Kamerlengo Castle, Trogir, Croatia
Last week Elizabeth (American roomie in the Netherlands), Sara (outdoorsy traveling buddy from Virginia), and I made an epic road trip across Croatia (known there as Hrvatska - hence the "HR" stickers on all the cars). We started in Zagreb, the capital city, and made our way towards the coast, stopping at Plitvice Lakes National Park (stay tuned) along the way. We managed to kayak twice - once near Dubrovnik and once near Split. Our first trip took us through an ancient city (and a UNESCO world heritage site) called Trogir, ~30 minutes west of Split. Click Read More to see a gallery of photos and write-up of our kayaking adventure through this historic city!
Some tidbits about Trogir...
The historic city of Trogir is built on a small island pinched between mainland Croatia and a much larger island, Otok Ciovo. The city has been around since Greek colonists arrived in the 3rd century BC. As you can imagine, it has quite a history, so I'll keep it simple (history is not my strength). For most of its recent history (1797 - 1918), it was ruled by the Habsburg Empire. After WW1, it became part of Yugoslavia, and after WW2 it belonged to the second Yugoslavia. Since 1991 it is part of modern-day Croatia. While we saw many lingering signs of the Croatian War of Independence (1991 to 1994) in Zagreb, Karlovac, and Dubrovnik, Split was less affected.
The city is incredibly well-preserved. Its medieval core (castle, churches, palaces) is surrounded by a stone wall. After tourism (which is 50% of the economy), shipbuilding is an important industry.
The city is incredibly well-preserved. Its medieval core (castle, churches, palaces) is surrounded by a stone wall. After tourism (which is 50% of the economy), shipbuilding is an important industry.
Photo gallery (click to enlarge and see captions)...
The kayaking part...
| I contacted Red Adventures a few months before our trip to inquire about renting sea kayaks during the off season, without participating in an organized tour. The kayak rental was reasonably priced (40 euros per boat per day), though it was one of the biggest costs of our trip. Dražen from Red Adventures met us at 8am at a launch site in Seget Donji (see map below), a town just west of Trogir. It was a chilly but beautiful morning. One major benefit of renting kayaks is that someone else loads/unloads them! Dražen unloaded our boats and gear onto the beach, where we adjusted foot pegs and tested the sprayskirts. Soon enough, we were on our way towards Trogir. It only took ~15 minutes to reach the ancient city, which we gaped at as we paddled through the narrow channel north of the island. Tourists watched us pass under the bridges with curiosity. With much time to spare (we aimed for a late morning return, as the wind was forecasted to pick up in the afternoon), we continued along the mainland coast. Eventually, the other side beaconed us, with its quaint towns and forested hillsides, so we made the crossing. We set our sights on a old-looking structure in the distance, which protruded from the shoreline. |  Best kayaking selfie ever! Even includes a castle. |
The wind had picked up quite a bit, and sometimes it felt as though we weren't moving. We passed Mastrinka, a small town with streets that seemed to run vertically from the water to the top of the hillside. Finally, we reached the old Sveti Kriz (St. Cross) Monastery. Next to the Monastery is a beautiful beach that is oft visited by tourists in the summer season.
The return trip was swift with the wind at our backs. We all endured the challenge of maintaining our course with a strong tailwind trying to spin us parallel to the waves. We returned along the dramatic south side of Trogir, passing under an old stone bridge and getting a great view of the Kamerlengo Castle. A group of school kids ran along with us - their school was inside part of the old church.
We arrived at the launch site after 11am. Elizabeth and I made swift work of creating an extravagant picnic on the floor of the pavilion while Sara continued kayaking for a while. A stray dog attempted to take part in our picnic. When we refused to share, he spent a while pooping next to the pavilion. Dražen arrived a while later, and we helped load the boats on the roof of his car. We spent the rest of the day walking around Split (visiting Diocletian's Palace), drinking wine, and almost burning down the Airbnb while trying to make broccoli.
Date: Tuesday, February 3rd, 2015
Duration: ~3 hrs
Distance: 7 miles (11.5 km)
Scroll to bottom of post for the map!
The return trip was swift with the wind at our backs. We all endured the challenge of maintaining our course with a strong tailwind trying to spin us parallel to the waves. We returned along the dramatic south side of Trogir, passing under an old stone bridge and getting a great view of the Kamerlengo Castle. A group of school kids ran along with us - their school was inside part of the old church.
We arrived at the launch site after 11am. Elizabeth and I made swift work of creating an extravagant picnic on the floor of the pavilion while Sara continued kayaking for a while. A stray dog attempted to take part in our picnic. When we refused to share, he spent a while pooping next to the pavilion. Dražen arrived a while later, and we helped load the boats on the roof of his car. We spent the rest of the day walking around Split (visiting Diocletian's Palace), drinking wine, and almost burning down the Airbnb while trying to make broccoli.
Date: Tuesday, February 3rd, 2015
Duration: ~3 hrs
Distance: 7 miles (11.5 km)
Scroll to bottom of post for the map!
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