Croatia day 27: Paklenica

September 15th: In the morning, we snorkeled a little in Pag before heading out. There was an entry point less than 100 meters from our apartment. Nothing spectacular, but lots of small fish.

On the way out of town, I noticed a sign to St. Duh.

“Svetnik” or “svetnica” means “saint”, so this sign appeared to be pointing to a church of Saint Duh. A patron saint of obviousness? There are too many possible puns on this to list here, so I’ll let you make up your own. Just pray that there are no spherical holy relics, or we’d have to call them “sveti balls“. But it’s a bit more complicated than that, as “Sv.” can also be an abbreviation for “sveti” = “holy”. And “sveti duh” means “holy ghost”.

Our main target for the day was Paklenica National Park, known for its narrow canyons, numerous rock-climbing routes, and a secret military bunker (now a museum).

The former military bunker displays nature photos and provides an air-conditioned alternative to hiking outside.

Triple Caramel Chunk is called Caramel Chew Chew in Croatia.

Then we drove to Gračac, where we stayed 2 nights. We ate dinner at the Kralj Zonomic restaurant.

I had beef goulash, and Carol had the mixed meat platter (note the bowl of ajvar sauce).

Croatia day 26: Nin & Pag

September 14th: We started with the saltworks at Nin. Salt has been made here for about 1500 years.

We weren’t allowed to go out into the salt ponds, but a tour of schoolchildren were.

Only a few species of halophilic plants can grow in the brine.

Then it was on to the island of Pag. Much of Pag is near-desert, but the island is home to 40,000 sheep and is famous for its varietal cheeses. So of course we had to tour the Sirana Gligora cheese factory.

Applying wax to the cheese wheels.

We had to wear masks AND hoods and gowns. The purplish cheese was aged in vats of wine-grape skins (what’s left over after they squeeze out the juice).

Of course we had to order the large cheese sampler for lunch. It had 10 different cheeses with vegetables, grapes, olives, cantelope, and fig jam.

Looking down on the city of Pag. You can see how dry and desolate much of the island is.