iSummit 2007 in Croatia: the heart throb of the Adriatic
Big as a pumpkin, cherry-red and round, the sun hovers over the coastline. My hands glow. The water looks like gold. These Croatian sunsets must be laced with steroids or something! Glowing on the other side of the waterway in a lego-like grandeur are Dubrovnik’s old city-walls.
I’m filming a video documentary about music in Croatia to show at next year’s iCommons Summit. Since I have spent some time filming in this magical place, I wanted to report on the sights and sounds of Croatia, ahead of the next iCommons Summit to be held in Dubrovnik, in June 2007.
Croatia is the small r-shaped country at the northern end of the Adriatic. Croatia is a young county. Its people are nationalistic and overwhelmingly Catholic. The red and white-checkered flag of Croatia flutters on car antennas and in pizzerias. You forget that the city of Dubrovnik was bombed a little more than a decade ago. You forget that the former country of Yugoslavia spiraled downward into a bloody ethnic conflict. Like their countrymen on a national scale, the locals in Dubrovnik are proud about how their city has rebuilt itself. In 2008, Croatia will enjoy the economic privileges of the Euro.
The Croatian language seems impossible to learn or understand. It sounds like a bubbling mixture of Italian, German, and Russian (the older generation in Croatia can all speak or understand German due to Croatia’s geographical and historical proximity to Austria and its former empires). Croatians celebrate their own language and culture through their music. Traditional folk songs give high praises to the motherland. Songs about love and the history of the people echo in smoke-filled bars.
Inside Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik’s grey-brick walls rise five stories high. Inside the walls, you find steep steps, a white-marble promenade, and arched Venetian window frames in magnificent old theaters: eye candy for tourists. The winding walkways between buildings form a delightful maze to get lost in. People are warm and welcoming. You can show up unannounced in the city and when no rooms are left in hotels, an elderly couple is always ready to rent a room to a stranger for any number of days.
La Le, the former European lighting designer for rock bands like KISS and Aerosmith has settled down in Dubrovnik to manage an outreach center for kids. Like other locals, he is upset about the flood of summer tourism in Dubrovnik. Big cruise ships dock in front of the city, which adulterates the horizon (and our precious sunset!). Tourist boutiques elbow out traditional “mom-n-pop” stores. To find basic household supplies, you have to drive five kilometers outside of town. To find fast food and internet access, you don’t have to walk more than five meters from your hotel’s front porch. The art workshop, Lazareti now has a cover charge and an audience of foreigners.
When tourists retreat to their cruise ships in the early evening, Dubrovnik’s street life finds its raison d’etre. The scent of grilled fish hovers around doorways. Old friends congregate in groups. A summer theater and music festival gives artists a chance to showcase their talent. Restored palatial buildings and waterside cafes become impromptu stages. Classical music recitals, plays such as Don Quixote (in Croatian!), and dance performances can be enjoyed.
A NGO in Dubrovnik called ‘Orlando’ converted an old hospital into a nightclub during the summer months. Orlando’s club offers the latest dub, breaks, hip-hop, jungle, and trip-hop music from Europe. In the summer of 2006, Orlando hosted the ’sub-reggae’ band from Zagreb called Antenat, the hip-hop/jungle band from Split called ‘St!llness‘, and a collection of other groups ranging from jazz/fusion to ‘darkwood dub.’
Outside Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik rests on the Dalmatian coastline amongst 1000 small rocky islands. Just south of Dubrovnik the little beach town and port of Mlini offers cheaper accommodations and less tourist traffic. Crystalline water caresses the shoreline. Ferries from Dubrovnik depart regularly for the pine-covered islands of Hvar, Mljet National Park, and Korcula. Just 30 minutes by boat-taxi from Hvar, you can escape to the private luxury destination known as Palmizana with its fine Hotel Meneghelo.
About five hours northeast of Dubrovnik, the National Park of Plitvice has some wonderful cataracts, or waterfalls (Krka National Park also boasts lush vegetation and waterfalls). About four hours directly north of Dubrovnik, Split has a major international airport. From Split, ferries head to the many Croatian islands and Italy (Italian tourists love Croatia). Two hours by car and a ferry northwest of Split, the beach of Zrce on the island of Pag has become the Ibiza of the Adriatic. In Zrce, you can find mega-clubs like Aquarius and a whole gamut of loud bass beats, ranging from hip-hip, to house, and to trance music.
Then, seven hours north of Dubrovnik, you find the small coastal town of Senj, the site of a yearly Brazilian carnival in August, hosted in part by the giant discothèque Magnus. Further north on the coast is the seaside town of Rijeka. Its more charming neighbor is called Opatija. Opatija served as a former summer destination for European nobility. Its beautiful palaces and hotels lie at the base of. Mt. Ucka, a challenging mountain bike ascent that offers grandiose views of the whole Istrian Peninsula.
The Croatian capital of Zagreb is a two-hour drive east from Rijeka and nine hours northeast from Dubrovnik. Zagreb is lifeless in the summer months (Croatians want to leave the city and visit their beautiful coastline as well!). Two hours northeast out of Zagreb towards Budapest, Varazdin is city worth visiting for its many baroque buildings. The nearby castle of Trakoscan also offers a pleasant alternative to the coastal tourist destinations.
From Zagreb, you can take a one and a half hour flight back to Dubrovnik. When you return, children will still be scrambling up and down the big walls. Their voices ring in the nighttime air like songs for the open sea. This maritime fortress was once the prized possession for the sea-faring Venetians. Their Byzantine predecessors also laid claim to the city’s walls. Now, if you bring your digital camera, you can lay siege to the medieval parapets. If you want to climb the walls, however, you must do so before the tourist bureau closes them at 19:00. And when you decide to climb those walls, save your energy and bring steroids - you’ll lose your breath when you witness exactly what brings tourists to Croatia in the first place.