2 weeks of well deserved vacation in Croatia did
good for both the body and soul. It started on Saturday
16th July, 2 hours after I had received the results
from the exams, so the vacation got a very good
start.
One of my students in Naples, Bruno, is now flying
as a first officer on the Fokker 100 in a charter
company in Croatia which has weekly flights between
Oslo and Split. So I got the chance to go for a
ride with him down to Croatia. Fantastic experience
to sit and observe from the jumpseat. I have done
it before, but not on entire flights so that I get
to see all the procedures.
The flight first went down to Split where we spent
the night. The next day we flew down to Dubrovnik,
then to Bergamo (outside Milan) with Italian tourists.
Then back again to Split with more Italian tourists
and then we flew empty back home to Zagreb.
The first week I was in Zagreb with Bruno. Incredible
enough he had the entire week off. The company is
flying ad-hoc charter, which means that flights
pop up on the schedule with short notice. 2 times
he was told to meet up at the airport at 4 in the
morning, but both flights were cancelled around
midnight.
On Wednesday we got ourselves a wonderful flight.
Bruno, his girlfriend Petra and me flew down to
the coast in a C-172. First down to the city of
Rijeka, and then followed the coast at 500 feet
all the way around to a small town called Vrsar.
This has to be one of the smallest "port-of-entry"
airports in the wold. The customs and immigrations
office was a little shack and the terminal was the
same size as a small grocery store. In Vrsar we
had lunch and a short trip to the beach before we
flew back home.
Friday morning we were out flying againg. This time with
a radio station (Radio
101) to do the traffic watch ("Eye in the
sky"). A legendary liberal radiostation which
has been controversial during the last part of the
communism and during the war.
Friday Aida came to Zagreb, and Sunday I drove
with her down to Sarajevo. Sarajevo was much nicer
than I expected. It is situated in a valley with
hills on all sides. One part of the city center
has Austrian style, while the other part has Turkish
style. The main street all of sudden changes style,
very interesting. The city didn't have as many traces
of war as I had expected, but the people still seem
a bit tense.
Tuesday we went down to Dubrovnik.
On the way we stopped by the historic city of Mostar
with it's legendary bridge.
The scenery in Bosnia is fantastic, but it is never
shown on television (because they always talk about
the war).
We didn't have any plans for the trip other that
what places to see. We didn't do any hotelbookings
or found any timetables for anything. Our hotelstrategy
worked fine except in Dubrovnik. This city is probably
one of the bigges tourist traps in Croatia. There
was way too many tourists and the people in the
service industry was pretty much all rude. The city
is definitively worth a visit, but there is no point
in staying much longer than a couple of days.
The trip continued on Wednesday to Peljesac and
Korcula. Peljesac is a peninsula famous for its
wines, while Korcula is an island described as a
undiscovered pearl. It is not longer undiscovered,
but definitively a pearl. Not as many tourist as
Dubrovnik, but a whole lot more charm. My favourite
place on our trip.
Thursday we drove up to Trogir
which is just west of Split. Trogir is much cosier
than Split, which alot of tourists have figured
out. This city also has a good portion of charm.
Friday we went on a daytrip to the island of Brac
with is just south of Split. On this island one
of Croatias most famous beachs is at a place called
Bol. A lot of people here too, but worth a visit.
The water was crystal clear and the beach was of
small round stones which shaped itself perfectly
to the body as we were laying there. Later that
day we met up with Bruno who had flown in from Barcelona
and we went to Split for dinner.
Saturday was my last day, and we had just enough
time to get a small flight around Split. 15 minutes
in the air and then straight on to the big airplane
to fly to Oslo.
Over all, I had an absolutely excellent trip! I
love vacations that are a bit different. That's
why you won't find me at a beach on Kos or Ibiza.
My route
