Croatia: Suddenly, a family business.

SwimVacation’s first trip was run in April, 2008. My son Gaffney was 13 months old. A few days ago, I boarded a plane with him to come to Croatia, where he will be a SwimVacation guide for the first time, 18 years later. I couldn’t be more proud. Heather will have the same experience with her son, Finn, over the second week of this 2-week trip. 

Having never been to Croatia, I decided that Gaffney and I needed to spend a few days here in the wonderful little City of Šebenik, our home port for SwimVacation’s Adriatic operations. We explored every inch of this medieval maze of a place, then explored the natural and human history of the Krka River Valley, upstream from Šibenik. 

Like the rest of Croatia, Šibenik isn’t easy to pin down. It’s not one thing, it’s not one culture or one ethnicity or one language or one form of architecture or one cuisine. In the past, the region has been under the rule of local kings, the Roman Empire, The Venetian Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Yugoslavia. Šibenic is a place unto itself. Its galvanizing moment was arguably in 1648, when the Ottoman army had built up a sizable force just outside the City. Local leaders begged Venice for help and cash to build more fortifications. Venice dragged their feet, so the Citizens of Šibenik took it upon themselves to build better, bigger defenses in the form of Forts St. John and Barone. These are massive forts, built to withstand heavy cannon fire. Thousands of tons of stone and mortar, all placed by hand. Men, women and children all pitched in. When the Ottomans arrived, they were defeated soundly. Živio Šibenik!!

After a day of exploring the forts, including a large WW2 fortification with tunnels and underground rooms, we took a public bus to Skradin, a little town up the Krka River. This is the launch point for Krka National park. We met a few older Taiwanese women who tagged along with us. We took a boat up the river to a series of waterfalls, just an incredible shade of green water that is also very clear. The forest here holds lots of unique flora and fauna, and though crowded, it’s a wonder of a place. When our boat returned us to Skradin, we went for a swim in the river, cold brackish water on top, warmer salt water on the bottom. We expected the public bus to return at 2, but either it didn’t or we were standing at the wrong spot. Gaffney grabbed some snacks, and we sat on a wall for an hour before deciding to change tactics. Two Taiwanese women appeared, also having missed the bus (if there was one), as well as a young French couple. We all wanted to get back to Šibenik, so I called a number for a taxi, and a nice guy named Vedran showed up with a van and brought this newly formed family, representing 4 countries and speaking 4 languages, back to the City. 

I’m an archaeology junkie. For the past few weeks I’d been reading up on the history of this region, and what a jackpot of history, ruins, and stories. I reached out to a local tour guide, who, after hearing about the kinds of places I wanted to see, linked us up with a local historian/archaeologist/museum curator. Gaffney and I met them at a pre-arranged spot just up the hill from our apartment, found the car that was described, and out walks………Vedran, the guy who rescued us the day before. Total coincidence. He and Ana the historian brought us to Bribirska glavica, then Burnum and its museum, as well as some medieval castles each opposite the other, over the Krka River. The history was rich, going back to the paleolithic age, through Roman times, Medieval, Ottoman, modern. There were active archaeological digs, Roman tesserae strewn about, ancient burials. I could have died right there on the hilltop settlement of Bribiska glavica, a happy man. 

We finished with a visit to Roski Slap, at the upper end of Krka National Park. Here Gaffney and I had lunch at an old mill, owned by the same family for over 200 years. The proprietor met us with hugs and shots of his home made hooch, then seated us at a picnic table at the foot of a waterfall. We feasted on cured meats, bread, and olive oil. Sufficiently greased up, we jumped into the waterfall, a perfect ending to the day.     

Our last full day before work started included a visit to Šibenic’s 4th fort, St. Vincent, out in the harbor. A UNESCO site. You get there by boat, and Gaffney and I were the only passengers and the only souls in the fort. Later, we were invited by Ana to visit her museum, which was closed, but we got a private tour. Red carpet, indeed, Šibenik! 

SwimVacation co-founder, pro photographer, bla bla bla Heather showed up in the evening, and we showed her around the city before getting a nice meal by a 14th century church as the sun set. 

HP taking over here!

My first impressions of this place are that it has this unique combination of Mediterranean and eastern European. I’m not even totally sure what I mean, but I like it.

Flying to Serbia and on to Split, I jumped in a hired car to meet the guys in their Šibenik flat. Not a bad landing!

Having these two show me around their new digs was a great way to spend a Friday night!

Saturday! We met our crew for the first time, Skipper Ante and Chef Matea, in a nice local cafe for a quick cup of coffee (not for Hopper) and going over all the lists and plans and concerns. Nothing like planning a major operation with people you’ve only just met in person for the first time. We agreed on strategy and broke into teams for provisioning. Matea and Ante on food (so much food) and Hopper Gaffney and I on marina paperwork and all beverages.

Wow does this day change with a great big guy like Gaffney, also called Ghops, also called G. Regardless of what I called him, he lifted and carried all of the heavy things I could not but might have otherwise tried to. I was also on a mission to secure unlimited internet (though it may not work once we are wayyyyy out in the islands) and that was a three store 5 stop affair. Not the easiest but definitely not the hardest internet acquisition mission. A pizza stop definitely helped.

Anyway, it all went pretty well for a very long day, with the only hiccup being the minor tantrum I threw at dinner when I thought my backpack had been left behind in Vedran’s taxi. I sulked and stewed in my soup until we dragged back to the boat and Ghops found it buried under a pile of other gear. Night saved.

Guests will be here any minute and there are still a few things to be done. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for us in this new adventure.

Naprijed! (Onward!)

Hopper and Heather