Dalmatian Klapa Singing-Not a Dog

Klapa singing is a tradition very specific to the Dalmatian coastline. Klapa singers are highly esteemed throughout all of Croatia. Croats love to sing and many children grow up singing songs for family and friends at various and sundry events, both private and public. While on the ferry this July 2010 to Korcula Town we discovered a group of Klapa singers were on board. Little did we know they would be singing for us publicly in a few days. They were members of the Croatian Navy. At first I thought it was really crystal clear music being piped onto our deck. I walked downstairs to get a soda and there they were, but had no idea they were naval as they weren't in their naval dress. The sweet harmonies and their friendly demeanor put everyone at ease on a really bumpy, swaying, stomach wrenching nauseating trip for many as the seas were quite choppy for the first hour on the ferry.

So while visiting Korcula Island I was privileged to get to listen to two klapa (a capella as it's known in English) groups on the same stage one evening. The Croatian Naval Klapa group that had been on our ferry and are known as Sveti Juraj were really quite amazing in their harmonies and their tightness in terms of singing together. They sang for one and a half hours along the Korcula waterfront. All the Croats knew many of the songs, and on at least three were invited to sing along. It really was a highlight of my trip and where I felt so much like a local; surrounded by warmth and joy next to the Adriatic Sea on a star filled, full moon lit night.

Grk White Wine-Only from Korcula Island

On the island of Korcula in a small village called Lumbarda that is about 5 miles away from Korcula Town and slightly over an hour walk lies a unique mixture of soil, climate, sea salt and sunshine that produces a very dry white wine known as Grk. I had the pleasure of walking to Lumbarda and spending an entire day tasting wine, swimming at a couple of beaches and talking with a few locals. Unfortunately the walk is along a main road as opposed to through the vinyards and farms. Some good signage along the back trails would have a profound benefit for Lumbarda Agro-tourism and bring the wine drinking public closer to the producers and the scenery.
Grk is not everyones cup of tea or in this case, glass of wine. I particulary liked the Grk that I found from the Bire family--Vesna and Franz. They bottle about 10,000 bottle or maybe it was 10,000 cases. Either way, it's a small operation. I had their 2009 bottling and it was quite good, actually. You may be able to find Grk varietal wines in Boise at the Bosnian market but most wines imported from Croatia to the U.S. are in short supply and relatively expensive for what they really are. Expect to pay $20 a bottle for something that would likely cost $10 to $12 if it were from Chile, Argentina or even California.

Zagreb Airport Security (NOT)!

The last week I was in Croatia (July 24 to July 30, 2010)I had occasion to fly from Zagreb to Split in order to take a ferry to Korcula Island to visit my Croat friends Paulina and Antonio. I had somehow managed to get rid of numerous nice publications I wanted to keep because they weighed down my bag an extra 12 pounds and I wasn't willing to haul that much around.Smirking to my self that I was really smart I decided I'd just check my bag since I had a nice bottle of Grk wine it and knew I wouldn't be able to take it on board.
I arrived at the airport, walked to the counter, and handed the woman my passport and told her I was flying to Split and had a bag to check. Of course, I smiled and spoke in the best Croatian I could muster. She checked me in within 60 seconds. No kidding. So I was only left with my carryon daypack that had my netbook computer, some snacks and all my electronics stuff like cell phone, digi camera,ipod nano and a plethora of chargers and European plug ins so I could use my stuff there.
Even though it was only 9 a.m. I went and grabbed an expensive Karlovacko beer and waited before going to security.
Zagreb is a really small airport for a city of 800,000. Basically it's like Boise's though as you can drive right up front to get dropped off or picked up. It's international but you'd never know it. After the beer I figured I better get to security since with a foreign passport I thought it might take a bit. To my surprise I didn't have to take off shoes,or jewelry or my belt. In fact, I pulled my netbook out of the backpack and was set to take it out of it's netbook bag and they just put it right on the conveyor belt. There was no one in line and at least 6 Croat police officers at Security with little to do. I walked over to go through the "security open doorway" just like we have in our airports and realized my passport and boarding pass were in my backpack on the x-ray conveyor. But did security care? I guess not, because they never even asked to see my passport, let alone a boarding pass to get on a flight. I mean, anyone could have walked through there with bags and whatnot hassle free. Which was actually nice in a way, because American are made to be paranoid fearful freaks of the travelling world by our government and media.
I walked through the body scanner and no beebs, so picked up my stuff and put the netbook back into the backpack and went to sit down. Then I watched to see how they checked everyone else coming through. It was pretty much the same routine. I don't recall them checking passports or boarding passes except on two rather dirtbag looking young punks from who knows where. I never heard them speak so never knew. They weren't to pleased and the police didn't seem too impressed with them either.
Now here's where the funny part is. There are no bathrooms on the other side of security and I really needed to pee because our flight was delayed for two hours. I motioned to one of the security police that I'd like to go out to the bathroom. No problem she indicates and waves me through. I come back and they don't even make me go back through security. She just waves me back through the line and lets me walk around. You can bet that TSA in America would never do that. Ever. You know what else? I have never felt safer than in Croatia. I could be out a 5 a.m. and not be worried. It didn't matter if I was in Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Korcula or Zelena Kut on Mrzenica River. Other than the Serbian mafia in Zagreb, it's a really safe place to be by and large.

Dubrovnik--A Most Beautiful City

The first time I set foot in Dubrovnik I was so star struck I was beside myself. The "Stari Grad", as the old walled city is called, has marble streets, quaint nooks and crannies and one of the oldest water systems still in operation in Europe. When you stroll atop the wall of the city your senses are taken in completely by the turquoise blue waters of the Adriatic, the smell of the sea, and the sight of islands, the old harbor lined with small fishing vessels, and local woman who swim every morning at the old harbor.
I found the best way to meet locals and get to know them was by hanging out at that harbor. One morning armed with very little language skill I approached a fisherman who was mending net. I showed him I was interested in what he was doing and between my poor Croatian, my intent on learning, and my rain boots and rain gear, he invited me to go out on his boat for the day. What an adventure. I think I learned every version of jabate--the Croat word for that other four letter word we're not allowed to say in English. Croats, much like the Irish, seem to have a penchant for turning jabate into a verb, noun, adjective, adverb and gerund in the most creative of ways. I found myself laughing so hard I nearly fell out of the boat. That's when he figured out that despite my poor language skills, I'd learn the one thing all people learn when they are taught a new language--how to swear like a sailor!
Another morning I went down with my swimsuit, discreetly changed in to it by some rocks at the old harbor with the other women, and proceeded to plunge into the 55 to 58 degree water. The shriek that came out of my mouth had the older women laughing and they jumped in and joined me. We all hurried out to warm up, and that was when the conversation ensued. I speak a little German so that was one language we could converse in. Another spoke some Italian and that was even better because I do speak Spanish. Then a Spanish woman was at the same area swimming and she joined in. We had this epic multi lingual conversation that probably resembled a game of telephone. But most mornings for nearly two weeks in the late March and early April of 2007 I went to join the local ladies who taught me more Croatian and about what it was like in Dubrovnik when Tito was alive. I'll save those impressions for another post.