Vukovar

Young people who have not studied recent European history will probably not know the name of this town in Northern Croatia. Older people, like me, still feel it best to tread softly and with respect around the streets and the bridge that were hardly ever out of the news between August and November 1991. The place is still not what it once was; the people may never be.

There are two diametrically opposed points of view, and we heard both on our tour of the Balkans. The Serb-Croat War may have been thirty years ago, but people still argue their case as though it were yesterday.

(Left: the waterfront).

The besiegers shot down the Croatian flag from the water tower on a daily basis. Every night, two defenders made the increasingly dangerous climb up the damaged structure and put the flag back.

The old bridge (right)  divided the Serb and Croat quarters, but in the old days nobody cared. The memorial to J-M Nicolier, a French volunteer, ensures that today nobody forgets.

Trpinja Road, remembered as the Tank Graveyard, and the memorial to its defending commander, Blago Zadro.

The lesson, still as relevant today, seems to me to be that if you must destroy a town and expel its people to prove that it's yours, then even if you win, nobody but you will ever believe that it's yours.

Lošinj, Croatia

If you’re interested in The Adriatic, it won’t have escaped your attention that it hasn’t escaped anybody else’s attention either. Some of the more popular places are almost overwhelmed by the volume of tourism and some are already taking steps to moderate the pressure on their facilities. That fact is, it’s quite hard to enjoy being a tourist when surrounded by hundreds or thousands of other people all trying to do the same.






Step forward the island of Lošinj, which adds to its numerous attractions the absence of an airport. Though you can fly in by light aircraft or seaplane, the bulk of tourists are dependent upon ships. Last year the island was praised by The Independent newspaper as an overlooked jewel.

I can confirm that the little port of Mali Lošinj is far from overpopulated. Tourists here do seem to have room to breathe. When we visited it was also significantly cooler than our earlier stops, (a blessing). Perhaps this is why it has been called the island of vitality.

Hvar Island, Croatia

I’m inclined to wonder why Admiral Sir Thomas Fremantle isn’t more famous. Hvar Island is another example of the outstanding achievements of his frigate squadron in The Adriatic during the closing years of the Naopleonic Wars. Again, considering that the fortress overlooking its harbour is as formidable as that of Kotor, the success of these relatively small ships in subduing the local French garrisons is quite remarkable.

Like Korčula, Hvar was controlled by pirates and necessarily subdued by the Venetians in the early years of their empire. It also followed a similar path through to the independence of Croatia in 1991.

Last time we visited, we climbed up to the fortress, from which the view is grand. This year it was too hot for such exertions and we contented ourselves with a pleasant walk through the back streets to the monastery and back along the seafront, where boating and water-sports are very popular.


The Old Town is beautifully preserved, with a spacious central plaza in front of the cathedral. Sadly we couldn’t walk up and down it in the relative cool of the evening, because by then we’d already sailed for our penultimate port of call.

Korčula, Croatia

Above may well be the best of my holiday photographs.

Legend has it that the island of Korčula was settled by Trojan refugees led by Antenor. Whether you want your city to have been founded by King Priam’s adviser might, I suppose, depend on whether you regard Antenor as a hero, an appeaser or an outright traitor, in which latter case you agree with Dante.

It is known that the island was later settled by Illyrians and Greeks, was conquered by the Romans and later became a haven for pirates who vexed the Venetians sufficiently for them to take it over themselves. Its sailors distinguished themselves against the Turks at the decisive Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Captured from the French by the British towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Korčula was subsequently held by Austria-Hungary until it was incorporated into Yugoslavia after the First World War. In 1991 it formed part of newly-independent Croatia.

Today the esplanade built by the British is a notable feature of a beautiful city whose fortifications offer just the right sort of romantic atmosphere to inspire fantasy writers, provided they can stand the heat!

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Historically the Republic of Ragusa, Dubrovnik’s prosperity was built upon maritime trade and foreign settlements, making it a thalassocracy. This brought it into rivalry with Venice, which actually ruled Ragusa in the 13^th and 14^th centuries.

After the great earthquake of 1667 it never really regained its former prominence and for several centuries maintained its independence only as a vassal of The Ottoman Empire. After the Napoleonic Wars Ragusa passed under the control of Austria-Hungary and was incorporated into Yugoslavia after the First World War.

During the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991 the city of Dubrovnik was besieged and much damage done by shelling, requiring much reconstruction after 1995. You can still see the difference in colour between old and new roofs when looking at pictures of the Old City from above.

A walk around the city walls today is neither cheap nor in summer heat all that easy, but it leads one to appreciate the work that has been done to restore ‘The Pearl of the Adriatic’ to its former glory.