Environment
We noticed throughout Croatia, but specifically on the islands that we visited, that there are piles of rock everywhere. It turns out that due to the geology of the region, the earth is littered with large and small stone pieces that must be removed to plant for farms. Over generations, the Croatian villagers (predominantly women) have moved these rocks into piles, made structures (like root cellars) and built boundary walls with them.
We were delighted to learn that there is significant beautiful coastline that the public has free access to. This allows the locals (and us as tourists) to swim and enjoy the beaches (or rocky shores) in many secluded locations. The shores are nearly all small pebble beaches or rocky outcropping (few sand beaches) which Don preferred. The majority of structures in the small bays and inlets are concrete piers used currently/previously for boats and fishing.
There were very few rivers to be found due to the geology being mostly limestone, which allows the water to drain immediately below the surface. We realized this on our first long hike as we contemplated backpacking/outdoor camping, noticing that there were not very frequent water sources to drink from.
The general infrastructure and culture felt less foreign to us than Turkey, being more like many of the European countries we've visited.
There were many Game of Thrones film locations throughout Croatia, especially in Split and Dubrovnik. As a result, we saw several boat and walking tours that were focused on these locations specifically, talking about what scenes were filmed there, how they'd altered the setting for the show and what the impact to the local people had been. We came across many of these tours while exploring the towns and ruins and stood within earshot of a couple to hear what was being shared.
Similar to Turkey, there were extensive Greek/Roman settlements & ruins all over Croatia, giving further evidence about how large these empires were at one time. These ruins were also mostly just integrated into the towns and free to explore for everyone. Noting this, it is a fantastic alternative to the classic tourist ruins in Italy and Greece as they are, in some locations, larger, more complete and better preserved than the famous destinations.
Much of the countryside strongly resembled that of Tuscany and the Mediterranean coast of Italy, having grape vineyards, olive orchards and cypress trees surrounding quaint hilltop villages.
It continued to be a striking reminder about how quickly things change as we saw signs of recent wars on the buildings in Croatia. It was only 25 years ago that they declared their independence from Yugoslavia and many of the buildings are either repaired from the damage, scarred from bullets and shrapnel or abandoned. In Dubrovnik alone nearly 50% of the buildings had new tile roofs, showing how extensive the bombing of the city had been. There were also many fortifications that we saw randomly on hillsides that seemed completely out of place in a (now) peaceful country.
Driving/Transportation
We found that most of the lodging and car rental (especially in smaller towns and on the islands) would only take cash payment.
Most of the small seaside towns had streets on the waterfront that doubled as primary pedestrian walkways...and sometimes they were only for pedestrians which was very difficult to tell the difference. When driving on these, they were very narrow (one lane for a small car) and often came to a dead end which was difficult to turn around at. Overall though, the driving was easier/better than in Turkey as main roads were wider and the streets were far less busy (also there were hardly any scooters).
It continued to surprise us just how close many countries were and how easy it was to travel to them (when there is not a global pandemic). For instance, Italy was only a 3 hour ferry ride from Pula/Rovinj, which we may have dome if there weren't restrictions on travel.
Food
Unlike Turkey, the water throughout Croatia was safe to drink, often coming from underground aquifers directly into the cities. In fact, when we were in Dubrovnik we filled our water bottles many times from the main public fountain in the city. This fountain was fed by an underground aqueduct which aided in the cities ability to sustain itself for long periods during times of conflict.
We were surprised to learn how much of the cuisine in Croatia resembled or originated from Italian dishes. Pizza, pasta, breads and seafood were all similar to what we'd had in Pompeii and Venice (without the high price of Italian tourist locations). This is due to the migration of Italians across the Mediterranean and the periodic rule of the Venetian empire.
Tomato and cucumber salads were as common here as in Turkey, although they called it a Shepherds salad in Croatia. Also very common was octopus salad and the country's famous black risotto. Cooked corn on the cob was also sold by street vendors, but we found much of the Croatian corn to be rather flavorless.
Unlike Turkey, there was very little street food to be found, and what was had been marketed specifically as "street food". We did see several areas of Turkish influence on the cuisine (likely from previous invasions by the Turks) which included Turkish coffee, borek, doner/kababs and many Turkish restaurants.
People
Most of the Croatians knew at least some English, although the further into the rural areas we went, the less deeply they knew our language. We learned from a couple of the locals that English is taught now from an early age in their schools.
The demeanor of the Croatians was generally more curt and abrupt than our experiences with people in Turkey. This was more true in the larger cities than in the rural areas, which we assumed is allegedly due to the many times that the country has been invaded and ruled by outsiders.
The country as a whole was less focused on COVID than Turkey, demonstrated by fewer people wearing masks, less available hand sanitizer in public places and generally less warning signs. In larger towns, social distancing was obviously not considered as often and on the island of Hvar it was essentially ignored.
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