The breakfast area at Hotel Scaletta was kind of like a bedroom that had been outfitted for eating. There was a door that could close off the room and only one small window looking out onto the steps that led down to the main street. The food was outside this room on narrow tables in the hallway. Despite this Spartan arrangement the breakfast could be quite refreshing. We had a light breakfast and then found directions from our hotel (with the help of Team Scalletta) to the bus via local routes that would take us to Fazana a beautiful little town/fishing village. Guided tours on scheduled ferries leave Fazana at regular intervals for the Brijuni Islands. The local bus we picked up from the Autobusni Kolodvor took us directly to Fazana with a few stops along the way. Fazana is a very cute village by the Adriatic Sea with beautiful views of the islands and fishing boats with a few waterside cafes. This place is not unlike some of the large beach towns on the Cape in that there are plenty of people vacationing/visiting as well as many others just going about their daily lives. We bought our tickets at the national park tourism ticket office (The Brijuni Islands are a national park) for the ferry. The brilliant sunshine and numerous fishing boats made for a very picturesque scene as we waited for the ferry to take us on this 30 min. journey.
The ferry arrived and we boarded with about 50 other people. The ride was beautiful with the water a clear blue/green and plenty of fish visible from above the surface. Since this was a National Park still in use by the Croatian government, the only way to actually see these islands is as a part of an organized tour. We joined a small English tour with about 15 others (most of the people on the boat were either German or Hrvatski) and started our tour of Vijelka Brijuni the largest of the Brijuni Islands. Our tour guide, a petite blonde woman, led us to the first stop on our tour which for the first hour would be conducted via tourist train. This train chugged up and down the island hills spewing exhaust and shaking as it ascended some hills. We saw many of the old build
ings now used by the Croatian National Park Service and stopped at the safari/zoo area that housed elephants, cattle, donkeys, horses etc. all of which were either gifts for or offspring of gifts given to Tito, the former dictator of Yugoslavia. The stop included ice cream, animal petting and then back in the train to see the remains of a Roman Villa, a 1700 year-old olive tree and finally back to where we started by the Hotel Café near where the ferry had originally left us. The tourguide was very good about communicating our itinerary to all of us. In fact she repeated it so often that I thought for a moment that she was looking forward to the time when we would actually be leaving. After the tourist train segment of the tour had concluded we resumed our touring on foot. Now on foot, we saw a historic and small church with Roman frescoes and the museum that housed historic photos of Tito’s life including his meetings with many foreign dignitaries and also many of the animals that were given to him after they were taxidermied as well as some animals he had taxidermied himself. The walk for a close-up view of the 1700 year-old olive tree
finished our tour save the last stroll back to the large hotel and quay where Tito used to greet and bid adieu to his honored guests. The Croats seem partially torn about how Tito’s legacy should be viewed. At times they seem to revere and respect him as a sense of national pride. His ability to keep the ethnic tensions between Bosnians, Croats and Serbs from boiling over is also widely respected given the ethnic wars that took place in the vacuum of political leadership that was created after his passing. We caught the ferry back to Fazana and had a snack at a local café there after which we found the bus back to Pula and to our room.
For dinner we went to a place recommended to us via the Lonely Planet book and it was called Kantina. Our server was very attentive and we sampled Istrian wine, both red and white, Istrian cheese, truffles and honey brandy all in one meal. It was spectacular! Once again, for some reason, we were the only people in the dining room with all other people upstairs in the café. The dining room itself was in a basement level of the restaurant and was very tastefully decorated. This place was a pleasant surprise especially after the at times questionable nature of the previous night’s meal. Since we had both dessert and an after dinner drink at Kantina we decided to head back to the room immediately afterwards.
After spending all this time in the Brijuni Islands it became apparent to me that the Croats are proud of Tito and his accomplishments including uniting the various ethnic groups that made up the former Yugoslavia while glossing over his tyranny. The islands themselves are serene and very tourist worthy. There could be more development to bring Fazana and the Brijuni Islands into a more modern tourist sphere if the local residents want such a thing of course. The island is very charming now relatively undeveloped, but an island with good weather and decent facilities is extremely desirable. So there is potential for much more. Like much of the precious history and natural resources we’ve seen here, the Croats are lagging a little in how they are presented to tourists and the like. Being able to see these beautiful islands via pre-arranged guided tours only limits how the island can be visited and who can visit. These types of restrictions keep the island feeling very quaint and intimate. Many of the tourist services in Croatia leave much room for improvement which could be why this country is largely unvisited by many westerners.
The ferry arrived and we boarded with about 50 other people. The ride was beautiful with the water a clear blue/green and plenty of fish visible from above the surface. Since this was a National Park still in use by the Croatian government, the only way to actually see these islands is as a part of an organized tour. We joined a small English tour with about 15 others (most of the people on the boat were either German or Hrvatski) and started our tour of Vijelka Brijuni the largest of the Brijuni Islands. Our tour guide, a petite blonde woman, led us to the first stop on our tour which for the first hour would be conducted via tourist train. This train chugged up and down the island hills spewing exhaust and shaking as it ascended some hills. We saw many of the old build
ings now used by the Croatian National Park Service and stopped at the safari/zoo area that housed elephants, cattle, donkeys, horses etc. all of which were either gifts for or offspring of gifts given to Tito, the former dictator of Yugoslavia. The stop included ice cream, animal petting and then back in the train to see the remains of a Roman Villa, a 1700 year-old olive tree and finally back to where we started by the Hotel Café near where the ferry had originally left us. The tourguide was very good about communicating our itinerary to all of us. In fact she repeated it so often that I thought for a moment that she was looking forward to the time when we would actually be leaving. After the tourist train segment of the tour had concluded we resumed our touring on foot. Now on foot, we saw a historic and small church with Roman frescoes and the museum that housed historic photos of Tito’s life including his meetings with many foreign dignitaries and also many of the animals that were given to him after they were taxidermied as well as some animals he had taxidermied himself. The walk for a close-up view of the 1700 year-old olive tree
finished our tour save the last stroll back to the large hotel and quay where Tito used to greet and bid adieu to his honored guests. The Croats seem partially torn about how Tito’s legacy should be viewed. At times they seem to revere and respect him as a sense of national pride. His ability to keep the ethnic tensions between Bosnians, Croats and Serbs from boiling over is also widely respected given the ethnic wars that took place in the vacuum of political leadership that was created after his passing. We caught the ferry back to Fazana and had a snack at a local café there after which we found the bus back to Pula and to our room.For dinner we went to a place recommended to us via the Lonely Planet book and it was called Kantina. Our server was very attentive and we sampled Istrian wine, both red and white, Istrian cheese, truffles and honey brandy all in one meal. It was spectacular! Once again, for some reason, we were the only people in the dining room with all other people upstairs in the café. The dining room itself was in a basement level of the restaurant and was very tastefully decorated. This place was a pleasant surprise especially after the at times questionable nature of the previous night’s meal. Since we had both dessert and an after dinner drink at Kantina we decided to head back to the room immediately afterwards.
After spending all this time in the Brijuni Islands it became apparent to me that the Croats are proud of Tito and his accomplishments including uniting the various ethnic groups that made up the former Yugoslavia while glossing over his tyranny. The islands themselves are serene and very tourist worthy. There could be more development to bring Fazana and the Brijuni Islands into a more modern tourist sphere if the local residents want such a thing of course. The island is very charming now relatively undeveloped, but an island with good weather and decent facilities is extremely desirable. So there is potential for much more. Like much of the precious history and natural resources we’ve seen here, the Croats are lagging a little in how they are presented to tourists and the like. Being able to see these beautiful islands via pre-arranged guided tours only limits how the island can be visited and who can visit. These types of restrictions keep the island feeling very quaint and intimate. Many of the tourist services in Croatia leave much room for improvement which could be why this country is largely unvisited by many westerners.
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