Tragic, but I always end up getting the seat by myself these days, having conversations in my head, listening to conversations around me, trying to decipher what is being said…. Oh, the ones behind me are definitely talking about me! I’m the odd one out on this trip – I thought that it was a tourist sort of trip but everyone is local and most of them are from one family. I’ll play donkey.
I’m trying to remember the names of the places that we visited today, thought that the Lonely Planet would be able to help but it seems that the LP needs updating, so, if I get the names wrong I don’t mind being corrected.
A two hour bus trip south along the coast with signs showing that we are nearing Dubrovnik and then we turned off left up towards Bosnia, through a town called Komin – we are in the plains area, and it looks like the breadbasket of the Dalmatian Coast – beautiful fertile gardens full of all the vegetables you can imagine – and the continuation of the Neretva River – that’s the beautiful green river that runs swiftly under the old bridge at Mostar, remember? (As an aside, just because I like asides, the book about Mostar describes the river as ‘bashful and wild, a petrified gush of beauty’ *sigh*, don’t you love it?). So, through Komin, on through to Metkovic where we piled off the bus and lit up our cigarettes. Well, everyone on the bus of 25 except for 2 (me being one of the 2). Instructions are scant, it’s just, well, when you have finished your smoke, you start walking. I’m getting the hang of this!
Most of the people are in tramping boots so my choice of footwear is not overqualified, but I don’t have one of those alpine walking Stick Things, you know, the flash telescopic ones. Actually there are a few who are really seriously decked out, and those ones have two of the Stick Things. I have Stick Envy!
We Indian file it (is that still a PC thing to say?) up through a village, and then through the forest (check out the snake, just had to photo it, such a tourist...)
We stopped at the brow of the hill after about an hour walking, everyone lit up, and the guy at the front explained that during the Roman times, there were two major Roman Cities in what is now Croatia - Salona (now Solin), near Split, which the Romans seized from the Illyrians in 78BC, and Narona (now Vid).
Which, happily, is the city that we are going to see. We snaked down the mountain for another 40 minutes, stepping on what I think is thyme, smells divine, stopped for another smoke, a further 30 minutes to the town of Momici, where we had another smoke and piled into two boats to travel up the river.
On board there is smokva (dried figs), wine, beer, raikja) (Very Strong Alcohol, prsut (prosciutto) and sir (cheese), smokes, and the makings of a fine lunch. I’ll let the photos do the scenery justice…
Now, the remains of the Roman city of Narona were discovered in 1995, not because anyone was actually looking for them, but because one of the local families was renovating their house and discovered the remains of the temple under the house, including a large part of the mosaic cellar floor. Rather than removing these artifacts to a museum, they created the museum ‘in situ’. The museum is called Arheološki Muzej Narona. I have tried to photograph the bits that you may find interesting, with the explanations of what they are. I don't want to overburden you though.
It was pretty amazing stuff.
I photographed the poster with the background information and you should be able to click on it to enlarge it so that you can read it. The thing that is amazing, is that this is just one temple of a whole city – so it would seem that most people in the area would have some part of the city under their house,(how cool is that!) but it is expensive to excavate individually (apart from which you lose your house) and too expensive for the government to buy up the houses in the area and do a full scale dig. So it lies there.
Time for a smoke.
Back on the boats to the picnic spot – and I have to say this is all beautifully done with white tablecloths and wild flowers – lunch started with a stew of lima beans, sausages and chunks of bacon – beautiful smoky flavor cooked in a big pot over a fire, followed by sausages and veal, krumpir i blitvah – my new favourite, potatoes and local spinach with lashings of olive oil.
On the table are big baskets of kruh (bread), more wine and beer and (fortunately) ash trays. Oh, and when someone says in Croatian that they bet the New Zealander is a vegetarian, I do understand what they are saying. I eat the meat. So there.
When the meal was done the piano accordion came out - some people played volleyball (complicated rules involving what happens when the ball hits the trees and bounces back into court), most sang. And these guys can sing – and harmonize. I just wished that I knew the words and could join in.
Cut a long story short, back on the boat, smoke, café, smoke, bus, home. Super! There, wasn’t that a good day!
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