Krk

May 10, 2005-Vino & More
(photos:David tasting grappa,
narrow street in Vrbnik,
Glagolitic writing)

Our Croatian lesson yesterday went well. None of us choked on the guttural “h” sounds or on the vowelless words. The Croats evolved from an Hrvatsk tribe that came down from the north. The official name of Croatia is Hrvatska and the present day language is a mix of Czech, Serbian, Slovakian, and Polish. The Glagolitic alphabet unlike, any other in the world, flourished in the 11th century but was used only by the most educated and by priests. An example is in the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City. Modern day Croatian has thirty letters. There is no “q, w, x, or y”, but there are many was to pronounce “c, s, z,” and “d” depending on diacritical markings. As a final challenge Viki asked us to learn to pronounce “prijestolonasljednica” (pree esto lo nas lya duh neetza). It means heiress to the throne. As a reward for trying we got a taste of pelinkovatz, a woody medicinal liqueur.

We started our day trip to the island of Krk by driving through industrial Rijeka again. It didn’t get any prettier. Croatia doesn’t have any oil but supplies from Switzerland, Russia, Germany, and the U.S. keep the refineries busy. There’s one resource that Croatia has plenty of. They ship water to Kuwait.

Viki is pretty realistic about what’s going on here. There’s a definite brain drain and despite free medical care if you can’t pay for private care there’s a six month wait for a mammogram due to lack of equipment.

We followed the shoreline as it carried us by Barka, a medieval town with a castle. Viki said that in the 1970’s they managed to mess up the picturesque setting by building docks next to the castle and a coke plant in clear view. The coke plant polluted the bay and the tuna left. The plant is closed but its enormous red and white tower still looms over the tiled roofs of town. It will be ages before fish return.

A bridge connects the island to the mainland. Scrub oak lined the road until stone walls and gray-green olive groves appeared. We didn’t stop at a beehive shaped church made from piled rocks and dating from Roman times. That’s a negative of group travel. I’ve never seen anything like it and wanted to take a photo. Churches in those days were camouflaged so the Romans wouldn’t be suspicious.

I checked with yahooweather.com before we left and unfortunately their prediction was correct. We took a ferry through rain and cold to Kosljun Island in Punat Bay to visit the Church of the Annunciation. Established by Benedictines in the 12th century, Franciscans took it over in the 15th. During renovation a 9-10th century church was found under the present foundation.

Lunch was at the Nada vineyards a winery in Vrbnik. I can actually pronounce these places now. It’s owned and run by a delightful family. The local grapes grow nowhere else in the world. A photographer took photos as we tasted the herbal and fig brandies and incorporated them into a slide show about the winery. He has a priceless one of David grimacing as he downed a sample. We gagged on the brandy then settled in to a lunch accompanied by reds, whites and a sweet dessert wine. The food was secondary. Everyone but us ate proscuitto and sheep cheese with a bit of chopped hake (a white fish) salad, handmade pasta with shrimp, and cheesecake. They graciously adapted the meal for us. The cheesecake was dry but we figured out that pouring dessert wine on it was the perfect solution. As we left, the two-year old daughter of the owner appeared. Her proud grandpa bragged that she speaks four languages: Italian, English, Croatian, and French. I remarked that it was time for our granddaughter, Talia, to shape up. Judy Lasher said that Talia speaks three languages: English, baby sign language, and some Hebrew.

We strolled through the tiny village of Vrbnik before we boarded the bus and napped until we got to the hotel. I’ve gotten good at that. There’s something about Viki lecturing and the motion of the bus that is soothing.

If the weather clears we hope to walk thirty minutes to and hour (the opinions differ) to the neighboring village for dinner. Depending on how long the walk actually is we’ll look for a place that serves large portions.

Tomorrow we signed up for an optional tour to the Istrian Peninsula. It should be big on beautiful scenery.

Toby