Exploring around Serget Donji, Croatia

Just up the road, by car about 20mins, is the seaside village of Promosten. It is an island joined by a wee bridge with and medievil streets, there is a really relaxed and uncrowded feel to the place and nice to see boats of all shapes and ages.....not just floating gin palaces. 

( Remember click on the pics to zoom in for more detail)

In the late afternoon when it was cooler we wandered around Trogir, 10mins walk from our apartment. Another fantastic medievil walled town with fortress lookouts around the island waterways to protect the town from pesky invaders over the centuries.  

Trogir cathedral and bell towers are stunning, less crowded than Split and just as historic. 

The Cathedral of St Lawerence  (13-15th century) has the most amazing Romanesque portal with the intricate carvings that are beyond capturing on my little snappy camera.

The Cipiko Palace, the city logia, the main square with the Church of Sebastian and clock tower, the back lanes with marble paving stones polished smooth from centuries of pedestrians....history buffs would love Trogir as it's so accessible and there is so much to see and of course there are plenty of cafes to rest up in and reflect on what you have seen.

The City Logia

Ivan  Mestrovie Bishop and Vice-roy 1471

Nicholas of Florence, relief over the judges table 15th century

We had drinkies with our apartment neighbours and were treated to Croatian delicacies, cheese, ham, bread and local wine and it was great to have the 'on the ground' political situation exp!ained to us. Not only is the Croatian progress in the European Football Cup a hot news topic but so is the vote of no confidence in the government..... interesting times.

There is so much to take in and we have seen so many wonderful places we have to be careful not to become blasé.....but each new experience has its own history with a twist which keeps it all fresh and we are still loving every minute.

Tomorrow we cross three borders, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina and Montenegro on the way to Kotor.  No scuplture  today, just the fabulous Trogir pics, what a place!

Split and environs

Drove down the coast from our little village of Serget Donji to the Makarsa Riviera, 60k's of coastline dotted with beaches and bays and coves and beautiful blue water.  It was hot, hot, hot so we swam along the way...gorgeous water. It's a tiny strip of land between the sea and the towering mountain Biokovo .  Really stunning.  

Refreshed from our dip we headed back to Serget but stopped at Split along the way . 

Split is a big hub for  all the ferries out to the islands. We had thought of going out to an island from Split but think it's very touristy and will go from Trogir or from Serget...the ferries are close by leave  so may be  easier .  That said , the old town and Diocletian Palace ( erected in the 4th century)  behind the old city walls has to be seen to be believed, it's incredible. It's the second largest city in Croatia, behind the city walls is a myriad of ancient buildings, over 200 buildings of significance and more history than you can shake a stick at.  And there is still washing hung up in the alleyways👍.

Sculpture of the day....Gregory of Nin ....Google him....very interesting.

Croatia, stunning countryside

Saturday 18 June

On Thursday 16th we drove to the north of Italy and into Slovenia and on to Croatia. It was a long day of driving and when we finally got to Croatia our Navman stopped working....no Croatia maps, yikes!  It makes you realise how dependant you are on technical devices when you don't have access to them. We took a few wrong turns, went back into to Slovenia twice and then finally made it to Rijeka, whew...one day we will laugh about it......maybe.   Friday 17th a new day and a beautiful coastal drive down to a small village called Serget  Donji,  just up the road from Trogir, about half an hour from Split where we have rented a friend's holiday house. How lucky are we, this is such a perfect spot.


The coastal drive was spectacular, what a land of stark contrast, deep blue water, craggy sheer amountains, amazing aqua blue water in little fishing bays and coves. The coast road to Split must be on a motorbike 'great rides' itinerary as we saw so many groups of bike tourers enjoying the coast.

(Remember to click on the pics to zoom in)

We will be in Serget for six nights, the  apartment is  2mins walk  from the beach and marina, what a spot, it's magic. The charter boats leave here for the islands and there is just a constant stream of boats coming and going, great entertainment just sitting on the deck with a wine and taking it all in.

Very hot so swimming required daily.

Tomorrow more exploring.

Lake Garda, Peschiera and Sermone del Garda

Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th June

On Tuesday we left quiet little Diano Marina and headed along the Italian Riviera for the north of Italy. It was lovely along the coast road but slow going for a big stretch, 50k's/per hr, lots of trucks avoiding the toll roads like us.   A big day of driving fortified by pizza....ever seen a 50inch pizza.....yikes

We were headed for Manderba del Garda on the western shore of Lake Garda but when we got to our hotel it was a dud....so backtracked to Peschiera del Garda on the southern shore and scored a great last minute hotel.....whew! Incredible thunder and lightening storm Tuesday night, the sky lit up every 5  to 10 seconds, the kids at the hotel (school soccer team) loved it!

Peschiera del Garda is a gorgeous little lake town with a very big lake on its doorstep, Lake Garda. It was at one time  under Austrian rule and has an island fortress which is spectacular, the fortress played a key role in the Napoleonic wars and until as recently as 2002 there was a military jail on the island.  It's pretty as a picture and you can hire boats or bikes or just relax in the waterside cafes.

The Porta Verona is very impressive and again it's a functioning part of the roading system.

Check out this little fella, I think it's a Grebe, there were a lot of them and one had a chick floating along on her back.

There was a really laid back feel to Peschiera and you could easily spend a few days here and do some of the walking and biking tracks, they are all flat too which is a bonus.

Sermione del Garda

About 30 minutes by car up the road Sermone is super to see, it's an island with a picture book castle, Castillo Scaligero, totally pedestrianised and very, very touristy. It has hot mineral springs and there a lot of super deluxe motels/spas on the island that have waterfront private areas.

Lake Garda is vast and in winter with snow on the mountains it must look stunning.

We walked to the far end and found a beautiful dappled shade park with white hydrangeas that had flower heads as big as dinner plates, peaceful away from all the coach tour groups.

We also found a great exhibition on the history of Italian motor racing, all photos gorgeously exhibited and in an uber chic  marble building (cool in temp👍) and we were the only ones there. Great photos.

Grebe  and fish everywhere in the castle waters 

Sculpture of the day comes from Peschiera del Garda lake front.....freedom and liberation!

From the French Riviera to the Italian Riviera, Diano Marina and Cervo

Monday 13 June

Diano Marino is on the Ligularian coast and is a sleepy little beach town that survives through tourism and it's olive oil production. There are many retired folks here that spend their day on the beach promenade, playing bocce or just sitting and taking in all the activity waterfront, very traditional Italian culture .

We had free hotel bikes for the day so we plonked our togs in the bike baskets and set off exploring. Great little town for cycling and we found an old New Zealand yacht at the marina.....did someone forget to take it home to NZ?

It does seem strange that in most places to access the beach you have to pay as the vendor has obviously paid the council a permit fee for x space on the beach. We biked down a little alleyway and it popped out onto a public beach so we noted that spot for later.....we had a hill to bike up....to Cervo, we spotted the church and the hill and thought thats for us and off we went.

You can see the bay of Diano Marina  in the distance.....great bike ride on old clangers.

Cervo is a small ancient town built  on a hill with the spectacular church we saw from the beach, the Church of San Giovanni Baptista. It's stunning,  Can't  get it all  in with my little camera.

The church has amazing frescoes and marble  alters, it's wonderful. It is high baroque style and was started in 1686 and survived a  major earthquake in the 1800's

The little village is pedestrianised and is gorgeous, flowering Jasmin and bougainvillea everywhere, little shops and not too many touristy cafe type places, the locals protect the village authenticity.

We biked back and jumped onto the sea at the spot we found earlier....fantastic!

Sculpture of the day comes from Diano Marino waterfront.