakia. Fully met my expectations - vile moonshine. There are 5 varieties to choose from. The most disgusting is plum brandy. The most normal is dogwood, it is quite possible to drink, it does not pull you to puke, it tastes like homemade liquor.
There was also honey. Delicious pine honey. I didn't even know this could happen. The rest are no different from our varieties. You can buy just a jar of pure honey, or with nuts.
I would especially like to note the following joke. Plitvice Lakes are located in the inner part of Croatia, where the temperature is 17-18 degrees. You drive through the tunnel on the coast and voila! - 25 degrees .
2. Dubrovnik. Like all old cities, it is built of white stone, so it has a very specific look. Here you need to immediately buy a tourist card, of which there are 3 types, since they give 3 free visits to museums and some bonuses (it costs 150 kunas for one day, if memory is not lost). Entrance to museums 80 kunas. Another of the entertainments is the cable car to the observation deck and bypassing the city along the fortress wall. They cost 100 kunas. I leaned against the wall. Museums would be better. There are no special views from the wall, the toilet is paid (. From the observation deck, I think you can see the same as from the wall).
3. Trogir and Split. Between cities 30 km. Split is notable for the palace of Diocletian, which for 1500 years has been specifically littered (literally - hezal from the upper floor to the lower one until it was full))). So, they are still raking). In the palace itself there are shopping arcades with souvenirs and a museum of the city. Entrance 20 kuna. The museum is disgusting - part of the premises that were cleared of shit, a couple of statues, a sarcophagus and part of an ancient sewer system. On average, their museum business is not developed there - there is no end to the work.
4. KRKA. National park. Beauty. Waterfalls, a lot of water and a tradition to swim in it. There is a lot of foam on the water and it is not clear how to wash it afterwards. I did not go, but many swam. On the territory there is an old village with an old washing machine! I recommend looking at the car).
5. Sibenik. In principle, it resembles Split and Dubrovnik with its whiteness. There are 4 fortresses. In the fortress of St. Nicholas (or Michael? ) They are trying to create a museum, but so far it looks lousy. There are monitors in the room where you can watch a film on the history of Sibenik. Nevertheless, the views from the fortress are wonderful. Entrance 35 kuna. Then I started thinking philosophically why the hell did I hit the wall in Dubrovnik for 100 kunas (((. In addition, a museum of medieval torture devices was also noticed, but there was no time to visit it (.
6. Fish picnic. Really cool stuff. In some ways better than tours. It all started with the fact that there is an obligatory treat of rakia (at first - to cheer up). They poured grass - i. e. on herbs. Some ate so much that they could not walk). First they brought us to the Blue Lagoon, judging by the map, on the island of Drvenik-Veliki. The sun, the wonderful sea (see photo), we swim. Then they brought us to the next one - Solta and let them wander around the small town / village of Maslenitsa. Then they were taken to a restaurant. From food grilled mackerel and coleslaw. But how GOOD it was.
Tickets for this celebration of life can be bought not only from the tour operator, but also from the organizers on the beach (there are discounts! ).
7. Zagreb. Stop on the way home. There is not much time, so a sightseeing tour and then walked through the center.
PS. We had 2 incidents along the way. On one I want to dwell in more detail. When we arrived in Zagreb for the first time, we spent the night at the Maly Rai *** hotel. But there was a wedding there that very evening. It didn’t stop me from resting, but there was a contingent of old age who made a scandal - like the room was shaking, it was impossible to sleep. The reason, from my point of view, far-fetched - I passed out as soon as my head touched the pillow, and no one but her majesty did not complain. Those. the real reason is snobbery and CSF. Nevertheless, Taras said that they would refuse the services of this hotel. I hope he was joking, because the hotel is luxurious and did not deserve this.
ZZY. Taras Kuziv is the best team leader: there was not a single organizational mistake, everything worked like clockwork. In addition, he gave out a lot of interesting information about the country along the way.
ZZZY. Croatia is unrealistically BEAUTIFUL country. I think everyone should go there.
