Visiting
an old friend
On the final Sunday we decided to walk to Gruz harbour and take
the ferry to Sipan which is our favourite Island in the Elaphites.
We call it a ferry but Jadrolinija - the ferry company - call
it a ship as it does not take cars. It was a bright sunny day
but the cold bora wind was blowing off the mainland and it was
bitterly cold compared with previous days. We were glad
to get out of the wind and into the snug bar on the ferry.
By the 0930 sailing time all the interior seating was occupied
with people visiting their families or returning home to the islands
after spending the night in Dubrovnik. Stopping at Kolocep
and Lopud prior to arrival at Sudurad we were reminded of the
many pleasant days we have spent in the past wandering around
this verdant archipelago. Many people refer to Dubrovnik
as being the pearl of the Adriatic, but if that is the case, the
Elaphite Islands must be emeralds.
There are two main villages on the island of Sipan.
The largest being Sipanska Luka (harbour) and the other being
Sudurad. We decided to get off the ferry in Sudurad and
walk across the Island to Sipanska Luka. On walking through
Sudurad we both suddenly stopped and looked at each other and
realised that the only sounds we could hear were a couple with
their children walking in the same direction as us and nothing
else. We had forgotten just how quiet and laid back Sipan
was. We walked along the path between the imposing fortified
towers of the historic summer residences and out onto the track
which runs along one side of the valley which lies between the
two villages. Everything was so peaceful: just the birds,
an occasional goat or cow, and us. Progressing slowly along
the path we soaked up the tranquillity and the sun which was now
warming up the land. Small patches of iced over water were
now beginning to steam in the sunshine, and, unlike in the summer
when everything is dry, now the vegetation just seemed to be so
vibrant with the multiple hues of green painted against the deep
blue sky. It is a little over 4km between the villages and
throughout this journey we only saw four people and these were
in the distance. About half way along the path I spotted
a large bird sitting on a pine tree which later turned out to
be one of six, what I think, were honey buzzards. After
spending some time watching the buzzards we eventually arrived
at the back of the village of Sipanska Luka. The total population
of Sipan is only about 500 and during the winter months many of
the inhabitants are away at sea (Sipan is a historic seafaring
island).
Descending down the path into the village we saw
a familiar sight walking up the hill towards us - it was one of
the ladies who works in the Hotel Sipan during the summer months.
A look of total surprise was followed by warm greetings and enquiries
as to what we were doing on Sipan during the winter and would
we be back in the summer to stay in the hotel. The rest
of the day followed a similar pattern with many of the villagers
recognising us and testing my very limited Croatian.
As there were no bars open for food we went into
one of the shops to get some food and to purchase a large jar
of ajvar. In the shop we received more greetings and hugs.
It was one of those days when the shop owner decides to hand out
drinks (clear alcohol of dubious origins) so all were on good
form!
We sat beside the harbour eating a few crisps (cipi
cips) and soaking up the now pleasantly warm sunshine when one
of the older ladies that we knew walked along. Lela is totally
deaf but speaks English which makes conversations both difficult
and easy at the same time even if somewhat one sided at times.
Lela decided that she was going to cook lunch for us and as it
is difficult to say no to a deaf person who does not want to understand,
we finished up having soup, chicken, and cake in Lela's massive
house. After lunch we picked oranges and lemons from trees in
Lela's garden. She told us that we should come on holiday
with no luggage so that we can take home proper fruit and real
olive oil from Sipan. As it was we took a bag full of citrus
to eat later the next day. If you have not tasted oranges
straight off the tree you have not tasted oranges. They
were fantastic.
Sipan is one of the few places that I know of where
olive oil is still pressed by stone wheels and there is at least
one olive mill that still uses a horse to turn the wheel.
After tasting olive oil pressed in this way you never want to
buy supermarket oil again. Just try it dribbled over thick
bread sprinkled lightly with chopped garlic and tomatoes and grill
until warmed through - 'food from heaven'.
It was rather sad leaving Sipan to go back to Dubrovnik
because this was the last day of our holiday and we never like
leaving Sipan for whatever reason. The journey was lightened somewhat
when on arrival at Lopud a priest and his helpers boarded the
ferry and proceeded to conduct a service blessing the ship and
crew whilst nearly gassing the rest of us with the incense burner
that he was swinging around. A cold walk from Gruz to the
Hotel Kompas followed by an early night prior to a very early
start ended our stay in Dubrovnik.
On our way home
A delayed departure from Dubrovnik was of no worry to us as we
were due to spend about six hours waiting for our connection in
Zagreb. The flight to Zagreb takes about 50 minutes on an
Airbus 320, but we spent about 30 minutes circling above Zagreb
waiting to land only to be told that we would have to go to Pula
as the fog was too bad to land at Zagreb. We spent about
three and a half hours in a deserted Pula airport prior to returning
to Zagreb and a quick trip through the airport to board our connecting
flight to London. At least we did not have to spend 6 hours
getting bored at Zagreb.
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