Visit to Krk Island

Yesterday (Saturday), the English Language Fellow, Mariellyn, and I took a little excursion to the nearby island of Krk (pronounced “Kirk,” with a slightly rolled “r”). According to reading I did back in the States, there is some thought that this might be the island where Ulysses / Odysseus was stranded, what we call “Circe” (though in Greek it was pronounced with a hard C or K sound, hence the spelling). In any case, it’s a very beautiful island with a very long history, from prehistoric traces, to a strong Roman presence (when Croatia was known as Illyria), to more recent Italian influence. There is a bridge from the mainland just south east of here (Rijeka) to the island, so it is easily accessible. We took the bus, which was very comfortable, though they played this cheesy radio station (all old songs in English, none of which I’d ever heard before) rather loud the whole way. The island, like the mainland nearby, is hilly and rocky. There are many little villages and towns, several of which our bus stopped at before arriving at Krk town, our destination.

Krk town includes the old town, which is a medieval walled city that is very beautiful. We wandered along the harbor, with many tulips and spring flowers just blooming, and lovely views of the sea and mountains of the mainland beyond as views, as well as the walls and towers of the city. We entered the old town through the “south gate” that is near the water and almost immediately stumbled upon the beautiful cathedral. There were children gathering in the St. Quirinus church just across a walkway from the cathedral, and eventually they started singing, perhaps practicing for an Easter concert. The old town is full of narrow, twisting, hilly, cobblestone streets that wind between the buildings. As we wandered all around this labyrinth of streets, we came upon a bakery exuding a marvelous smell. So we stopped and bought pastries. Mariellyn got a chocolate croissant, and I chose a local specialty, croissant dough filled with a sweet ground nut mixture that was heavenly. It was still warm and had a light dusting of powdered sugar on it. We wandered to a nearby park and there enjoyed these pastries in front of an incredible view of the sea and the old castle. The water from this vantage point appeared various colors at once, from a clear, deep green to an amazing aqua blue. There were boats tied up, picturesque houses in the background, and a stone wall before us. We sat under a big old tree on a park bench, while pigeons flew abruptly from the cat stalking them. I saw quite a few cats on that island, mostly lazing around soaking up the sun on the city walls, hunting birds, or begging tourists for tidbits.

What we could see of the outer walls of the castle was picturesque, but the castle itself (or what's left of it) was closed, like the museums and cathedral (though you could look through glass inside the cathedral to see most of what's inside). There was an area near the castle wall that was open and allowed us to walk over boulders to get quite close to the sea. The water was very clear; in fact we saw a bicycle that had fallen in near the steps.

We wandered the charming old town streets for a few hours, at one point coming upon the Franciscan monastery that my guide book said is closed to the public. But the monks and nuns kind of waved us through and didn’t seem to mind that the two of us entered. So in fact we saw inside the courtyard, two churches (or chapels), and even their vineyard/garden area, all of which were very lovely. One old man tried to talk to us, but he spoke Italian and German, which neither of us spoke. We told him the garden and whole monastery were "bellisimo" and he agreed, smiling and nodding. There are also some ruins of old Roman walls visible from the monastery. We think we picked them out, but weren’t sure (since there are many walls made of stones all around the island, many of them crumbling).

We had lunch at a restaurant with a huge open air seating area right on the water and under some trees. I had a delicious pizza and salad and Mariellyn had lasagna. It was a sunny day, though still a bit cool. There was good opportunity for people watching, although since it’s not yet summer, the tourist season is not in high gear. This was overall good news for us, because the town was not too crowded, nor were any of the cafes. On the other hand, there were plenty of people there, many apparently tourists. We heard a lot of German spoken, but also a lot of Croatian. Only once did I pick out other Americans, some young women who came and sat at a table next to ours as we were finishing lunch. The two Americans appeared to be with two Croatian women their age who spoke excellent English. I imagined they were students here (the Americans) with some friends, but who knows. I think many Croatians come to enjoy the island as well as foreign tourists. In summer there are scuba diving and sailing opportunities, along with boat tours around the island. It is a beautiful place, and from what I’ve heard, not even the best of the many islands around here. But I’m glad I finally got out and saw at least one of them.