Balkanista Diaries: What Else to See in Croatia besides King’s Landing.
Dubrovnik, Cavtat, Split, Zagreb, Belgrade, Novi Sad, Subotica, and once again Budapest—these are the places I’ve seen after staying in Bosnia. Four of them are in Croatia, and they are the main movie sets in my production and the following story.
Cavtat, hidden gem
As I have never visited Dubrovnik yet, I was sure that it’s the best idea to stay in this old city for a certain period of time. I was searching for the options and somehow, many variants look the same. How about a charming backyard or the panoramic view from the balcony? Still, for an affordable price, of course!
And then, suddenly I found a perfectly-designish space, and it was the hotel. Hm, I rarely stay in the hotels lately as you hardly can get the idea of the place comparing to staying at homes or apartments. But perfect photos and included breakfast made me think a different way. The only thing, it is not in Dubrovnik but Cavtat.
As this hotel stood out from the crowd, I didn’t hesitate to choose it thinking that I’ll simply go to Dubrovnik whether on bus or boat. I did, once.
And what about Cavtat? It’s a small town with so much charm. The central area is a promenade with cafes and restos, and I believe, it’s easy to find tasty dishes here. At least, at cafe Zino next to my hotel, the food was sooo delicious and the portions are huge. Right then, I remembered my trip to Montenegro several years ago with the same huge portions attitude. No one should leave the place hungry, that’s the motto of the Balkans region, I believe!
Apart from food, the charms of Cavtat is in its nature. Truly a treasure, there are at least two roads to walk. Huge old trees and pine flavor, clear turquoise-blue water next to the shore, and a rocky area where people come to meet the sunset. Gosh, that’s an amazing place. Remembering it and writing these lines I recall those feelings and state of calm and peace.
Sorry, how can I come to King’s landing?
My second day after arrival to Cavtat I decided to dedicate fully to Dubrovnik. Following the advice of the hotel hostess, I took a boat. As it made several more stops it took longer than I expended. But here it is, the city I’ve been dreaming to visit for so many years!
I thought I was so smart having the downloaded map with the locations where Game of Thrones was filmed. Ha-ha, there were hundreds of other tourists looking for the same spots as me.
Generally, even though it wasn’t high season already, one thing that united tonnes of the tourists was the addiction to GoT. Everywhere I was walking I heard the same conversations and discussions, “That’s the place where Sansa was standing…”, “King Joffery’s tournament”, and so on. And when confused tourists couldn’t really understand the connection of the area next to them and the famous series, the guides proclaimed one magical phrase “There were lots of CG effects added.” Pure amazement, Dubrovnik is on a roll.
Surprisingly, the famous “Shame, shame!” location was rather quiet and no one tried to replicate it. My special GoT moment was when I was sketching the panorama view on the old town from Lovrijenac fortress and the shadow of the flying dragon, oh sorry, I mean plane, was flying through the roofs.
As a conclusion, one day in a charming yet extremely crowded Dubrovnik was more than enough to fulfill me with good memories and even several sketches in my sketchbook.
Bus trip—Split, train road—Zagreb
One of the main advantages of Cavtat in terms of infrastructure convenience is the proximity to Dubrovnik airport. Did I use it? Nope.
I tried to buy a ticket for the flight but this attempt failed which made me think hm, that’s the sign. The sign I better choose a long bus trip to Split. Not a good idea in terms of comfort but as a plus, I saw some really beautiful views of unknown Croatian areas.
Actually, both this and the following train road trip to Zagreb shown me a different Croatia—not a polished touristic seashore places but something more real, and maybe more fragile. The views of the natural landscapes might not be as splendid as the ones I haven’t managed to see in Bosnia, still, I was truly amazed. Hills and fog, water reservoirs and a tiny two-coach train riding too close to the rocky rocks.
Split
Few days in Split. This city is not as daring as Dubrovnik, fewer obsessed tourists around. The old city has some Venetian charms and a chance to get lost in narrow streets. Experienced hipsters will smell good coffee in D16 cafe, vegans and vegetarians won’t pass by Marta’s Veggie Fusion, and book lovers will have a stopover at Znanje.
When you have a good breakfast or lunch and an empty half-day slot, go to Marjan Forest Park. That’s a very unusual experience to visit a huge park not far from the city center, that can offer you full 2–3 hours' experience of hiking roads on different height and quite surreal natural views. And it’s extremely peaceful, it seems like not many people are keen on the idea to spend so much time there or, maybe, during my visit that was because of a rainy day.
What I like about Split is that it was quite a calm place at the end of October which offered me history to learn, nature to observe, and of course, sea views.
Zagreb
Zagreb—the capital of Croatia. Whether because of its architecture from the Austro-Hungarian empire time and the analogs I’ve seen in the Ukrainian city Lviv or the old city streets architecture that remind Prague and Stockholm, this city looked rather familiar to me. And very cozy.
It’s bigger than Ljubljana or Sarajevo but smaller than Belgrade or Vienna. It has so many bookstores, bakeries, and museums. As for the last, I visited only one — the place full of stories, Museum of Broken Relationships. Even though it’s quite small, be ready to spend at least 2 hours there if you want to read most of the sad-rarely-funny stories. My favorite bookstore is Što čitaš?, a small second-hand shop where I found 4 books and had a great talk with the vendor girl about the history and current state of life in a country. Booksa in a district that reminded me of the Eastern Berlin in the evening lights and Cogito Coffee Shops — these are the perfect, atmospheric cafes to dive into the work process.
The remarkable moment of my staying in this city was the attendance of Zagreb film festival. I have never been to a real film festival yet. This one didn’t have a red carpet and some world-known stars. It all happened in the old building where the cinema hall was fully packed.
The films were shown in their original languages with English subtitles. Some of the film directors came to stage after, and the discussions followed. Even though sometimes the language added a certain barrier, it’s a very unique experience totally different from usual visit to the cinema. What was also great is that each attendee voted for the watched film. The film I liked the most was Jojo Rabbit by Taika Waititi, I’m impressed by how the topic I never thought looks funny could be shown under a different angle and still, full of strong emotions. Other films presented the stories of people living on Balkans and that made my own perception of the places more fulfilled.
More stories are coming, there’s Serbia I haven’t told about yet. If you haven’t checked the first part, take a look—Hey Sista, call me Balkanista! The journey of thousand miles across Balkans.
If you’re a nature lover, here’s one more story for you—Top 7 Places Nature Lovers Should Add to Their Bucket List.
See ya!
