DAY 6 - DUBROVNIK

6) SUNDAY, 3 JULY 1977: 212 KMS. - DUBROVNIK

At the city point in SPLIT, where we were in the morning for textile-free sunbathing and swimming, it was not a beach but rocky area.  It was exciting to see people sunbathing in nude, mixing both men and women of all ages, like I had ever been once at Tisvilde beach  in Denmark.

Today's scenery on the way from SPLIT to DUBROVNIK remained the same coastal road  and looked almost the same, it didn’t change much with serpentine detours.  Sometimes it was rather tiring, if not for the natural beauty of the coast and the mountains. Strange, I felt a bit boring today. There were also signboards written "SOBE" periodically on the roadside, announcing about rooms availability for rent due to the holiday season. We wanted to take a break during the way for having some baked fishes but  were afraid of late arrival in DUBROVNIK and loose our chance to look around the city.

Old walking street of Dubrovnik - Photo : Bing images search

About 5.00 pm., we arrived DUBROVNIK and found a parking spot under pine trees near the old castle. An ordinary car with a sticker NL from Holland has already parked there, the owner seemed to sleep in the car to save his hotel bills. After parking,  we started our way to have a walk around, mixing with many pedestrians.  They were both tourists and local inhabitants,moving around on the main old roads of the city like in other cities we passed earlier. We met several groups of American tourists too.

Photo : Bing images search

The main interest of the city was located in the medieval fortifications and castles. The city was founded in the 7th century, has been on important lines of navigation. Adjacent to the walls of the old fort there is an aquarium that typically exhibits various types of fish with strange body patterns and colors, as well as various marine animals but we didn’t really want to enter inside. I think I've ever seen something the same already once at the WILHELMA Aquarium in STUTTGART.  

 

 

In addition, on the island not far from DUBROVNIK, it is a popular natural attraction for those who like sunbathing naked, they can do it freely without being worried to be looked at or commented by anyone.

Photo : wikimedia.org / Bing images search

The city of DUBROVNIK is famous for its beauty that tourists want to visit  to admire, including an Irish writer George Bernard Shaw, who visited here in 1929, giving credit to DUBROVNIK as a heaven on earth.  He said "If you want to see heaven on earth, come to Dubrovnik."   

Photo : Bing images search

(Note :  In 1979,  it has been registered by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site - Wikipedia.)



Interesting YouTube Video about Dubrovnik : 

DAY 5 - SPLIT

5) SATURDAY, 2 JULY 1977 : 188 KMS. - SPLIT

Around noon, leaving ZADAR along the Adiatic coastal road to BIOGRAD, PIROVAC, SIBERNIK until we reached SPLIT. Almost every town and city along the coast, with beaches or rocky shores not too steep, there were people swiming in the sea and sunbathing everywhere.

From Zadar along Adriatic coastal road to Split

Yugoslavia is popular with those who enjoy the sun without wearing clothes but lying naked on the beach (FKK), no less than in the Scandinavian countries. If we intentionally looked in between the rocks, we might have spotted naked people.

A beach at Adriatic sea - Photo : Bing image search

SPLIT is a large city, many people strolling on the road along the shore, lining with palm trees planted on both roadsides. It looks so beautiful like the Mediterranean atmostphere. There were many souvenirs available, probably because of a lot of tourists there.

 

Split (Croatia) - Photo : Bing images search

I spotted nice sandals with interesting weave pattern and a single leather thumb strap, it should be traditional style. There were also nice decoration dishes for wall hanging, painted in a pattern with exotic color inviting shoppers to buy.  I asked for the price of a very beautiful blouse, full-front Cross Stitch embroidered with indigenous design, it costed up to DM 50.- !  So I did not think to buy one. Other well-known souvenirs should be carpets with geometric design, carved woods, table-linen and crocheted napery. But  prices were not cheap as they are all handmade.

 

Split promenade - Photo : Bing images search

Here in SPLIT, I met a Yugoslav who has worked in STUTTGART accidentally and found out that he knew my junior friend Marinsa as well.  He asked me if I wanted to join with him and friends for sun–bathing in the morning at the end of the city point, a popular spot for naked sunbathing and swimming. 

 SPLIT - CROATIA

Aerial view of Split - Phot : travel-slovenia.com / Google images search

Wikipedia :

Split is a city in Croatia situated in the Mediterranean Basin on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centred around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its bay and port.
Population: 178,192 (2011)
Area: 79.38 km²

 

DAY 4 - ZADAR

4) FRIDAY, 1 JULY 1977: 226 KMS. - ZADAR

Bought  a postcard and sent to my sister in the  morning.  We continued on our route, leaving RIJEKA at  9:00 am. to ZADAR in the south.  On the mid-way between  NOVI VINODOLSKI and  SELEC, we stopped by at coastal area on a nice shady spot under the  trees  for our  brunch and cleaning  inside the campervan.   What we had to do - simply opened canned food that we brought along and  just heated it - breakfast and lunch at the same time !

From Rijeka along Adriatic coast to Zadar

Probably I didn’t sleep well last night, I felt asleep right after I finished my meal, from noon to 3.00 pm.  I was  waken up by Tilo, persuading me to go swimming.  Whoa, the water was very cold. It was not a real beach but rather a sharp  rocky area underwater that  Tilo’s hand was cut accidentally.

Then heading toward ZADAR, we took the coastal road along the Adriatic sea. On one side of the coastal  road is carbornate sediments / limestone type  mountainous land , looking like  semi- desert grassland.  In some areas , there were dried brown grass bushes bordered by sporadic small clusters . 

 

Adriatic sea - Photo : Pudelec / Bing images search

It was nice but rather  taking longer time to drive along circuitous detours by the rugged nature of Adriatic coastal road. Most of all, it could be very dangerous  if reckless, as on the other side of the road is cliff overboard.

I saw many small advertising boards written in German “ZIMMER”  which should be meant that rooms were available for rent along the road.  

Zadar - Photo : Bing images search

It was  about 9.00 pm. when we reached  ZADAR  and went out to take a look around. The city is not large compared to RIJEKA  and  there were more people walking  to and fro, especially the teenagers .  

I also noticed today that  women in rural areas mostly dressed in black clothing, just like most farmers in Thailand countrysides.

II. YUGOSLAVIA - FRIENDLY YUGOSLAVS

DAY 3

3) THURSDAY, 30 JUNE 1977 : 270 KMS. - RIJEKA

Villach - Photo : discoverthetrip.com / Google images search

Finally, I bought  a flat cartridge for powder puff for my mother, a colorful silk embroidery  with Cross Stitch pattern of  small flowers on a black cloth.  This embroidery style is one of typical characteristics of craft souvenirs of the TYROL region.  The workmanship was not really neat and I had to go back to change it twice (costed 118 shillings).

Route from Villach/Austria to Rijeka/Yugoslavia

About 10 o'clock in the morning , we were heading  for WURZEN PASS to cross the AUSTRIAN  border to YUGOSLAVIA.  Again like yesterday, we had to drive across mountain ranges as well. There were curves and slope of 18% steepness .   We climbed up very slowly with full acceleration. So I sat praying  all the way again, hoping  there wouldn’t be any problem  since we were successful yesterday in  conquering (crossing) the GROßGLOCKNER  already.

The scenery  from  WURZEN PASS to the city of NOVA GORICA was beautiful  and different from what we saw yesterday.  They were rugged mountains, less trees but  small waterfalls , glaciers and streams flowing  into a river. The highest part of the road  is at 2,000 meters above sea level.

 
 

Water in streams and river are very clear and  have really beautiful turquoise color, similar to that of the ocean. There were pretty little wild flowers with shocking pink color  on the way, that I asked Tilo to stop to pick up  4-5 flowers  for the vase (pretty much look like a carnation but very tiny  like “Zwergnelken” ).

Beautiful turquoise river along the way to RIJEKA - Photo : Bing images search

We passed through the border checkpoint today with no problem. It was more convenient than expected.  I was afraid that our small Ivy, planted in glass bottle in the van might be confiscated at the border but fortunately we were only asked to  open the rear doors for routine checking. We were  finally  allowed to pass into YUGOSLAVIA.

Photo : Bing image search

Gasoline fuel and diesel in YUGOSLAVIA  were cheaper  than in GERMANY . Anyhow, there were not many gas stations . Not long after passing the border, we  stopped to buy some fresh cherries from many stalls along the road. We thought it was so cheap but we were wrongly calculated exchange rate of the money.  In fact, it is more expensive than in Germany , about 50 Pfennig per pound.

  

High roads and Rijeka bridge, along the way to RIJEKA - Photo : Bing images search

From NOVA GORICA we  headed to the city POSTOJNA, crossings  to the south to RIJEKA, a major port  of YUGOSLAVIA.  The route between RAZDRTO  to POSTOJNA was a very good road and a motorway like an Autobahn in Germany but we had to pay using fee.  However, we didn’t want to spend extra money for this comfortable drive, we then turned back to normal route .

Rijeka port - Photo : Bing images search

From POSTOJNA we faced the bad weather, heavy rain and very dark road.  Tilo had to drive very carefully to RIJEKA . We arrived about 9.30 pm., still having time to walk around to see people and the city. 

Photo : Bing image search

In general,  RIJEKA is very modernized for a socialist country, shops,  merchandises,  and people. Teenagers  are not much different from any cities in Europe,  the style and outfits they dress just like those in other European  cities - quite modern .  But in small towns that we passed, I could see the poverty of the people .