Arriving in the South – Šibenik

The next day starts with me being picked up by a car-sharing member from Maribor to get to Croatia. Because he is not yet familiar with the new highways in Southern Slovenia the trip takes some time longer than expected, with a lot of mixed-language asking for directions and realizing that the map doesn’t show every tiny village. But time passes easily with good conversations in German and spectacular views of Croatian country side, the landscape gradually growing less green and more rocky. When we arrive at Zadar central bus station the heat grabs me firmly and it takes me some time to accept it as a part of the surroundings that won’t just go away. I catch a bus to Šibenik and wander down the promenade at the glistening Adriatic to find my hostel, a cute little family run place just in the second row off the promenade.

The girlfriend of the owner is visiting from Austria where she is about to finish her PhD in political science and so we share some thoughts on European integration – I learn about Croatian euroscepticism based on the three Bs: problems have come from Beč (Vienna), Beograd, Brussels – before she recommends some things to see in the old town and as the quick southern dusk begins to fall I set off through the picturesque maze of pathways and stairs. I realize that I’ve only been to Southern Europe twice, in 1988 and in 2003. After my summer in Egypt I enjoy walking in the warm and early dark without having to think about what to wear. A Croatian colleague in Germany recommended staying in Zadar rather than in Šibenik, as the former is bigger, but I like this small place. It is touristy, but not aggressively so and everything is within walking distance, the streets are full, but not over-crowded. The town’s dancing school set up a stage next to the Cathedral and later I run into a small men’s choir performing folk songs with a bit too much amplification. In some of the songs the whole audience sings along, I am reminded of Latvia. Amidst all the cheerful activity I also find some tiny alley ways in complete silence and the monastery’s garden, the air heavy with the smell of herbs.

Krka National Park contrasts Šibenik town life, although it is a popular destination, too. After some time of standing squeezed in between tourists and some old Croatians on the bus to Skrabin, I spend the day with Jan who stays at the same hostel and Tobias whom we meet on the bus. A boat takes the visitors up the river Krka that cuts into the shrub and forest covered limestone to the waterfalls, one of the main attractions of this park. Although the place is quite crowded with Croatian, German, British and Japanese tourists, people’s chatter is masked by two massive layers of sound, varying in intensity, but always giving everyone their own private space. The waterfalls are audible all the time and, invisibly sitting in the trees and bushes, crickets create the somewhat higher pitched second layer. While Tobias needs some more walking, Jan and I return to the bottom of the waterfalls. After so many stairs climbed in the heat, we spend a relaxing afternoon talking and swimming in the cool chalky water, easily with the strong current and struggling against it before returning to the hostel.

Jan has to catch his bus to Split and I take another evening walk, this time up to the fortress above the old town, the view is fantastic. And even though I’m really tired when I get home shortly before midnight, my second stay ends with a musical evening as well: A rock cover band from Zagreb, the The Second Hand Band, survived since high school, stays at the hostel tonight and Edi, the tour organizer and fellow medic, takes me to their concert in a nearby open air club at the promenade. They kind of manage to wake me up again for another hour or so, if you happen to be in Croatia definitely check if they are around!