I recently traveled to Croatia with my wife and a few friends. I’m writing on the fly while sitting on the Aegean, so forgive my informality and perhaps carelessness. So far I have been to Split, Sibenik as well as Hvar regions with day visits to surrounding countrysides.
Here are my thoughts on the excursion, its usefulness, as well as its downsides. Like any place it matters why you go to a location in terms of how you describe the value of the outcome. Croatia is a war torn country. It is part of the former Yugoslavia and it has recently become a tourist destination, in part due to it's Mediterranean beauty.
The ancient cities are striking. Split was beautiful inside the palace of the former emperor, Diocletian. The old Venetian architecture spans the few city blocks of the palace, and pop up choirs fill the midnight air with tenor voices praising God through hymns. The people are generally very friendly and yet there is a heaviness to them. You can see generational sadness on their faces. These are the original slaves (Slavs) after all.