Tales of Croatia. Part Ten.
Entire story takes place from late May to late June in Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Makarska, Omiš, Split, Vodice
and Tribunj, Croatia, as well as Slovenia.
Continued from part nine...
To recap; I'd spent about three weeks in Zagreb. Sasho Maleev joined us and we flew SouthEast to Dubrovnik, hanging out there for three days. We then rented a car and drove north to a small fishing village called Tribunj.
Click any pic to go to a gallery with all photos.
We headed north again. Eventually, it started to get dark. We decided to put off our stop in Split because it was getting late. We passed Split. Near Šibenik, we were sent on a detour up into the hills because of an accident. And, we became stuck in crazy traffic. The little road was too small to support normal traffic and there were buses on it. They were blocking traffic and everyone was just sitting there. By the time we cleared the traffic, it had been 45 minutes wasted in bullshit traffic caused by idiots. Basically, nobody on the opposing lane would stop for the bus or back up. So the bus just sat there, or got by one car every 5 minutes. Horrible!
North of Šibenik, Esad could not find the right road for Vodice, which is where Tribunj is closest to. We took wrong road after wrong road. And so the time passed. After a while, we found Vodice and went to a late 10:30 PM dinner. More fish, this time škamp, large shrimp that are more like crayfish than shrimp. I couldn't figure them out as they didn't pop open like shrimp when you tear their legs off and pull back, splitting them. It took more effort, Sasho had to show me how. They were tasty, though.
Finally, we arrived in Tribunj. The house we were staying in, was in the center of a tiny island. The island is big enough for maybe 40 houses, all largely vertical and tiny. Around 8 cafes and restaurants. The island is maybe 20 meters offshore and connected by a small, stone bridge. It's beautiful.
We went into the house, opened all the windows to air out the mildew and get some fresh air in there, then walked to the cafe, maybe 40 meters away. The houses get very moist as they're stone in this wet environment. It smelled like a basement inside the house. The cafe is pretty great. We mostly went to the same one every day and got to know the bar tenders.
That first night, we just ordered a couple of beers and sat there by the water chatting. The cafe is literally right by the water. That part of the island has very little moorage for boats, it's not meant for that. So, the tables are right there, then the walkway ends and goes right into the water with no railing or anything. They put on two lights under the water there at night and we sat there watching the fish swim around and chase the smaller fish, trying to eat them.
There are two small, uninhabited islands right there offshore from Tribunj, maybe 200 meters distant. Not far. Esad told us the tale of the Donkey Island. That's the one on the right. The local area used to rely on donkeys for transporting things, manual labor, that sort of thing. But, when cars came along and tractors and such, the donkeys were no longer needed. When this happened, instead of killing the donkeys, they put them on the island. Then Tribunj would hold donkey races once a year as a tradition, using these donkeys. They'd boat over to feed them during the year. The donkey races became famous. Evidently they're funny, as donkeys don't exactly like to race. Esad told us they were wild donkeys and that you're not supposed to go onto the island, as they'll attack you. He told of one time trying to wind surf. As he got close to the island, a donkey was onshore snarling at him. He put the board down in the water, so as not to go ashore, and swam back with the board.
The next day, we saw one donkey on the other island. He'd evidently gotten bored and swam to the other island, and was now there braying across to his brethren, undoubtedly horny and lonely.
End of Part Ten.
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