Preparation for the Journey

"He has a head like the best-known satyr in the Louvre and an air of vine-leaves about the brow, though he drinks little. He is perpetually drunk on what comes out of his mouth, not what goes into it."

I leave for Croatia in the morning, a ten-day trip which should take me up and down the coast with little dips into the wintery interior. In recent years, it's become an under-the-radar summer destination for cruise ships and wealthy vacationers.

Beaches and islands. Boating and tanning.

But I'll be there in the "off-season" to see how the locals live and to help them celebrate karneval. 

Should be a week of masked balls, frozen waterfalls, and Roman ruins threaded with holiday lights.

It's part of the Eastern European tour I've been on over the last few years, and I hope to use some lessons from the previous trips to make this one as efficiently exciting as possible. I'm also going to challenge myself to take more pictures of landscapes and people, since I'm more-usually drawn to street art and architecture.

I'll be using my two small leather bags to carry my camera lenses, clothes, laptop, and books. I've selected eight books I want to read on trains and buses, and I'll shed them as I finish them. I usually start with the heaviest. This time it will be some Richard Adams, Dashiell Hammet, and the big one: Black Lamb and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West.

That last one's a crazy monster, and I'm unlikely to finish it. Being her journal of a "Yugoslavian" vacation, it's the perfect companion for this trip, though, and I'll certainly skip to the chapters that discuss the place where I happen to be. It won't really be a guide book, since it's eighty years old, and there have been a barrel full of wars since it was written, but it should give a sense of atmosphere and charm.

I'm trying an experiment this time where I'll park in one city for many days in a row and take day trips radiating outward from it. The first four nights will be in Split. That's also where I'm flying in and out. It's famous mostly for the ruins of Diocletian's Palace, and it's a reasonably central location that will let me get to some of the big sights/sites and back with no hassle.

I'm going to list the proposed itinerary here and check back at the end of the trip to see how closely I stick to it. I've pre-booked apartments for most of the nights, but there are a few flex dates.

DAY 1 - Land in Split in the afternoon, locate the apartment, explore Split.

DAY 2 - Bus up the coast to see Sibenik to buy a famous hat. Bus further up the coast to see Zadar's famous Sea Organ. Bus back to Split.

DAY 3 - Day trip to Plitvice National Park. Back to Split

DAY 4 - If not worn out.... full day trip to Mostar and Sarajevo. Last night in Split

DAY 5 - Dubrovnik for the Festival of St. Blaise. Explore Dubrovnik. Sleep in Dubrovnik

DAY 6 - Day Two of the Festival, a national holiday. Explore Dubrovnik. Sleep in Dubrovnik.

DAY 7 - Day trip to Montenegro. Sleep in Dubrovnik (No apartment booked yet!)

DAY 8 - Dawn flight to Zagreb. Explore Zagreb and sleep there. (No apt. booked yet)

DAY 9 - Early bus to Pula. See James Joyce-related nonsense and giant Roman ruin. Afternoon bus to Rijeka. Explore. Sleep. (Apt booked!)

DAY 10 - Massive children's costume carnival in Rijeka. Midnight hell ride to airport for 7am flight!

That's it. A few grey (falcon) areas to keep it interesting, and a whole boneyard of things to do and see. Will it be wildly different? Probably, but it's wonderful to dream. You're innocent when you dream.

It will be a great opportunity to think, write, and read, and those are the things I like best. Let's see what happens.