Croatia

I honestly didn’t leave Croatia with a real good sense of the place. There is tons of amazing stuff that I could have explored from all the recent fighting in the Balkans. I did see buildings that had been bombed and walls with bullet holes in them, but I didn’t learn as much as I should have.

After a week in Egypt, we had two really rough days at sea, and then five days in Turkey, followed by two more rough days at sea before we got to Croatia. I just didn’t have the time or energy to do the research that I needed to.

I had a wonderful time in Croatia though, really enjoyed sailing through the islands, and thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of the place.

As far as Croatian culture, I didn’t pick up a whole lot. It was a lot like America in that people don’t smile and mind their own business. People weren’t interested to talk to us at all. There did seem to be a lot of café culture. The cafes were always filled with people socializing. It definitely has a European feel to the place.

I think that a very significant part of Croatia’s economy is based on tourism. Almost every other Croatian person I talked to started their sentence with “Well, during tourist season…” After the summer, the place seems to close up. Keep in mind that this is was just in the southern coastal region. I have no idea what it is like in the capital Zagreb or elsewhere up north.

The Green Peace’s “Rainbow Warrior” was docked in Dubrovnik the week that we were there. These guys are about has hardcore as hippies can get. They drive their little boat in between whales and the whaling boats that are shooting huge grenade loaded harpoons at them. Pretty Cool!