Dalmatia – food and drinks

Posted on 30/09/2024 by ainarsbl

As usually in all our trips, Dalmatia in Croatia was no exception. Enjoying local food and drinks was an essential part of the trip.

We did this both ways by preparing at home products we bought on the market, sea urchins caught by ourselves in the sea, and also by visiting restaurants, cafes and vineyards.

Testament winery

It sounds strange – to go to Croatia to visit a business run by Scandinavians. But as it turned out later, the drink we had bought there ended up being the best on the trip.

Testament winery is located about 3 kilometres from the main road of the region D8, the nearest town is Zaboric. The basic idea of the winery is to combine technology with the knowhow of the best winemakers to create rich and complex drink from the Dalmatian region.

We had written down their address before travelling, just in case, but we did not plan to visit it; the tasting of three drinks costs more than 13 euros, which is not that little money at all. However, it happened to be the only chance to buy something to drink with dinner in the late afternoon.

The drink was of very good quality, we took it without tasting; just told the sellers what we are planning to cook for dinner. As it turned out, our purchase was very successful. In any case, we liked the grapes grown in northern Dalmatia better than the ones cultivated in the middle part, although, probably, a lot depends on the method of fermentation (more on that below).

Saricevi Dvori country pub

For a special and more substantial dinner, we chose the Saricevi Dvori country restaurant, which is located further from the sea between Grebastica and Rogoznica (you have to drive at least three kilometres along mountain roads with a beautiful view towards the Adriatic coast).

Like most restaurants in Croatia, this is a family restaurant. It prepares Dalmatian dishes according to traditional methods, using cooking recipes proven over the centuries. And of course, hot dishes are prepared in the large ovens that are found in every self-respecting restaurant in Croatia.

The restaurant is proud of the gold medal won for the particularly high quality of the food. And what’s positive, high quality in this case does not mean a high price – after a well-enjoyed dinner, the bill was very reasonable.

It is offered to wash down everything eaten with the local famous Babic red fermented grape juice, but we were not particularly excited about it.

Two things I especially like about the Croatian menu – they eat a lot of seafood, a lot of meat and even more meat. The main dishes are prepared (fried) in the oven in large dishes, the name of the dish would normally include word ‘peke’ at the end.

If you happen to be nearby, I recommend you to try the oven-baked octopus (‘Hobotnica ispod peke’ in their language), veal (Teletina ispod peke) or mutton (Janjetina ispod peke). The mutton has a lot of fat, this should be taken into consideration if you want to order it; pork is also tasty, of course, but you can’t get octopus everywhere across the country. Usually you can order fried or grilled squid and mussels – almost in every restaurant in Croatia.

You can also taste different types of goulash and meat platters, but it’s all too much for one occasion, unfortunately. This restaurant also does their best for the well-being of the vegetarians (but not vegan) audience by including a couple of appropriate dishes in the menu, although we didn’t even notice such audience in Croatian restaurants – majority are enjoying seafood and meet dishes.

Matosin vineyards

Of course, it depends on everyone’s taste and habits, but we prefer French and Italian drinks. But that doesn’t mean you can’t try something else, so we went to the mountains for a drink tasting.

In one of the evenings, we decided to go to the Matosin vineyards, which are located quite far in the mountains and the driving is on country roads, even with only one lane in both directions. The place is remote, so we didn’t even meet anyone driving towards us.

This was probably the longest trip away from the regional D8 road, more than 10 kilometres. I have to say right away – the drink is okay, but not in our style. However, the place is fantastic. We also saw the sunset there. The sun setting in the Adriatic Sea over the grape gardens – something fantastic to watch. It also contributed to the positive memories about this place.

I mentioned earlier that I would say something more about the drinks of this region. The main difference is that local Babic grapes are grown there. They may be very good, but as we found out, the juice fermentation methods differ from those usually used in Europe. The main difference – the juice fermentation process takes place in barrels, which by its nature is a closed container (I don’t remember what this method is called).

As a result, the drink smells and tastes a bit like hydrogen sulphide. To be honest, it only has been worse in Japan, where the drink had a definite acetone smell.
As I said, it’s about personal taste preference. I know there are people who really like this type of drink.

Istria and Krk island

Posted on 16/09/2024 by ainarsbl

Istrian Peninsula

The Istrian peninsula is one of Croatia’s many peninsulas, but it differs from many others because it is located in the north of the country. It borders Slovenia and Italy. In general, the territory of the peninsula is shared by these three countries, but the majority (almost 90%) belongs to Croatia. Italians call the peninsula Istria.

The Istrian peninsula is the largest peninsula on the Adriatic Sea. In order to understand more about its dimensions, I will just mention the distance from Pula to the Slovenian border is around 60 kilometres, and to the Italian border 80 kilometres in a straight line (it will definitely be much more when driving on the road). Istria is also known for the fact that truffles grow there – mushrooms that are used as an addition to food, especially pasta dishes.

The largest city in the Croatian part is Pula, located in the very south of the peninsula, but the Slovenian city of Koper and the Italian city of Trieste are even larger.

Pula has less than 60,000 inhabitants, it is best known for the ancient Roman buildings that are still there. The Pula Amphitheatre is one of the best preserved Roman amphitheatres.

We didn’t spend much time on the peninsula, but we found a place selling truffle oil and other products made from truffles. It was worth a look and the prices were pleasantly different from those elsewhere in Europe.

Island of Krk

I started this story with the Istrian peninsula, but the trip itself on this occasion was to the island of Krk. Croatians love these combinations of letters; a popular tourist attraction with a similar name is the Krka National Park in Dalmatia, known for its impressive cascades of waterfalls.

The first, one might even say shocking, impression was driving across a huge bridge to the island (this bridge has tolls). The view and the feelings were grand. Although there were no less impressive views before the bridge, when we went down the rocky serpentines to access the bridge ramp. The only thing that can be said is that people with imagination worked hard to come up with such an engineering masterpiece.

The island of Krk differs from many other Croatian islands because it is a very green, it is also the most populated island in the Adriatic Sea. About 20 thousand people live on the island.

Like many territories in Europe, Krk was once part of the Roman Empire, but later it was included in the Byzantine Empire. At the beginning of the eleventh century, the island was conquered by the Venetians and, with a short break at the beginning of the 12th century, it was part of the Republic of Venice for the next seven centuries.

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Krk belonged to Austria and Italy for a while, but since the Second World War it belongs to Croatia.

The aforementioned bridge to the island of Krk was built in 1980 and is one of the longest reinforced concrete bridges in the world (its length is 1.4 kilometres).

Although the beaches are mostly rocky, the island of Krk is very popular among tourists. It is located in the north of the Adriatic Sea, so tourists from Germany and Austria can get there very quickly (less than a four-hour drive from the south of Austria).

Rijeka Airport is located on the island, although Rijeka itself is on the mainland. Rijeka is the third largest city in Croatia.

The island has quite a long and interesting history, but the main purpose of visiting it is to relax by the sea, so this time, that’s all – pack your suitcase and go yourself to enjoy it.

From Riga to Croatia by car

Posted on 09/09/2024 by ainarsbl

I have already written quite a lot about traveling to Croatia, but here I will summarize how to get there by car from Latvia.

Even though we have been flying everywhere for the last decade, we have mostly driven by our car to Croatia. We have also seen other cars with Baltic and Polish license plates in Croatia, so we are by no means the only ones and this information may be useful to someone else.

The usual route is as follows: Riga – Warsaw (Poland) – Bratislava (Slovakia) – Graz (Austria) – Maribor (Slovenia) – Zagreb (Croatia). This is also the option offered by Google Maps. What happens after arrival to Zagreb is entirely up to you, depending on where else you have decided to go. There are people who prefer to drive through the Czech Republic, but staying overnight in the Czech Republic (not to mention Austria) can be quite expensive.

If you are going to relax by the sea, then you should take into account that it is practically impossible to visit all the regions of Croatia at once. The country is stretched from north to south and there is a highway that connects it all. But once you get off the highway, driving is very slow.

I would say that there are three main regions in Croatia that are worth visiting – the north, the Istrian peninsula and the island of Krk, the south of Dalmatia, including Dubrovnik, the Peljesac peninsula and the island of Korcula, and central Dalmatia – Split, Trogir, other smaller towns and seaside villages.

Driving from Riga

We started driving at the time when it was a habit to drive through Poland during night. Now a lot has changed in Poland, so you can drive through it during the day. Driving at night has the advantage that it is possible to drive a longer first part of the distance. On the first day, we usually tried to drive at least 1200 kilometres.

In any case, it will take at least ten hours to get to Warsaw from Riga, so if you leave around midnight, you will be in Warsaw around ten in the morning. We usually chose hotel or apartment somewhere in Slovakia. You still have to drive quite a long distance from Polish capital, about 500 kilometres, which is at least 6 – 7 hours. It should be noted that it is also necessary to stop to eat, relax and stretch.

We usually took thermoses with hot water and dry soups with us, so that we didn’t have to only eat dry snacks. Although, we usually got off at least once in Poland to have a late breakfast or lunch at one of the roadside restaurants.

Overnight stay in Slovakia

We used the accommodation to stay at night because we were traveling with children and it would have been quite cruel to ask them to spend the night in the car. After driving more than 1000 kilometres, you need to sleep in a normal bed. You must also remember to replenish the hot water supply for next day’s soups before departure!

We usually looked for hotels (guest houses) in Slovakia on the Internet somewhere between Zilin and Trencin, a little off the highway. When it comes to the motorway, remember that in Slovakia (as well as in the Czech Republic) you have to buy a vignette. Inspections are not frequent, but if you are caught without a vignette, you may end up with paying quite large fine.

Now it is possible to buy a Slovak e-vignette online in advance, you can pay with payment card or PayPal. Even in Austria, to drive on the motorways, you need to buy a vignette; Austrian vignette for 10 days (minimum time) costs 9.6 euros (summer 2022).

Slovakian vignette for ten days costs 15.8 euros, but if you choose to drive through the Czech Republic, you can save a little – for 10 days there, a vignette costs 12.5 euros, but other costs, if you stop, will probably be higher.

Spending night in Zagreb

The last section of the route from Slovakia to Zagreb is practically only driving on motorways. Google Maps offer to drive through Hungary as the main route, but I don’t recommend it, because the roads are rather boring and driving through Hungary just doesn’t excite me (we’ve tried it ourselves).

Since you can get to Croatia (Zagreb) in about seven to nine hours from Slovakia, we did not rush to leave early in the morning. Accommodations usually offer breakfast and you also want to slow down a bit before leaving. And the main thing is that it is not even possible to go anywhere further than Zagreb during that day, unless your destination is the island of Krk or the Istrian peninsula.

In that case, you can pass Zagreb going through Slovenia in the direction of Rijeka. It will take up to 10 hours in total then.

If the destination of your trip to Croatia is central or southern Dalmatia, then staying overnight in Zagreb is worth it. Both in the city and its outskirts, there are many hotels for good price. It should only be noted that they are all very busy during the summer season; the hotel should be booked well in advance when the trip is being planned. This also applies to all other hotels in Croatia during the summer period.

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