It's been a terrible, rain-soaked summer on the Dalmatian coast, which lasted up to the week before our holiday. We have been lucky enough to get through the week with the most perfect weather, but as forecast, the rain finally came this morning. It started with showers just after 7.00am, and by 9.30am it had turned into a torrential storm. I'm having a Vukasin Brajic moment here. Thunder and lightning holding hands. What is particularly astonishing is that there is a football match going on amid all this horrible weather. The local footie team is obviously made of much stronger stuff than your average Premiership prima donnas.
The rain continues until just after 12.00 noon, by which time we're on Trogir seafront which is slowly recovering from the onslaught of this morning's storm.
After the rain storm passes, the mist is hanging low over the mountains.
After our final lunch in Trogir (sob!) there's more souvenir shopping to be done in the maze-like streets of the town. There is some really nice jewellery to be had - some of it very expensive indeed - but there are some bargains if you look for them. Couple of bracelets bought today = job done. Back today to Delicium Nostrum, a lovely little shop selling local specialities. Earlier in the week I'd spotted a nice toiletries set which included one of those natural sponges which you always see on holiday in Greece and Turkey, so I made a point of returning to this shop to purchase the set today.
Talking of those sponges, they pop up regularly in shop doorways in Trogir and always remind me of giant garlic bulbs wrapped in netting!
Back at the hotel I've finally plucked up the courage to try the bottle of Cockta which I bought in the supermarket yesterday. Wikipedia tells us that Cockta originated in Slovenia but was later licensed for sale across the countries of the former Yugoslavia. The best way I can describe it is that it looks like cola and tastes like liquid lemon sherbet. And the name always provides endless hours of amusement for those of us partial to a bit of innuendo from time to time :)
Back out in the evening to one of the Riva's more highly rated restaurants for our final dinner in Trogir....
....accompanied of course by another Croatian wine, this time it's a Plavac. Note the bizarre percentage (13.7%) which seems to be common to a number of Croatian wines we've tried over the week.
Over the course of our week in Trogir we've been admiring some very nice yachts moored on the Riva. Here's one I spotted on our last night.
Trogir is a very "nautical" town and you are always reminded of this, whether it's all the seafaring clothing and souvenirs in the shops, or the numerous vessels big and small which travel up and down this part of the beautiful Adriatic coast.
Although I finally fulfilled that dream of going to Croatia, I still think that it would be terrific to go on a cruise down the Adriatic coast at some time in the future. I guess that's still one of my unfulfilled travelling ambitions. Apart from that though, I could see us returning to Trogir in the future. It's a magical little place which stole my heart, and was the right place at the right time, finally bringing some peace into what has been a rather turbulent year for both of us. For now though, there's just time for one last drink at Caffe Trogir. It may be Saturday night, but the place is surprisingly quiet and there are no bands playing on the square tonight. We need to get back early tonight, as we have an early departure tomorrow.
Sunday 21st September - homeward bound
I won't bother posting about our onward travel arrangements and return to Glasgow, apart from saying that everything ran very smoothly indeed. The proximity of Split Airport to Trogir is a massive selling point for this holiday. Split Airport itself is compact and manageable, although it does have a "low-cost airline" feel to it, and I don't know how it would cope with high demand during the summer months.
Almost three months on from our holiday, I miss Trogir more than I had expected to. I am reminded of the place every day when I switch on my computer at work and see a picture of the island, the coast and the surrounding mountain ranges. It is such a special little place and I really hope to return there some day. My friend is going there on holiday in 2015 and I hope she enjoys it as much as we did this year. Trogir is probably Croatia's best-kept secret, and it is waiting to be discovered. I'm so happy that we discovered it in 2014 for our wonderful summer holiday.
Where to next? I genuinely haven't a clue about our spring and summer destinations for 2015, but Copenhagen and Trogir will be very hard acts to follow!
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