Staff writer
Croatia is a country Chris Costello of Marion probably would not have chosen to travel to, but now that he has visited the country, it’s a place he thinks should be on travelers’ radar.
Costello traveled to Croatia for a two-week vacation in June at the invitation of his brother, Pat, who spent about six weeks in Kosovo as part of an American Bar Association program.
Croatia is a mountainous country along the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, an offshoot of the Mediterranean Sea. The group stayed in Cavtat, a town in the extreme south of Croatia, in an area known as the Dalmatian coast.
“Beautiful, beautiful country,” Costello said. “The mountains just rise up out of the sea.”
He has a fair amount of experience to compare it to — Costello has also traveled to Ireland and several Caribbean islands.
The beauty of the scenery in Croatia was accompanied by pleasant weather.
“We were in this area 12 days, and we didn’t eat a single meal indoors,” he said.
With the area bordered by the sea, fish is a big part of food in the area.
“The local cuisine was fabulous,” Costello said. “Seafood, right out of the sea, and it was delicious.”
He did regret one of his food adventures. He ordered fried fish at an outdoor café and was surprised when he saw his meal was composed of lots of tiny fish, cooked whole in a deep fryer.
Local wines complemented many of the meals. Many tiny vineyards dotted the valleys between the mountains, Costello said.
Croatia seemed to be well hidden from American tourists, because his group didn’t see any other Americans during the time there. Tourists from other parts of Europe were plentiful, though.
The country has several other qualities that make it a desirable tourism destination, he said. The people were almost universally welcoming, and prices were reasonable, although airfare to reach Croatia was somewhat expensive.
However, ethnic tensions from the war that fractured Yugoslavia remain. The former communist country dissolved into either six or seven independent countries — Kosovo’s declared independence from Serbia remains controversial.
“They hate each other,” Costello said.
Some scars from the wars that marked Yugoslavia’s fall are still visible in places. Costello’s group made a trek into neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina, driving through the mountains. While they were in a remote part of the mountains, his brother shouted that they had to stop, because there was a sign indicating the presence of a live minefield.
Croats’ disdain for the other former Yugoslavian nations didn’t seem to extend to visitors from other parts of the world, Costello said. His group was there during the World Cup soccer tournament, and locals would join the Americans cheering for the U.S. national team, he said.
“The people were just wonderful,” he said.