Tvrdoš Monastery and Trogir , Croatia

I’m sitting in front of the open door by our balcony at our apartment across the bridge from the old city of Trogir in Croatia, just north of Split. Somebody is downstairs on their balcony coughing frequently. Aside from that, and the birds chittering, and a very occasional scooter or boat going by somewhere in the neighborhood it is quiet this morning. I’ve been enjoying watching the pastel sky slowly brightening. A thin layer of grey clouds contrasts with the pale pink-peach sky. I haven’t checked but I think the weather will be warm and sunny today. Again.

Of course I love looking around at the hills, the orange roofs, the sea and the sky but what is most delighting me this morning is the vegetable garden across the little street below us. For the most part houses and small rental apartment buildings are packed quite closely together here but our hosts have thus far lucked out because nobody has built anything directly in front of them thanks to the owners of this lovely garden patch. I am always heartened when landowners, despite their possible need for more money, do not give in to greed or temptation and instead choose to preserve their trees, gardens, fields or hillsides. 

So this morning as I sit looking out at the rich brown soil and the robust looking veggies I feel happy about this act of resistance to greed and development. I wonder about the people who tend this land. The house next to the garden is modest and newer. I wonder if whoever lives there has lived here for years, or generations. Our own host said she grew up in this house. I have not yet asked if her family has roots here that go back for generations. 

The sun has begun to climb over the hill behind us (so many places we have stayed I have said, the sun is climbing over the hill behind us) and is beginning to directly illuminate some of the houses in the view in front of me, but it will be a little while before the veggies receive the warm light. The water is now more blue than grey. I find myself looking ahead to this day, wondering what we will do. We have two full days here before driving back to Zagreb on Sunday and flying home early Tuesday. 

…

The drive here from Trebinje was beautiful yesterday. Jim had had a recurrence of lower g.I. symptoms that morning and we worried it might be difficult to make the 4 hour drive but luckily he was fine.

First we stopped at the Tvrdoš monastery just north of Trebinje. The 15th century monastery was built on the site of a 4th century Roman church whose remnants can still be seen. The monks have developed a sweet little oasis with vineyards and gardens and in fact make wine and sell it. Below the monastery is a large room with a line of about 10 huge barrels where they age their wine. Beyond that is another cellar built in the 15 th century with a couple dozen smaller casks where they offer wine tasting. 

The gift store is huge, suggesting this is a popular stop for tour busses. I always have mixed feelings in these large monastery souvenir shops. On the one hand I’m happy to support the monastery by purchasing a few small items. On the other hand the commercialism feels incongruent with the beauty and purpose of the place. While we don’t know this it appears that lots of the trinkets are likely made in China. Jim jokingly calls them ‘Chicons’. Nonetheless I try to focus on what’s best about the churches, monasteries and their devotees rather than let cynicism get in the way of my appreciation. I’m also always surprised that the herbal salves and tinctures cost more than the homemade rakija, liquors and wines. This shop had a huge selection of herbal remedies. I would have bought some if I had time to translate what was on the labels. 

The first half of the drive was on a lovely two lane very winding road, in good shape much of the way. Had we gotten an earlier start we would have stopped to see some of the many old and ancient sites and villages. We hope to explore the area more some day.

When we crossed the somewhat arbitrary line between the Republic of Serbia into the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina  (both are part of Bosnia), we saw mosques and Catholic Churches and grave yards instead of Orthodox churches. In the markets instead of selling Orthodox related items they sell Catholic votive candles. And the signage is in the Latin alphabet instead of Cyrillic. 

The latter half of the drive was on the 130 kph toll road super highway. There was barely any traffic and the continually changing views of tall rocky peaks caused me to marvel and ooo and aww again and again even though I have been on that road numerous times.

When we crossed the bridge in Trogir and drove onto the island where we are staying and slowly navigated our way along tiny one lane wide streets to our apartment Jim was sad. He had thought we were going to some small village with an apartment set in a bucolic spot. Instead we are in an extension of Trogir in a fairly densely packed neighborhood of houses and tourist apartments. Making matters worse (in his tired state of mind) was that our reservedly friendly but polite host told us we needed to give her 200 Euros (or our Passports) as a damage deposit. I was shocked. I’d never run into this before and saw no mention of it on Booking.com. But she insisted it is necessary because they have had guests in the past who have broken doors, lamps, furniture and other things. Welcome to Croatia! 😔 

I totally understand hosts’ needing to protect their assets, but this was a sad and stark reminder of the contrasts between the more commercially developed Croatia, now part of the EU, where money comes first and mistrust of others is necessary, and the generous, trusting, easy going attitudes prevalent in the poorer places we have stayed these past 5 weeks. We vastly prefer the latter and it is a big reason we spend more time in those places than in Croatia. Croatia is stunningly beautiful but the social culture and ways of thinking and interacting are too much like they are in America for me to want to spend much time here. Of course there are kind and generous people here but the feel of the place in general makes me sad about what has been lost here.

That said, our apartment is clean and cheery and has two balconies with lovely views of the water and surrounding hills. And at this time of year it is surprisingly quiet, especially at night. So I am very glad to be here for a few days and I am enjoying the view immensely. I accept that I am and am seen as a Tourist here, valued primarily or exclusively for the money I pay for food and lodging, and that’s it.

Photos: Rows 1-3: Tvrdoš Monastery. Row 4: Monastery store, entering the region of Mosques, dinner scene near Trogir. Row 5: view from our apartment