When we are not on the water in Croatia, we like to escape Split by heading into the hills behind the city.

Our favorite trail is up from the village of Sitno Gornje to the peak of Mosor. On the way is Planinarski dom Umberto Girometta at 868m above sea level. (A planinarski dom is a hiker’s hut.)

Hiking Club Mosor, Split (HPD Mosor) is responsible for maintaining the refuge – and one local family has been making the trek up there each weekend, with the supply-laden donkey, for the last 35 years, to feed us hungry hikers.

The rooms are basic (open every weekend of the year), but the food is hearty – especially the pasta fazol – bean soup with sausages.

Our Danish friends came with us one weekend – their report can be read here.

#1 – Time Out Croatia

We provided numerous pictures to Time Out Croatia for their current magazine issue, in exchange for our contact details being published, and they chose one. But imagine our shock when we opened the new issue to see that they had put our picture (seen above), uncredited as well, right next to a paragraph of text extolling our competitors, Adriatic Kayak Tours.

The saga continues…

#2 – Arista Nautica

The leut, Labud, is finished and ready to be launched. But she still sits in the shed at the Arista Nautica yards in Vranjic.

Why? Because two personal friends of David Hicks (one of the yard’s owners), Tim Jarman and Giles Weston, were doing the wrong thing by us business-wise – so we told them to pull their heads in or we would go to the police. The cowards got worried – as they are unregistered to live in Croatia – and ran to David. He demanded we pay $US20,000 before we can remove our boat from the shed. This was done in the hope we would be scared and leave his friends alone.

We told him to keep the boat and that we will see him and Don Marshall (the other owner) in the criminal and civil courts. There are no contracts between us and I have done in the last 12 months three design projects for David and Don and not asked for a cent.

The saga continues…

#3 – Motovun Elections

Local elections were held across Croatia on May 17. We made the pilgrimage in Motovun to vote. Our friend, Ranko Bon (seen below kissing the obligatory baby (Roklan)), was standing as a candidate for the Green Party in coalition with the Social Democrats. His candidacy was part of a continuing campaign to sustainably improve Motovun (and stop the proposed Jupiter Adria golf development).

The results were not as we had hoped. Firstly, the current mayor and IDS candidate, Slobodan Vugrinec, was returned. Secondly, Ranko didn’t earn a position on the town council.

Across Croatia there was a movement away from the center-right parties (HDZ and IDS) but the center-left party (SDP) didn’t pick up the vote – secondary parties and independents did. So in Motovun it wasn’t all bad news – IDS lost 3 seats (from 9 down to 6), SDP/Greens also lost a seat (from 4 to 3 (Ranko was 4th on their list)) and a new independent party got 4 seats. These Motovun independents, before the election, had voiced their concerns about the golf development – so we have to wait and see.

Mayor Vugrinec has already thrown a tantrum, stating he no longer wants the position if he doesn’t have an absolute majority in the town council!

The saga continues…

( In Split, after earning over 45% of the initial vote, Kerum will be in a run-off this weekend – which he is likely to win – and become our next mayor.)

Jane Cody, who is holidaying in England at the moment, wrote an article on her blog, Croatia Online, regarding Split’s renown Renaissance author Marko Marulić’s influence on England’s Henry VIII.

Jane does her self an injustice – describing her blog as not an in depth cultural resource on Croatia – her prose and subjects are definitely more professional than ours! Please have a read.

The picture above is of the statue of Marko Marulić in Voćni Trg in Split, by Split’s other famous artistic son, sculptor Ivan Meštrović. We always point it out during our Walking Tour of the old town.

Jane notes that Marulić is buried in Split’s Franciscan Monastery – the church and his tomb are shown above.

The Franciscan Monastery is the site of another of Split’s landmarks – our Modrulj Laundrette – and the church is our landlord.

Split’s a small town – almost 250,000 people – and the traditional wooden boat community is even smaller.

Tonka Alujević, our sea-faring friend and owner of Bonnie’s ‘favorite boat in the world‘, is also a journalist. The latest edition of Otvoreno More, the local nautical magazine, features her article on the Dani Hrvatske Male Brodogradnje (Croatian Small Boat Days).

Tonka’s vote for the fair’s best boat (pictured in the article) went to one built by Griša Čurin from Barka. Griša is the man in charge of the renovation of our boat – the Labud.

I’m not going to sugar coat it – it would be a difficult task to find rougher towns in Europe than some of the towns of Dalmatinska Zagora, such as Sinj, Trilj and Imotski.

But there are still hidden gems out behind the hills to be discovered. Take Restaurant Premijer.

Having given up searching for a restaurant recommendation between Sinj and Trilj, we took a gamble and decided to try it for lunch.

The first pages of the menu were given over to the specialties of the house. The restaurant had researched food from the period (late 2nd Century – early 3rd Century) of Roman Emperor Diocletian, a local lad. The main source was a text written at the end of the 3rd Century by Caelius Apicius.

Dishes included -

Cucurbitis Farsilibus – Zucchini Stuffed with Veal Brains

In Ovis Hapalis – Eggs with Pine-nut Sauce

Piscibus – Roasted Trout with a Sweet Herb Sauce

Globos – A Dessert with Honey

Muslum - Wine with Honey

They also offered other local foods – Aklie went for the Grilled Frogs with Pršut (prosciutto).

Split celebrates its patron saint’s day – Sveti Duje (Saint Dominus) – every 7th May. Duje was martyred in Salona’s arena by Diocletian. Restaurant Premijer, during the day, hosts, in the field next to the restaurant, an annual Romans versus Dalmatians soccer match, and, in the evening, they prepare their Roman food for a feast held in the basements of Diocletian’s Palace.

While Dalmatia’s traditional boats allowed for the movement of goods and people on the water, on the other side of the Dinaric Alps four-legged transport was used. Donkeys were used for the heavy work, such as lifting the grapes, while horses did the rest.

An event called the Alka is held in Sinj in August each year. This horsemanship challenge commemorates a victory over the Turks in 1715, but, unfortunately though interesting, it has become closely tied to Croatian nationalism.

Our friend Ivo has 50 horses not far from Split. He offers one day tours of the local hills, or a 7-day camping horseback expedition around the Plitvice Lakes National Park. Those interested should contact us at Lifejacket Adventures.

Emilio Mendušič was kind enough to show us the birds at his Falcon Centre on Saturday. Emilio and the volunteers have created one of the rare raptor rescue centres in Europe. Visitors can spend an hour walking around the compound, including the hospital, feeding the birds and being educated by the team. (For example did you know owls have serrations on the leading edge of their wing feathers that produce tiny vortices which reduce drag thus allowing the bird to produce only 0.1dB when flying?)

For those wanting to get in touch with their blue-blooded heritage, the centre also organizes 5-day adventure where guests are taught to hunt with falcons. Croatians that complete this package are then asked to become first responder volunteers – if the centre receives a call about an injured bird in their area the volunteer is called to make initial contact. There are now 75 volunteers around Croatia.

Conservation efforts are relatively new in Croatia – for most Croats the land and the sea are to be worked; caring for wildlife is way down the list of priorities. But several other rescue centres have appeared in the last 10 years.

Near Krasno Polje, below the North Velebit National Park (one of our favorite places to hike) is Kuterevo Bear Refuge – a small sanctuary for the local brown bears. Croatia still has a bear hunting season and cured bear meat can be found on the menu in some restaurants.

Unfortunately for local dolphins fishermen regarded them as competition for fish and destroyers of nets – so they were killed. With fish stocks also dropping the number of these mammals has decreased. The Adriatic Dolphin Project in Veli Lošinj is attempting to rectify the situation.

Eurasian Griffon Centre successfully lobbied for the habitat of these birds on Cres Island to be proclaimed Special Ornithological Reserves. They also run a rescue compound where injured birds are cared for, before being released to the wild.

Aklie wanted to see where SpongeBob SquarePants is from, so we went for a drive up the coast to Krapanj – apparently the smallest and lowest inhabited island in Croatia. Krapanj, located in the Šibenik archipelago, lies 300m from the mainland town of Brodarice and is best known for sponge diving and the unusual occupation of its women – fishing.

Antun, a monk from Crete, introduced Krapanj’s inhabitants to sea sponge gathering and processing over 300 years ago (beginning of the 18th Century). Diving for sponges became the major source of income for Krapanj families, earning them the title of Spužvari (Sponge Experts). And while the men were diving, their wives did everthing else – working the fields, rowing the transport boats and fishing (eventhough they did not know how to swim).

Every year the local divers gather over 4 tonnes of natural sea sponge from the surrounding waters – of mainly the Euspongia Officinalis Adriatica – Fine Dalmata variety.

Natural sponges have been used for bathing for millenia – as they are firm and durable yet soft. The Romans even used them for lining the inside of their armor. Compared to man-made sponges, natural sponges are much more absorbent and static electricity free.

Sponges are sensitive and require warm, clean seawater to grow. The unpolluted, relatively shallow waters (5m – 50m) around Krapanj provide perfect conditions for them to thrive.

If cut properly a sponge will regrow in the same place. As it takes a sponge 2 years to grow to 15cm, traditionally sponge diving was forbidden every third year in order to allow them to regenerate.

The Krapanj monastery museum permanently exhibits a show on sea sponge diving. Next door is the Hotel Spongiola – where you can take classes in the traditional way of collecting sponges – ‘free diving’.

Thanks to Tim Jarman for the picture of Krapanj – more of his pictures can be seen here.

Tim and I went to Šibenik today to sit the small boat skipper license (voditelj brodice) examination at the Harbour Master’s (Lučka Kapetanija) office.

If you do not have a licence from home or if you have a licence that does not contain a VHF-licence, you need to sit a short oral test to get a B Category License of Competency – similar to the Recreational Skipper’s Ticket in Western Australia. Apparently as no such national licensing regime exists in the U.S., Americans wishing to charter a Croatian-flagged vessel may be required to sit the test.

The license is valid for boats up to 30 registered gross tonnes and for less than 12 people. It allows you to travel 3nm from the coast or islands – given that the islands are so close along the Croatian coast, this means you can cruise to nearly all of them.

Locations of the Harbour Masters’ Offices can be found here.

You need to bring:

a. 815 kuna.

b. 40 kuna in tax stamps (from the closest newspaper stand).

c. your passport.

d. 2 passport photographs.

Some subjects of the examination are:

a. Navigation.

b. Navigational lights.

c. Right of way.

d. VHF radio procedure.

Amazingly there is no practical examination. They print a handy study guide and the test can be taken in Croatian, English, German, and Italian.

The staff of the Šibenik office were very friendly and helpful – unlike some of the characters found in the Split office, with whom we have had problems before.

While waiting for the test, Tim showed me some of his old haunts in Šibenik – I had never spent time there though its only 30 minutes from Split. The old town was quiet but in many ways nicer than Split.

The centrepiece of Šibenik is the Cathedral of St. James (Katedrala sv. Jakova).

The idea of building a cathedral originated in 1298 when Šibenik was given its own diocese. The actual decision to build it was finalised in 1402, though construction did not begin until 1431 and with minor disruptions lasted until 1536. Not much has changed in Croatia – this is a typical construction schedule even today!

It was built on the city’s south-side, where a Romanesque church had stood. The cathedral’s construction began in Venetian Gothic style, and was completed in Tuscan Renaissance style, due to the change over the years of the main architect.

In 1441 Juraj Dalmatinac (George of Dalmatia) was elected architect. At the time he was living and studying art in Venice. He had done some work there on Saint Mark’s Cathedral. Juraj, a devotee of the Late (Venetian) Gothic style, decided to enlarged the original plans for the cathedral, adding a side nave and apses. By the time of his death in 1475 he had also put up the basic constructive elements for the building of the dome and enriched the cathedral with numerous sculptures.

After the his death, Nikola Firentinac (Nicholas of Florence) took over the cathedral’s construction. Sticking to Juraj’s basic plan he however continued the building in Renaissance style, completing the top parts of the cathedral: the dome, the sculpture of Saints Michael, James and Mark, the roof complex and the upper part of the facade. Following Firentinac’s death in 1505, construction continued under Venetian constructors and local craftsmen.

The roof and the dome of St James’ are unique in the world. Like all the other parts of the church, they were made exclusively from stone (i.e. no wooden beams or clay tiles), using the same dry wall techniques Juraj Dalmatinac used while building the apses and the sacristy. The stone slab roof of the central and lateral naves form a semicircular vault visible from the inside as well as from the outside.

The dome of the church was heavily damaged during the shelling of Šibenik in September 1991. Today it has been fully restored with no visible damage.

The cathedral was consecrated in 1555 and in 2000 was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Andjelka, our cousin, got married the other day. Every good Croatian wedding needs several things.

1. Cars with horns blaring. Saturday is wedding day in Croatia, and weddings are not quiet events. The racket starts when the towns are filled with lines of cars, all with horns blasting, traveling from the grooms’ houses to the brides’ houses – where the grooms have to buy the brides from their families – before they all move on to the church.

Andjelka skipped this bit as the service took place in Trogir, a small medieval town with pedestrian-friendly narrow streets. Trogir is situated on a small island between the Croatian mainland and the island of Čiovo, about 27kms west of Split, and since 1997 it has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

2. Flag. The lead car always has a large Croatian flag flying from it. (No one seems to know where the tradition of having a flag at the front of the procession comes from.)

3. Band.Whenever there is a wedding (or any type of festival) in Dalmatia the folk band is dusted off and sings in front of the church, before and after the service.

The video above shows Tomislav Ivčić singing a Dalmatian party favourite “Večeras je Naša Fešta”at the 1986 Split Summer Festival. From the looks of it, he could do a mean Borat impersonation as well.

4. Pregnant bride. At about 80% of Dalmatian weddings the bride’s father is seen prodding the groom down the aisle with a shotgun. Thanks to the Catholic Church’s excellent safe-sex program many young kids are married in their late-teens or early-twenties – all so the Church will accept the expected baby. We saw three weddings one Saturday in Korčula – all teenage brides were 8 months gone. Andjelka, happily, was not in the family-way!

5. Flares. In front of the church, after the service, you could be mistaken that you stumbled upon a local soccer match. Croatians love to light a good flare, and the more the better.

6. Lots of food. Food is at the centre of every Croatian get-together. At the reception you are still being served food at 5am – pršut, cheese, black risotto or roast lamb.

Andjelka had her wedding at one of Croatia’s most interesting churches – the Cathedral of St. Lawrence (Sv. Lovre). The building of the cathedral started around 1200 and was finally finished in 1589, when the last storey of the bell tower was completed. (The bell-tower took so long to build that spanned four architectural styles – Romanesque, early and late Gothic, Renaissance and Mannerist.)

The west portal of Trogir cathedral is known as Radovan’s Portal after the master sculptor who carved his name on it in 1240. It is covered with sculptures of some one hundred figures. A series of reliefs with scenes from Jesus’s life, from the Annunciation to the Resurrection, occupy the concentric arches above the door. Adam and Eve, the Original Sinners, were placed on lions that flank the entrance.

The portal was completed during a period when Bogomilism was prevalent in Dalmatia, after it crossed over from Bosnia and Bulgaria at the end of the 12th Century. The Bogomils opposed the existence of a church as a fixed organization; they were also against the church possessing property and leveling compulsory tithes. The original Bogomil teaching preached disobedience to rulers and masters.

Bogomils explained the corporeal life as a creation of Satan, an angel that was sent to the Earth. Due to this duality, their doctrine rejects everything that is socially created and that does not come from the soul, the only divine possession of the human. Therefore, the established Church, the state, and the hierarchy is totally undermined by Bogomilism. That is why its followers refused to pay taxes, to work, or to fight for their state. The whole social system was to be overthrown.

They denied the divine birth of Jesus; refused all veneration to Mary; the miracles performed by Jesus were interpreted in a spiritual sense, not as real material occurrences; they had no special priests; prayers were to be said in private houses, not in separate buildings such as churches; they declared Jesus to be the Son of God only through grace like other prophets; they believed that the bread and wine of the eucharist were not transformed into flesh and blood, and icons and the cross were idols and the veneration of saints and relics idolatry.

The Bogomils were the revolutionaries that laid the foundations of Protestanism – so the Church tried to squash them!

The portal is influenced by them – it is orientated towards the more humane side of the Church – the Nativity instead of the Last Judgement.

So why is this interesting. Well, the name of the movement was bulgarus in Latin (meaning “Bulgarian”). It became bougre in Old French meaning “heretic, traitor”. It entered German as Buger meaning “peasant, blockhead” (and went on to English as bugger) and the French term also entered Old Italian as buggero and Spanish as bujarrón, both meaning “sodomite”, since it was supposed that heretics would approach sex (just like everything else) in an “inverse” way. The word in Venetian Italian became buzerar, meaning “to do sodomy”. So next time you say “Oh, bugger” you know where the it came from.