A Bus Ride To Split

May 16th, 2014

We got up early enough to catch a  bus for a 5 hour ride from Dubrovnik to the city of Split. The bus ride was unlike what you would expect in the states. The bus itself was comfortable in one sense, the seats were comfortable and the windows were big, but it lacked one very important thing, a restroom! Picture a 3 1/2 ride with no restroom breaks and you can imagine the discomfort that practically everyone on board felt! Other than the lack of a restroom the ride itself was uneventful. The highway from Dubrovnik is a 2 lane road that follows along the coast. There is one stretch where the road crosses into Bosnia-Herzogovina for about 20 miles then re-enters Croatia. At the Bosnian  border we had to show our passports to the young, serious looking border policeman so he could study each one. In contrast when we re-entered Croatia, the border policeman gave our passports a cursory look then sent us on our way.

The sliver of Bosnia-Herzogovina that we had to travel through is a testament to the colorful history of Croatia. During the days of the Dalmatian Republic of Dubrovnik, they needed protection from the Venetians so they gave a portion of land to the Ottomans in the belief that the Venetians would never attack the Ottomans to get to the Dalmatians. And so to this day that little sliver of land is a thorn in the side of the Croatians.

We arrived in Split around 3 pm. Split is a modern sea port city with a rich history as part of the Roman Empire. The Emperor Diocletian (245-313) wanted to retire to his native Dalmatia and so he built his palace in Split. Eventually he abandoned the palace and the local people took it over and established a medieval  town to escape Slavic invaders during the 7th century. In the 15th century the Venetians took over the Dalmatian coast along with the city of Split that had grown among the rubble of Emperor Diocletian's Palace. 

The city today has grown into a modern city that relies heavily on its port to greet cruise ships and the inherent tourist trade. We walked along the harbor frontage then had dinner at a great little restaurant called Trattoria Tinel. 

Our reservation was for a hotel called Villa Varos which is actally more of a room and apartment rental venture than a hotel. We were greeted by a young fellow who spoke English very well. He told us that since he had extra vacancies he was going to give us an apartment for the night. He showed us to the apartment, which was very nice, and pointed out all the features as he proudly told us that he and his father had just finished remodeling the apartment. 

We found out that his name was Ura and that he was actually born in New York City. His father had been in the construction business for 30 years in New York where he specialized in remodeling and rebuilding  old apartment buildings. He went to school in New York and graduated high school after which his father moved the family back to his native Croatia. His only regret was that he didn't take advantage of the sports scholarships that he and his brother had won for college. 

Saturday morning we got up at 4 am to catch a 6:15 flight to our next stop, Zagreb. When I was planning this trip I saw that the bus ride from Split to Zagreb was to be at least 8 hours through winding mountain roads with no less than 20 stops. I soon learned that there was a 45 minute flight availabe to Zagreb, and not being a glutton for punishment, I booked a flight. Believe me, after our bus ride of the previous day, I was glad I had!

We had arranged for Ura to drive us to the airport which is a fair distance from the city. On the way to the airport we were able to learn a little bit more of him. His grand parents immigrated to the U.S. during the 1920's where his grandfather worked as a butcher. His father was born in Croatia but his mother was born in the U.S. Ura is about 25 years old, and speaking with him showed a different perspective than what many American youths of his age share. Ura has learned the realities of a world in which the slightest action or provocation in one area of the globe can have a ripple effect felt in other areas. I asked how the war in 1991 affected the people of Split, he said there wasn't a physical threat as Split was not as vulnerable as is Dubrovnik. However many of the local populace went to the front lines, so there was that emotional toll of the war. Still today there is some tension with Bosnia, one can only hope that tensions do not rise to the point that a ripple becomes a tidal wave engulfing innocent and peaceful people again.

Ura dropped us off at the airport, bade us safe journey and sped off for his next appointment. We thanked him and wished him well, the American in Croatia.

It was a welcome sight to see the plane, an Airbus A320, which was to fly us to Zagreb. No bus, no 8 hour trip through the mouintains! Voila! 

Dubrovnik

May 14th, 2014

Early morning finds us awakening as our ferry docks at the Port of Dubrovnik. After a mediocre breakfast on board the ferry, we disembark and find a taxi to take us to our hotel, the Adria. Once we get settled in we set off to discover the town. The currency in Croatia is the kuna, at first we're kind of taken back by prices such as 12 kuna for a cappuchino, but then again one kuna is equal to 18 cents US so our dollar goes a long way in Croatia.

We wandered around town on Wednesday to get a feel for things and on Thursday we started out by walking from our hotel to the bus station to buy our bus tickets for our next leg of the trip. Since Dubrovnik is built on hills there are stairs, stairs and more stairs, so the first thing we encounter this morning are 500 steps down the hill to the major street that we need to get to the bus station. With that mission accomplished we start our walk to the Old City as the original site of the city is called.

The Old City is the heart of the original city as it was formed and built. A fort was constructed to protect the city from land and sea invaders and so the entire city was encircled by a massive wall with gates at each end. For the price of 18 kuna each Gerri and I climbed the steps to the top of the city wall and took the 3 hour walk around the entire Old City. The wall is laid out as you would expect an old fort to be laid out with observation and sentry points and old cannons. In the middle of this are the original buildings of the city. As old as the buildings are you can't help but notice the newer rooftops on many of them. Then you are reminded that it was not too long ago, December 6th, 1991 when Dubrovnik was attacked by Yugoslav, Serbian and Montenegrin forces who bombed the Old City from the air. Some traces of the bombings still appear such as bombed out buildings that have not been rebuilt.

It seems that Dubrovnik has always had it's share of strife. The Republic of Dubronik existed for many centuries. Although most of Croatia was ruled by the Venetians and then Hungarian, the republic hung on with it's mantra of Libertas or liberty. Libertas was so close to the heart of Dubrovnik that it was the first foreign state in 1776 to recognize the newly proclaimed United States of America.

With the Middle Ages Dubrovnik found itself buying its independence with whomever was the strongest power at the time, whether it was Byzantium, Venice, Hungary or the Ottomans. With Napoleon's conquest of the Adriatic in 1808, he abolished the Republic of Dubrovnik. With Napoleon's defeat, Dubrovnik eventually became part of the Hapsburg Empire and suffered a long period of decline.

With the fall of the iron curtain and the reshuffling of Yugoslavia, there were once again calls for Dubrovnik to become a Republic again. But things are settled down nowadays and Dubrovnik is part of an independent Republic of Croatia.

We finished our exploring, wandered the old city streets a little more then settled down to enjoy a delicious dinner of fish that Dubrovnik is well known for. Then, looking at that big hill back to the hotel, we took the easy way out, we took a 100 kuna cab ride back to the hotel.

Arrivederci Italia

        

May 12th and 13th, 2014

We left our new found jewel of Matera and drove east towards the Adriatic Sea where we were to board an overnight ferry in Bari, Italy to Croatia. Since our boarding was not to be until Tuesday we spent the night in the small town of Polignano a Mare which appeard to be more appealing than the port city of Bari. The town is a nice coastal city much like many of our coastal cities in California. It was a good choice of places to spend our last night in this country that we have gained a lot of affection for.

After a good nights sleep we drove to Bari to turn in our rental car and then grabbed a taxi for the ferry terminal. We had hoped to find someplace to store our baggage and then sight see a bit before catching our ferry at 10 p.m. But the terminal is in an industrial area of the city, there was no place to store our baggage and then rain started to fall, so we just camped out for 4 1/2 hours until the ticket office opened. When the office opened at 6 p.m. we took care of the final formalities before we could head to the ship for boarding.

     

Once aboard the ship we were in for a new treat. Since we had never been aboard anything more than a San Francisco Bay or Washington state ferry, this ship was pretty cool! We had our own cabin rather than a deck chair. Since this was to be a 9 hour crossing, I wanted us to be as comfortable as possible. 

      

Sadly the food on board was terrible, but since we have been eating our way through Italy with great dinners for the past 2 weeks, we just took it in stride.

Morning found us approaching the port of Dubrovnik, Croatia where we will spend the next 2 nights and see what sights we can see within our limited time here. 

      

      

Back In Time

May 11th, 2014

We step onto the ancient streets of this city and are immediately taken back in time, a time before Jesus walked this earth. Our breath is taken away at the sight of these ancient buildings as we walk down the street, modern luggage in hand, to the hotel nestled in what was once a 13th century church carved into the hillside and is now known as L'Hotel In Pietra.

We are greeted by the desk clerk and made to feel welcome with a inviting cup of cappuchino as she shows us around the premises and maps out the sights for us to see. I had read a little bit about Matera and how it has risen from once being the shame of Italy to what is now a candidate to be the cultural center of Italy. In the 1950's a group of citizens got together and decided that Matera had a rich heritage that should be presented to the world. What were once cave dwellings since early man walked the earth, had become bascially slum dwellings with deplorable living conditions and also hang outs for kids to smoke their cigarettes. Through their efforts government committees were formed, architects, historians and others became involved. The cave dwellers were made to relocate into more suitable dwellings and the caves were cleaned up. What was once the shame of Italy soon became a source of pride.

The face of moddern Matera stuns you. Mel Gibson upon seeing Matera and choosing it for his film, The Passion of Christ, said that he lost his head upon seeing Matera. He said it was Little Jerusalem.

I was to learn that Matera has had a human presence since the Paleolithic Age with the finding of human remains dating back 250,000 years. All around you can see the caves once home to people and you can see somewhat modern, albeit reclaimed, dwellings that are home to thousands of people today. Our hotel was once a 13th century church, the 8 guest rooms are carved out cave rooms, in the reception area a glass floor covers what was once a crypt. Our Sunday walk led us to a complex known as La Casa - La Caveso or Casa Cava,  a reclaimed cave that was once a quarry and later became a dump and then transformed into a modern auditorium that  hosts concerts and other entertainment events. Sound engineers positioned baffles to direct sound towards the audience and other engineers designed an a air flow system to balance the air quality for audience comfort. 

The complex is so named because the cave itself was a quarry that was once accessed through the floor of a house located approximately 100 feet above. The quarry was to later become a homestead. An opening was cut out in such a way as to maximize sun exposure for natural heating. In those early times it was common for people to live in their caves with their entire household, including their livestock! In fact the dung from their livestock was mixed with hay so that as it fermented it gave off heat to provide the warmth for the people. Reclamation of the cave was done in such a way as to use the basic infrastructure and to add only what was needed. They used what they called negative architecture whereby they would use something so simple as ledges for shelves or holes in the sides of the walls to create a second story floor.

We continued our hike, with the intention of circling the entire area of what some considered Little Jerusalem. We came upon locally important churches and sites such as the complex known as La Maddona delle Virtu - San Nicola dei Greci an ancient church and monastery carved right out of the rock. The old church itself has well preserved frescoes that depict Christian scenes there is a stair case that links the church to the crypt and monastery of San Nicola dei Greci. This sight was very important because of the location of barbarian tombs and the cemetery of the church giving archeologists the opportunity to find evidence of early human habitation.

The monastery, once a small crypt, became the home to a small group of nuns from Accon in Palestine. Once the religious groups had disbanded, the monastery later became home to farmers who moved in, establishing their home and even using part of the old crypt as their wine making room.

We continued our walk, taking in more of the sights and just marveling at the ancient beauty that we had discovered. When we started our walk at 11 am, our goal was to completely circle this architectural jewel that we had found. Six hours later, after walking up hills, down paths, over winding cobblestone streets, past homes and other tiny churces and satisfied that we had explored  everything that we could possivly find, we arrived back at our hotel. tired but satisfied that we were lucky to have found Matera. We appreciated the fact that Matera has not become commercialized, you don't find the cheap knick knack shops as in other cities. The majority of tourists that we saw were Italians, no tour buses with huge groups led by a banner bearing tour leader. Matera is a city with ancient roots of 2,000 years yet there is an modern side to it. Modern buildings sit a top ancient cave dwellings. The piazzas are the scene of modern social life. It's refreshing to see that people are embracing their history with pride and making a effort to share it with others. 

 Viva Matera!

Farewell Sorrento

May 10, 2014

Our time in Sorrento has come to a close so we must pack our bags and continue on. We say good bye to the managers of our apartment, a very nice average couple raising 3 kids. We thanked them for pointing out some excellent places for dinner and some other tips about their home town.

By now Gerri and I have come to know some of the lesser travelled streets to get to the car rental agency. After going through the necessary paperwork we get our car, a new Opel. After getting our luggage loaded into this little roller skate and then having a brief introduction to the vehicle itself, we set up our GPS and head out to meet the world of the Italian driver. Having driven in France, Spain and now Italy, I have to say that Italy has far more excitement for an American driver. 

The car we have is an Opel which at one time was owned by General Motors and sold in the U.S. by Buick. The car itself although considered a 4 passenger car is really only a 2 passenger car once you load your luggage in. So with luggage packed in, GPS set, we're off. We quickly find ourselves headed out of Sorrento and through areas whose names we are familiar with because of our train rides. Following GPS directions we seem at times to be going in circles as we make right turns, left turns, immediate right turns, immediate left turns, go straight and so on. Dodging other cars is one thing but the ubiquitous  motor scooters are something else. The motor scooters dart in and out of traffic like gnats as they buzz towards and around you. As you drive along at 30-60 kph on coming scooters will head straight down the middle of the road towards you narrowly pulling in behind another vehicle as if to see how close they can get to on coming traffic. In Italy you also have to expect people to be passing where they normally should not be passing, such as in blind curves. But all in all, once we got out of the urban areas and onto the auto strada (tollway) the ride was perfect.

The little pregnant roller skate that we were driving hummed along at 100 - 120 kph as we watched other drivers pass us while straddling the lane line all the way. As in France, Italian drivers do not know how to stay in their own lane. Yay for the Spaniards, they knew how to stay in their own lanes!

We rolled through country side for 50 miles on the auto strada, and then switched over to the super strada which was like a secondary freeway but with no tolls. We soon found why there were no tolls. While the auto strada was smooth and well maintained, the super strada was relatively smooth but quite like our Cal Trans projects in California, there were areas with lane closures for workers although there were no workers in sight, except for one area. In that one area the lane closure cones guided us off the highway but there were no signs to guide us back onto the highway. This was one time that the GPS fell down on the job. Although we were off the highway the GPS acted normally guiding us with turns until it almost guided us down what seemed like a cow path. We decided that something was not right so rather than trust our fate to an electronic master, we made a u turn to find the highway. Luckily Gerri had seen some other cars getting onto the highway that we were guided away from so we headed to that area. After squeezing past a barricade that was barely wide enough for our car, we were soon back on the highway for another 74 miles. It was really nice to see some of the Italian countryside rather than just the urban areas that we had been exposed to before. Before long we found ourselves in Matera. 

The hotel I had booked us into, L'Hotel in Pietra, had reserved a space for us in a nearby garage as the hotel is on a pedestrian only street. I had programmed the address into the GPS and so I expected few problems. I was wrong, the GPS had brain freeze number two. I had programmed the address of Recinto XX Settembre but the GPS had me make all kinds of turns within Matera until I was on a street named Vito XX Settembre and said I was at my destination which I could tell was not right. Finally after making some more turns and narrowly avoiding a ZTL which stands for Zona Traffico Limitado and is restricted only to permitted traffic at a hefty fine to violators, I found our destination.

The fellows at the garage were to also be our porters to the hotel as we would never had been able to find it on foot. Our immediate reaction to the area of the hotel, was one of breath taking awe! We had stepped back in time! More to come later! But first a nice cup of cappuchino to relax, get settled in then off to dinner!