Sibenik Croatia

Sibenik (the `s` has the little ^ on so is pronounced `sh`). 

Oh my goodness its hilly. The taxi driver gets a little lost but finally we stop at the top of a crazy hill overlooking the town. Our host comes out to find us, house numbers are as crazy as the ascent to get here. More steps lead us up to our perfect, quirky little studio. The polar opposite of the Zagreb apartment. This one is quaint and quirky. Dont get me wrong, its got everything you could need. Plus fabulous outdoor space. A little terrace for two outside our door (perfect for breakfast) and a bigger space to share with the neighbours. There is even a sea view. Terracota rooftops, ariels, wheeling swallows and darting nighttime bats. There is even a resident skinny black cat who sleeps all day, then goes off tom-catting all night. I am liking it here.

So, back to routine, dump the stuff and head downhill to see what there is to be seen. There is a mini-market and an ATM just down the hill. Getting back to the hill........this is a once a day hill! You do not want to have forgotten anything. Its a good walk, winding down along a part cobbled (yep, my favourite cobbles) and tarmac road. Mostly one car wide and no pavements. Once you get down there the town is a delight of winding alleys, crumbling buildings, cafes, bars, washing on high iron balconies, shutters keeping out the heat of the day. And by crickey, its HOT. We soon find a watering hole (beer!). Quench our thirst and find Tourist Information. There are two beaches, town beach is along the road about 500 metres. (Will admit we didnt get there. Too far and too many bars on the way). A local gentleman who started chatting said it was of mixed water, part sea and part river and advised the other beach reached by ferry bus. The ferrybus is about £1 each way. Tourist info` says it runs out on the hour, and back at 25 past. I am desperate to get my ankle in some cold sea water, so next day off we go.

The ferry trip out is lovely. The sea and the shore of rocky outcrops and pine trees remind us of happy times on Turkish gulets. When we moor up, the regulars pile off (form an orderly scrum!) and we follow along, there are some rather ugly concrete `beach huts` and then the beach front. A narrow strip of part concrete/part crazy paving. There are some bars, cafes, icecream stalls and baked goods stalls (the Croatians love a pastry). I quickly get changed in a changing tent. Rather like a canvas snails shell, these are regularly placed along the beach, jolly good idea. Norman is settled on a bench with a beer and I take my leg brace off and head for the water. I soon find out that the beach is of sharp nasty little shards of rock and once in the water the sea bed is of larger flattish stones the size of dinner plates. Once up to my knees in water I find the stones are wobbly. I cannot balance. Each little wave tests my balance and my dodgy ankle cannot compensate and the sea is too shallow to launch myself in. Gutted, I finally turn around, frantically summon Norman and he helps me out. I could weep. Nothing would usually keep me out of the water, I have been known to break the ice to get in for a swim. I will not give up!! There is a concrete jetty with rusty steps into deeper water, so off I toddle. It is so lovely, the water is cold and salty, I am careful not to over exercise my ankle so have a float and a bit of a lazy swim around. I dont stay in too long. Once out the sun soon dries me off and we head back to the ferryboat. And we wait, and we wait. Others come and wait too. Then we all inspect the timetable. Lots of head scratching later we realise the next ferry out is at 18:00! Thats two hours time! There is a road, but its probably a good 5 mile walk around the penninsular. No buses. No taxis. Just a long wait in the sun, or shelter under the pinetrees. Experience has told us pinetrees = mosquitoes. Oh, did we get bitten. We were head of the scrum getting back on that ferry! Ha ha, sh*t happens. Note to self: read the timetable yourself and dont rely on the word of others.

Sibenik - is lovely . There is a lot of history here, fortifications at sea and on land. Must admit to having a bit of a lazy week, and we didnt do much sightseeing, it 36-38 most days and too hot to visit ruins. So, sorry about that. We did go to the Sealife centre (its underground so nice and cool). They had a small but quite nice lot of exhibits, good too visit.

Food - the seafront has a good variety of bars and restaurants but again a bit touristy. We did have one meal there, I had a seafood pizza the size of a paving slab, Norman had grilled prawns (you buy by weight, which is good) and, of course, chips come with everything. There was enough food for four big greedy people! We couldnt eat it all and, to their credit, they offered to bag it for us to take home. JUST CUT THE PORTION SIZES! We found a fabulous restaurant a street inland. The tables were set on steps in an alley way and there was a lovely cool breeze blowing through the crumbly old buildings. Very atmospheric. We ate here 3 times in the week. All lazy lunches. Shared a bottle of wine! Normans favourite was grilled squid with potatoes and sea kale. I cant choose my favourite between pasta with seafood or a fabulous squid ink rissotto with seafood. Both delicious. The muscles come from farms visable along the coast. So fresh, plump and tasty. Note on memories page to get squid ink from `fish` in shoreham and make pasta when I get home. I know they sell it frozen in sachets. 

Evenings find us in the minimarket buying supplies then trudging up the hill. God, its steep and long, and winding, but the journey is worth it. Our little haven on the hill. A different kind of people watching here. These are mainly locals coming and going, walking the dogs, visiting neighbours, passing the time of day. Swallows swoop, followed by the bats as it gets darker. One night there were fireworks in the mountains. Most nights the thunder and lightning crackled and clashed but came to nothing much. We did have one rain shower, it chucked it down for 10 minutes then stopped. The smell was fabulous, rain on hot terracota roofs. The concrete of the terrace was fizzing! Bliss for a few minutes, then it turned into a sauna. Yuck. Thank goodness for air conditioning.

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