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With a girlfriend to the sea, again! The August 16th and 17th
You can come back on the previous part of this travelogue here.
The August 16th
If you don't want to read, skip the text and see the images of this day here.
You can see the map of this day of the journey here.
One should not worry, because what we worried about, does not usually happen.
Today we have about thirty kilometres to the Split town without any major climbs. So, an easy ride. However, we are driving along the Adriatic main road, which is more than loaded with vehicles along this section we shall riding, between Omiš and Split. Does that mean the ride will look like the riding by the Neretva Canyon look like !?
To catch as much fresh morning as possible, we were up very early, just after six.
Again with almost no effect, because by the time we woke up, did the morning toilet, packed the tent and put on everything on the bike, it was past half-past eight.
Upon leaving the camp, I felt a little dizzy with the astonishment of how much these two nights had cost us. Otherwise, I was still under the impression of Bosnia and it's understanding of values that were far cheaper than here on the Adriatic coast. While we traversed the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina, we spent an average of 76 kunas (about 10 €) a day, by which we got all - both food and drink and sleep, where we had to pay for it, here prices were high, very, very high. Not to mention too much, two nights of peaceful sleep in the camp for the two of us cost a total of about HRK 680 (about 90 €) - with the assurances of the beauty from the reception that we were lucky because we received a 10% discount.
Next time, if it happens at all, I'll think carefully about visiting this camp.
And maybe it's a problem in me (it's mostly a problem in me). It will be that I have unrealistically lowered the acceptability scale, apparently spoiled by prices in Bosnia, so now I would like to pay only a few coins for the "most beautiful sea in the world".
We did not ride far, only to a large shopping mall where we supplied up on food and drink for this day. This time, my companion thought it appropriate for her to do so, and I stayed outside to watch the bikes and watch the surroundings.
As you can see from the image above, someone has hired their best friend for the job of bicycle-keeping, who with patience, which dogs have only, waited for his boss come back.
This bike parking lot was made in an cute and original way. For someone who didn't immediately understand what it was about, there was a model bike strapped by the chain for a stainless steel tube. That way, every cyclist, no matter what his mother tongue, knew of what these twisted tubes are for.
Did it seem to me, as it is typical for us men to do when we wait for women to shop, that this shopping of my wife has prolonged, or so it has been really, mostly that feeling was amplified by a large cloud covering the sun? As soon as the sun disappeared, the wind, less fresh and cooler, immediately found itself to seize the opportunity, because later the sun would scatter such clouds around. And it got kind of colder, maybe because I did already, on the verge of nervousness, standing and I did not move.
Everywhere you go, always take the weather with you, as that song says (Crowded House: "Weather With You"), here it turned out to be true. As soon as my companion arrived withful of bags, that cloud receded, shifted away and let the sun warm us in a manner typical of the summer morning of the Mediterranean.
We were traveling toward the northwest, so the sun was somehow right behind us. And as the hill is to our right, often the cool fresh shade was our companion that morning.
After an hour's drive, we decided to find an interesting and enough comfortable place to rest. I fact, it found us. It looked attracted to us at first glance, so we stopped for that rest. But it was so comfortable in the scent of pine and its thick shade that we just didn't go any further. More for prolonging our stay, and less as the cause of hunger, we started preparing the breakfast table. After all, it was already half-past ten, which could be declared the right time for the first daily meal.
There was also a small pebble beach, still under the shade of this pine tree that covered us too. On this beach, two moms with their children came for a morning swim, that is, the kids came for a swim and the moms for a relaxing vacation in the shape of lying on the shore. All the beauty of the last night was kept in the calm surface of the sea, a happy squeal of children gave out how much pleasure they had in splatter in the sea, and again the moms finally got a minute of peace and quiet in the shade of the pines. How nice it would be that these conditions can be kept going for some small eternity! But maybe that's the beauty of it - just that it's transient. Remembering that kind of thing should encourage us, empower us when those other, not very pleasant, moments come. Of everything in the world, the only change is constant.
The message expressed in the first sentence of the description of the present day has proved to be true for the time being.
I correctly estimated that traffic would be heavy, but I was wrong that this heavy traffic would be fatal to my companion. Fortunately, the Neretva Canyon did not repeat because traffic was slow and did not cause that psychological unpleasant impression of a gust of wind when the vehicles were overtaking us. They even exaggerated this slowness, because a column formed in our direction, whose average speed was less than ours. Because of this, the impression, even the pleasant one, that we are the ones who are in charge of the traffic has emerged, so we were overtaking the column, the truth from the, not quite legally allowed, right side. It lasted for quite a while, at least 3-4 kilometres. In comparison to the vehicles that we first passed in the column, we gained a nice advantage.
Somewhere behind the Stobreč place, some ten kilometres before Split, the main road widens into a kind of highway, where tin pets get their five minutes in the form of speeding. It is understandable that retardants in the form of as snail-slow bikers on that highway have nothing to look for or do. Because of this, we turned left at the traffic light in the direction of the signpost on which Stobreč was written. Otherwise, contrary to expectation, the cause of that crowded convoy, which gave us unexpectedly pleasant driving moments, was not a traffic accident, but a traffic light. I guess in the course of a century, one of the relevant authorities will realize that traffic density is not the same on the highway and on the access road to Stobrec, and will adjust the traffic light automation accordingly. Thus, the miserable traffic light lives in the mistaken belief that indescribable crowds rule equally on both roads.
When that happens, I probably won't be alive, so now, while I am in this area, I am turning with pleasure towards that place Stobreč. Although the main road ride was, as I said, unexpectedly interesting, I still prefer the local thoroughfares.
Before finding that local road toward Split, we were treated to an abundant shade downtown. These small Dalmatian towns are shyly hidden from the big tourist centres, but when you are discovering it, they open their then hidden charm and beauty with all of its heart.
Whatever we do, and however hard we try, but we always rode uphill in the warmest sun. Maybe it's not (just) up to us, maybe those uphills came in front of us just in the middle of the day. Either way, the impression remains that the uphills love us just when the heat is high.
When we finished with enjoyment in the shade we set off from Stobreč by the local road, so narrow that two cars could not be passed over, but still paved.
It was just a few minutes before noon. We were breathing very hard and we were sweaty too, while we were riding by the uphill. It looked like the wind was particularly interested for us, which seemed to catch our breath as it watched us. Because of this, the air around us seemed as it stopped, further enhancing the feeling of heat and therefore the weight of the ride.
We rode zig-zag past greenhouses and hothouses where vegetables were prepared for the hungry inhabitants of the city of Split. Some of these greenhouses/hothouses were in a really poor state and even abandoned. Globalization has also peeked into these hidden corners, bringing with it the strange logic that it is cheaper to import something from Zanzibar or New Guinea than to produce it here, in front of consumers. The quality of production and the reliability of the products produced here versus those imported, not to mention. But who am I to judge !?
We managed to overcome this 3 km of uphill, and after a more or less straight but winding ride we came to the first signs of urban Split. On a wide, normal, road, which in addition to modern residential blocks has street status, we steeply descended past the Hotel Zagreb to the coast.
This coast in front of us, by which we continued to drive, is of recent date. It is additionally decorated with the Pope's arrival in Split, so now it becomes practically the beach of the inhabitants of Split in these summer days. That is because along the road, which is surrounded by parking and walking area, is a sequence of beautiful pebble beaches.
We still have plenty of time to get to the train at nine o'clock tonight, by which we return home. So we took the liberty of taking a lavish swim on these freshly landscaped beaches. More precisely, this was done by my companion, while I, still irritated by the temperature of the seawater, swam only once. Just for not to offend my companion.
More interesting than (for me still) cold water, to me, was the environmental sightseeing. So I discovered that we had chosen a place to rest and swim right on the beach of the Radison Blue Hotel, by which we inadvertently entered the well-to-do European upper class who find summer holidays right here.
Children are known for their abundance of energy and fitness, provided they find it interesting, and conversely, for their impatience and squabbling, if they are boring. So that they wouldn't be bored, the creators of this beach have mounted various elements here that arouse imagination and curiosity to " the children which are our future".
As we had been satisfied with the "most beautiful sea in the world", we slowly packed up and, we drove slowly along to the sea. Something before the Bačvice baths, the road led us from the sea and we searched through the town for a way to the train station.
We saw that station from the bridge. when I turned to the sea, I saw what it looks like, in all its modesty, the end of the rail line that leads from the north to the once long-awaited sea.
There is also the famous Bacvice beach, the pride of the town, sung in many Dalmatian songs. The large, shallow, sandy beach allowing enjoying, as is the beach football, known locally as "picigin".
It was long past the time for lunch, to which my stomach was reminding me, louder and more impatiently. I asked him to take a little patience, and in return, he would get real and rare satisfaction in the form of ćevapi with onions and ajvar (paprika sauce), with a draft beer inevitably served in this place. All this was found in, at least to me, the famous fast food restaurant that I have known since Orwell's 1984 when I have been here in a Navy of a state that is no longer present (ex Yugoslavia).
Let's call this special lunch in the centre of Split as our ultimate goal today. Considering that until the departure of the train at 9 pm we have plenty of time, we had leisurely, relaxed enjoyment of the town and its summer crowd.
We prolonged lunch, as much as we felt comfortable doing because we had a lot of time. And, as I said, everything looks extra beautiful when you're not in a hurry.
That fast-food restaurant "Kantun Paulina" was really in a strategic location. On the paved, polished, stone slabs on which only the pedestrian's feet could walk, and maybe some bicycle wheel too, a throng of pedestrians of all ages and nationalities were constantly passing that afternoon. Sitting just a foot away from them with lunch, it was interesting for us to watch them. I guess we were just as interesting to them because we were getting a curious look. So in that old street, there was a constant change of look, smile and cheerfulness. A real summer enjoyment.
As I mentioned before, I was in this town in the military thirty years ago. The enthusiasm for this town, and especially for its old part, and the waterfront, which then overwhelmed me, every time I find myself again in this city, appears with equal intensity. Another confirmation of my belief that the memories of things that make our soul tremble do not fade over time.
Arriving at the waterfront, we chose one of the benches under the palm trees and settled there. In fact, the bikes settled, while we took to tour the town. As we have a lot of time, we decided that it would be an extra burden for us to push loaded bikes along the rugged stone slabs of the very narrow streets of the old town, on which were a lot of tourists and locals.
As always the ladies go first, so my companion was the first to receive her handful of time for the tour the town, and I was a faithful guard dog which was guarded and watched over the lavish of the property of my master with a watchful eye. So, I really, with one watchful eye, watched on the rest of our loaded bikes peacefully, and with the other eye, I watched the surroundings and the events in it.
And what did my other eye see !?
In the general notion of crowds, she was also at sea. A huge ferry sailed from the Split harbour in the direction only known to him, while a cruiser ship found a place in the Split harbour. It patiently waited for his passengers, not very poor people, who went to visit the town and who knows how many times they sighed. Oh, beautiful! "
It will be that the imagination has taken me who knows where while I was imagining how is it and what is all on that cruiser, because, totally unexpectedly for me, my companion appeared with the statement "It's your turn!"
Well, when it's my turn, I'm going to visit the city of my youth.
In the well-known People's Square, from the narrow streets of Diocletian's Palace, I suddenly find myself in an abundance of spaces where, as well as all over the old town, a lot of people is walking around. There is also an old building in this square that has the role of a town hall. I admit it's impressive to me that such a big town has such a small town hall. It will be that this is for the public, while the administrative apparatus of the town is likely to be housed in a newer mastrodontic building of the Socialist type.
There is also Peristyle Square, the heart and soul of Diocletian's Palace, where performances of Split Summer are performed. This time it was new, or more precisely, restored to look like as new. Quite differently, in the black ugly form, it looked nine years earlier when I was on my past journey of the same type as now.
And now, again the gift of the Lord from heaven!
Arriving at the entrance to the church of St. Duje (located here in Peristil Square) I noticed that for 15 kunas (2€), I could climb by the intricate stairs in the bell tower, to the top of it, and from there to look at the town. I would have paid more for this pleasure, much more, so I hurried until the guy at the entrance who was allowing entry to the visitors, wouldn't change his mind.
When I finally climbed the tower, I saw the city in the palm of my hand and enjoyed watching it in the gentle, warm, summer breeze of dusk. The general atmosphere of what I see, hear, feel on the skin and with the other senses is magnificent and, as such, advisable to anyone. These are (again) those moments when one forgets about this world and all its troubles, problems, misgivings and expectations, and moves to a place where only cheerfulness, delight, joy, and everything else which I cannot describe, no matter how hard I try, except the one already mentioned earlier in the description of this journey, the trembling of the soul.
So let's go!
I saw a train and bus station, and a barely visible bridge over the rails behind it, from which I filmed the Split railway station.
There is also the legendary Split Harbor Master's Building, with many boats at sea, the series of which ends with a quiet but proud colossus of cruisers.
If I move my eyes, though difficult, because they are constantly glued to every scene they look at, a little bit to the right, I see the Acy marina, the controversial blue-green cube of the Marijan Hotel, and eventually the wooded hill on the Marijan Peninsula.
And here it would be my turn to bring out on the light these anonymous which are in the shadow of the stars of the town, without which this city, along with its stars, would not be what it is, which is the old Split roofs.
With great difficulty, I separated my eyes from the scenes above and, with my head bowed, I walked back up the stairs. Yet, so that my head would not remain bowed, it was lifted by the sight on the huge steps of the bell tower.
At the end of it all, I came on the waterfront, went to the administration building of the Harbor Master's Office, and with my back turned to it I filmed the bell tower, from which I observed breath-taking scenes.
It's time to go!
Everything has its end and so does this journey. It's time to head to the station and wait for the train that will take us from Dalmatia to Slavonia. We came a little earlier because there was nothing yet from the train, so in the expectation of the train, I filmed the last beams of light this day, which best marked the end of our two-week pedaling.
I was disappointed, who knows which time, into a really poor state of the railway. I found out that there was nothing about bike section in the wagon, although the information on the internet convinced us otherwise. That is why it was necessary to improvise with the placement of bicycles. Originally, I left them at the entrance to the wagon, but after I was requested by a conductor, really friendly and well-meaning, I placed them next to our coupe. I loosened the bolt and rotated the steering wheel so that people who pass through a corridor, could bypass them.
After I solved the bikes, it was our turn. Although we have a 12-hour journey to the Nova Gradiška town, from9 pm to 9 am, this trip has a real potential to be extremely enjoyable and even memorable for purely prosaic reasons - there is no crowd in the train. Because of that, me and my companion, for those twelve hours, had an unforgettable time enjoying a coupe in which there was no one else but us.
As a fanatic railfan, I was a little sorry for the dark night, so nothing was visible through the window. But for that, my companion, with the fact that we were alone, was very pleased. So glad that she slept that night with the enjoyment of an unforgettable dream that was ending this unforgettable, fantastic journey.
The August 17th
You can see the map of this day of the journey here.
If it had not been for one event, this last day of cycling on this trip would not be necessary to describe.
At about 9 am, surprised by the accuracy of the Croatian Railways, we really came to Nova Gradiška. We were still under the impression of a special, and yet unforgettable, dream from the last night, we were unpleasantly overwhelmed by the cool freshness of the Slavonian morning. Obviously, we got too spoiled by the Mediterranean air. Given that nine had already passed, my companion correctly concluded that this morning we should have breakfast first and then start the riding. For this, we chose a beautifully made bench made of cut logs, in the sun, because of that unpleasant freshness of the morning.
When we had done this, we were not very rushed, we started riding that about thirty kilometres to Požega, our final destination. I have ridden mechanically, without any zest, on a road that I riding by bicycle many times every season. After the exotic landscapes of the past days, nothing interesting can be found here.
But I was wrong!
The Lord, who watches over us from above, prepared to us such a surprise that even these monotonous, boring last miles before the house take on completely opposite features.
Having already descended into the Požega Valley, we were only ten kilometres away from our house, she and he suddenly appeared behind a bend!
On the bike!
With full equipment!
After a short "Hi!", we stopped and started talking.
They were from Wales, they are cycling from Spain and they will ride to Banja Luka, Jajce, Jablanica, Mostar, and at the end in Dubrovnik!
So what is this!
Most of their journey we have just crossed. I pulled out my ticket, which I had specially prepared for our trip with the help of the Internet and a printer, and gave it to them. With gratitude, she kept asking how it was in Bosnia, whether it was safe to travel (what propaganda does, it bring unjustified fear). We explained to them that there was no reason to fear, but that is why they have a sea of reasons, for delight, admiration and enjoyment.
We were on the road, the cars were constantly honking and frantically passing us, so we wished each other a happy journey and parted.
Good ideas always come to mind to late. And so, as I write these lines, I do not find the answer to the question that has been bothering me ever since, why I did not propose that we get off the road, find a quiet, peaceful place somewhere for chatting, through which we show each other our souls. Not like this when remains the regretting of the cumbersome, futile missing of an unexpected opportunity.
And maybe I am ungrateful. Until that moment, I expected nothing and was calm with this realization, and after I got something big, just because of that unexpectedness and hugeness, I regret not getting more out of it.
A man remains an eternally dissatisfied being!
Well, that would be the end of the description of the journey that, for me at least, I'm quite sure, is the endeavour of life. Something I'll talk about to my grandchildren, who I hope to have, talk about how she and he went biking to the coast when they were young. And they went again, after twenty-seven years being together.
I cannot rationally explain it, but I am sure that we will do it again, on the occasion of one of the future anniversaries of our fellowship.
I am sure, I hope and believe in it because a man without faith is nobody and nothing.
Post je objavljen 22.12.2019. u 21:13 sati.