A Fond Farewell to Croatia

A few final “reflections” on one of our now-favorite countries, Croatia. Although we never got very far inland, we were all amazed at the beauty and variety of the coastal region, Dalmatia:  from rugged, barren mountains that plunge into the Adriatic, to rolling, evergreen forested hillsides and beautiful rivers and waterfalls, to protected little coves with lovely beaches and quaint little villages nestled into harbors at the base of the hills and mountains.  The people are warm and welcoming (most speaking at least enough English to help visitors get by).  Another observation:  there are very few fat Croatians!  They are fit.  We’re guessing it’s from all the hiking up and down the steps and hills in town, carrying kids and groceries.

We were very impressed, and a little surprised, with the modern infrastructure of the country.  (I guess we were expecting crumbling roads, run-down buildings, drab living conditions, etc. from Croatia’s old Yugoslavia communist days under Tito.)  And, obviously there are still vestiges from those days, but it appears the government has invested substantially in roads, public transportation (modern buses and ferries abound), and protecting the environment and natural beauty of the country.  We visited several national parks whose visitors’ centers, trails and interpretive signs along the way were so impressive, my brother-in-law who is Superintendent of Acadia National Park, was green with envy.  We were also stuck by how immaculate the towns are – people do not litter and there is very little graffiti.  The residents sweep the leaves and dirt from the narrow steps and walkways of the villages daily.

On occasions when we had the opportunity to ask the locals about their government and the economy, we generally found them to be very optimistic about their futures.  We must admit, that those living and working along the coast, benefit from the rising tourism here where the unemployment rate is only about 4%.  The national unemployment rate, is about 15%, we were told.

In the four weeks we spent in Croatia, we had the opportunity to sample many of the local wines (for research purposes only, of course).  We are great believers in ordering the restaurant “table wine”, but after a few nearly undrinkable ones, we started asking for a small taste of both the red and white house wine, and would then make our decision as to which was more palatable.  We did find many very good wines, and made a point of picking up several bottles at a time at the local markets.  Our only real disappointment in Croatia, was with the cuisine.  It really is not very impressive.  There is a definite German influence (need we say more…), but fortunately, a fairly strong Italian influence as well.  We ate a lot of pizza and pasta!  All in all, I think our friends who visited Croatia with us would agree that it is a very special place, and that we would all love to come back for another visit.