Landscape Phot-o' the Day: Pag Island, Croatia

Pag Island, Croatia, is beautiful. It looks just like Nevada, if Nevada were an island in the Adriatic. The strong bura winds of winter blow the salt water of the Adriatic over the island, making it difficult to grow much here (except the sage, rosemary, and lavender that the Pag lambs eat to make them so delicious).

This is the ferry landing, where you catch the ferry boat from near the party-town of Novalja, back to the Croatian mainland.

Visited May 2010.

Ferry Across The Kvarner

My time on the Island of Pag was too brief. Less than one full day. The Island of Dirt, Rocks, Sheep and Strong Wind. I'll say it again: it's as if Nevada were an island!

I took a different route off Pag, since I would be heading northward. Slovenia beckons! I drove north from the City of Pag and caught the ferry boat across a channel of Kvarner Gulf to the mainland town of Zigljen. Where I drove straight up a mountainside. (The Dinaric Alps are steep along this part of the coast.)

I learned a number of important life lessons on this drive from Pag notherward. Lesson #1: there is no such thing as driving in a straight line in Croatia. The road may look like a line on a map where all of Croatia appears as a single map page. But maps lie. I was continually rounding curves, only occasionally faster than my comfort zone. I was glad I had no passenger as the E65 at the speed I was trying to maintain would've been a sure-fire formula for car sickness. Lesson #2: RVs are a problem on the road in more places than Nevada and Arizona. Or even North America, for that matter. Let me tell you. It's no fun being stuck behind an RV climbing a mountain straight up. And how the RV even got on the road from ferry landing is beyond me because there were no RVs on my ferry. It's like it was lying in wait.

So it was a long drive up the E65 to cover what should've been the short distance to Rijeka, the main city in Kvarner Gulf region of Croatia. From Rijeka, I planned on picking up the main arterial highway across the north of Croatia, the A6, just east of Rijeka. After missing the turn-off, I doublebacked a few miles and found it. The intent was to take a backdoor into Slovenia to take in two sites: Hum and Hrastovlje. One was a success.

Pag, Croatia: After Dark

It was a dark and stormy night in Pag. Light misty rain, actually. It was dusky when I finished supper, so I decided to walk the mile to downtown Pag to work off the big meal. The rain started to pick up, so that was that.

Why did I walk? Herbal schnapps. I had a shot of schnapps as a pre-dinner aperitif, and as my dessert. And I had the stronger-than-usual house wine with supper. So I was cruisin' on the boozin'. Which meant: hoof it. In the sprinkly rain.

The schnapps were tasty. They were "infused" with local herbs rosemary, sage and mint. The flavor was that of freshly-baked focaccia bread. Which works for an aperitif, believe it or not.

As for the pictures:

(1) One of the many harbors dotting the Pag environs.

(2) The remnants of the town's former wall. Not very protective anymore, considering how little distance it covers. So if the Island of Rab, or Krk, decides to invade, Pag is toast.

Pag, Croatia: Hotel Tony

One night in Pag The City. I'm staying at the Hotel Tony. In fact, I am the only guest tonight at the Hotel Tony. It's not the "in" season. The hotel staff is very friendly. It is clean. The room is functional. It's a great place to stay. They're spoiling me. When I mentioned the fact that I couldn't eat wheat or bread, they became concerned about my breakfast options (since the room price included breakfast, being Europe and all). I mentioned that I usually have oatmeal or cold cereal. So they're going to the store first thing in the morning just to buy oatmeal. For me. That is five-star service at a two-star price!

When I mentioned that I would not being staying for supper at the hotel restaurant because I wanted to try the famous Pag lamb, they were disappointed. Being a stranger in a strange land and all, I decided to stay. They agreed to make lamb. And serve a first course of Pag cheese. Now you may know that I do not like lamb. It's too strong tasting. But as I was researching this trip, I read about Pag lamb. It's supposed to be the best lamb in the world. These little lambs spend their entire lives munching on the salt-soaked rosemary, sage (kadulja) and lavender that grows wild on Pag. (And, in fact, are just about the only greenery that grows on the saline soil of Pag.)

After eating the Pag lamb -- and bear in mind I don't like lamb meat -- I would say that these lambs live a life well spent. They've got to be just about the most delicious creatures God has put on the earth. The pag lamb was incredible. The meat was very mild, yet very flavorful, probably from the herbs marinating from within. I also had the Pag cheese, made from the milk of the Pag sheep. It was very good, hard, with a nice flavor, but not an out-of-the-park home run like the meat course. And the salad with freshly grown tomatoes was awesome and, like lamb, I don't like tomatoes. These tomatoes were awesome, just the right combination of vegetable and fruit flavor, and they had a crunch. Not like those mealy, industrial tomatoes in the grocery store.

So yes, I recommend the Hotel Tony for lodging and dining needs next time you're in Pag.

Pag, Croatia: It's beautiful!

Otok Pag (Pag Island). It looks just like Nevada! Only it's an island! It's beautiful.