Life on the Dalmatian coast

Hey, bloggity blog! So, in about a week's worth of traveling Croatia thus far, this is the first place I've stayed that has wireless. And I think I'm stealing it from the neighbors. And this is also the smallest town I've visited. So, that kind of explains Croatia's attitude toward the Internet. Although, Dubrovnik claimed to provide free wireless across the entire old town. I don't know if that's true, I tried it, walking around with my laptop like I was trying to catch a radio signal. Didn't work.

The Interwebs aside, Croatia is a fantastic place. At first, when I was planning this trip, I was like, "Why don't you hear more people talking about Croatia?" That's because, I've discovered, they are all in Croatia right now. Seriously, it's jam-packed with people, at least in the bigger destinations. Dubrovnik especially. But that hasn't taken away its charm.

Croatia's coast takes a lot of influence from its neighbor to the northwest and across the sea, Italy. Split and Dubrovnik feel like Tuscan villages built on ridiculously blue water. All red roofs and stonework and polished marble streets. Palm trees, fishing boats, fresh seafood. All that. The only thing different on first inspection is the language. Then there's the Austrian-Hungarian influence in the interior, and the more recent connections with the former Yugoslavia, the Serbs, etc. It's got a lot of stories.

I'm on the northern coast right now, on an island and town called Cres (pronounced "Tsres," with a rolled "r" — which brings up another interesting connection, Croatian being a Slavic language, is very similar to Czech), and it's just lovely.

Anyway, I need to get some sleep tonight because tomorrow morning, I'm taking a bus to some hiking destinations on the northern side of the island, where there are a lot of abandoned medieval villages and olive groves. But I wanted to share some photos of the trip thus far.

Here's a few from Split: