We are on the Island of Unije, two hours by ferry from Lošinj. It is very small.
How small?
There is only one little fishing village on the island, with 280 houses (I am taking their word for it, I did not count myself), one restaurant, and one store. There are no cars on the island. The ferry arrival is the huge excitement, twice a day.
And we are here for four days.
We took a really old fashioned ferry, long and low with open top. The sides are open to vent toe engine room, so I can look inside. It has been refurbished so it is comfortable, with really cool seating areas, and a below decks little cozy area. You can practically walk into the bridge of the ship; in fact I was tempted to go see what the captain was up to.
It is about an hour and forty-five minutes over to Unije, and on the way we made a quick stop at Vele Srakane, population maybe six for the entire island. Looks like two houses, an old church, and six boats. Our ferry didn't even really stop, just paused at the dock as two teenaged boys jumped the gap off with arms full of bags of supplies. They were greeted by mom and dad, sisters and a brother with lots of hugs. I am trying to imagine living on this barren brown scrubby island with rock walls.
I went back in the ship and got a great cup of coffee from the little bar in the lounge area. I sipped it as the sun came up over the mainland, far away.
Unije is the next island past Srakane, and it just sort of heaves up in sight.
There is on little hill that is the “peak” and the island sort of spreads out on both sides. We have to round the point by the lighthouse, then another point, swing wide around a small island and then into the port.
The church bells rang just as we arrived in port. They did not ring again all day except at noon.
It has only 88 residents according to the latest census (2011).
First settled in the stone age, Unije is known as an “Olive island” due to the large number of olive trees, and because it features four distinctive species of the plant which can only be found on the island.
The olive grove owners use old manual mills.
The olive trees date back to the Romans, when there were 20,000 olive trees here. There are not as many now, in fact we saw more scrubby pine trees instead.
You have to stay in a private room or apartment as there are no hotels here. I found a room at #49. The houses are simply numbered, no other address is needed. So we are staying at #49, Otok Unije, Croatia. It is a big room in a private house, back in the streets. We can catch sight of the bay. It turns out that we are fortunate to not be right down on the waterfront, as the afternoon sun bakes the life out of you. Our room is clean and comfortable with nice cold shower (of course it has warm water as well) and we have a shelf in the family refrigerator downstairs.
See below for contact information.
In sixteen years, we are the first Americans they have ever hosted.
Zlatka thinks our passports look pretty cool. They like to invite us to coffee; the morning we arrived we talked for about two hours. I won’t go into details, but of course the conversation came around to the new American president.
Most conversations this trip, if they last any time at all, come around to this topic. Person after person on this trip has asked about, and has strong opinions (not favorable) and comments about what is happening in the US. I would have burned out long ago trying to explain anything, or apologize. Plus, it is not my place to apologize for, try to make excuses for, or explain away the daily lying, insults, stupid remarks, and unthinking twitter tantrums and uneducated decisions of an unhinged, insecure man who cannot even perform the basic duties of the job.
But I came upon the perfect solution right off, weeks ago.
“I am from California, “ I say. “I did not vote for him. It is such a crazy shame.”
And POOF! A smile and we are on to the next topic.
As I said, there are no cars on the island, however there are a couple tractors that haul supplies around every time the ferry comes in, and one guy has a loud scooter. Other than that, it is quiet, really quiet here.
Really.
Quiet.
So, what do we do here when we are not at the beach, or eating or sleeping? We walk, and we watch.
Watching.
Now, I will tell you I know nothing about sailboats except that I’d like to try it sometime. If I was going to go out in a boat, I’d find one with a captain included. Well, these people on the sailboat must have figured they didn’t need no damn captain.
But they didn’t know how to drive or park a boat, either.
So they came hard around, charged right at the end of the dock, and on the way by at full speed threw a rope over.
It totally missed.
Not deterred, they hauled the rope in, slowed the boat down, and gingerly this time got within maybe ten or fifteen feet of the dock.
A guy was at the end of the dock, so they threw the rope to him, and surprisingly enough they hit him.
So he held on to the rope and waited for them to come in. You know, right up next to the dock to tie off.
This is when the fun started. It was so fascinating I couldn’t stop watching or laughing.
There are like six people on the deck of the boat. It is a big sailing boat.
“Pull us in!” they are yelling and gesturing at him.
“Park-a the boat!” he is yelling back.
“You pull!”
“No, you park-a!”
And this is going on and on. At one point the boat lurches a little, and the guy holding the rope is almost yanked into the water. That is when he had enough. In total disgust he threw the rope back at them, swatting at them with both hands and walking away.
I am dying by now, as is the table next to us.
Somehow they got him to come back, and threw the rope to him again. He wrapped it around the boat-wrapping thing to hold the boat.
Then they threw over a second line and he wrapped that one too. But there they are, still drifting about 12 feet off the dock.
“PULL!' they yell, standing on the boat demonstrating to him.
“PARK-A THE BOAT!” he yells, using his hand in a slicing motion, showing them how to come in close.
And this went on and on. Every time the boat would drift a inch or two closer, the people would pull up the slack.
The boat would rock back out and almost yank one of them off the deck.
The guy at the steering wheel was pointing like crazy, yelling. But he sure wasn't driving.
Finally, after about 30 minutes of this, the boat slid in the last two inches or so, and a couple of the people tumbled off and tied up the lines, really tight.
Only problem is…
they are tied up right where the ferry comes in to dock.
In an hour.
During this whole fiasco, the girls in bikinis looked fabulous on the deck, tending to their hair and makeup.
Watching and learning:
Bread. Such a simple thing. If you don’t make your own, and you want bread (other than a couple frozen loaves at the store) you sign up at the store for next day delivery on the ferry. Exactly what and how many.
Electricity comes to the island via underwater cable from Losinj. Sometimes a boat drops anchor and snags the cable, causing quite a huge repair job. In the meantime they send a boat over with a huge, noisy generator to power the village.
TV, WiFi and telephone are all bundled together. It can take a month just to replace a fried router.
It is interesting how they deal with the garbage. A tractor hauls the little dumpsters down to the end of the dock, and a little red garbage boat shows up, pulling hard around to get its crane in position. It’s a pretty quick job, as the crane offloads new, empty dumpsters, and loads up the filled ones. I am wondering what garbage service costs here?
They haul out the garbage, but they haul in water. There is pretty much no water on the island, so a ship shows up every other day to deliver the water. Every house is built on top of a cistern, and there is an opening, like a well, inside your house. That way you can defend your water supply, and it can’t be poisoned during a pirate attack.
Seriously.
So the ship shows up, and everybody runs a hose into their “well” opening and fills up with water. The water is filtered, and the house we are staying at then runs it through a sand and then a carbon filter besides. You sign up for the water delivery, and the amount needed, at the store.
So, as luck would have it, the supply boat did not show up on time, and we ran out of water our first day here. But only for a few hours until the emergency backup water came. Anyway, it was not too bad for us. We just went to the cafe, ordered water (of course) and sat in the shade and read.
So, guess what?
The first afternoon about 19:30, we were wanting to see the spectacular sunset (the town faces west, which is why the afternoon sun is brutal) and to go eat dinner, when it clouded up and started to thunder ominously. Lightning flashed deep in the clouds, the wind increased and then bright streaks of lightning zigged to earth (to ocean?) with ear shattering claps of thunder. It was a great show and everyone hurried down to the waterfront to watch. The wind increased, it got darker, then it just opened up and solid water came down.
We all made a run for the little cafe as that is the only place open. The cafe has like four tables inside, because everybody eats outdoors because, as I said, it never rains here. So the entire town was crammed in, and the rain was blowing in sideways through the huge open sliding glass doors. Somebody managed to get the doors shut, and we watched amazed as the ocean almost disappeared. What I mean is, the rain was so solid that it was like a curtain, and you could not see the boats in the harbor, or the dock; in fact we could barely see the waterfront tables just 15 feet in front of us. But, we could see the waves crashing in, bigger and bigger, now to the top of the wall, now a little splash over the wall…
And then it was over.
The wind just quit, the rain stopped and after a while the sea quit rolling. Everybody piled outside, and we watched as the clouds parted enough so we got a nice orange sunset.
What we didn’t know at the time was that the lightning fried the router at our guest house, and so POOF! No WiFi.
Well, we obviously did some eating at Konoba Kod Joze. In no particular order, we had čevapčici (sausages with pepper sauce, like in Bosnia), excellent Seebrasse or branzzin (sea bass), salad, pomme frite with beer, seebrasse again, the house wine by the liter, mineral water, more wine…
The sea bass is excellent. So fresh. We ate the french fries after a day at the beach, with cold beers. Yum!
Some things just don’t translate well on a menu. For instance, next to Patate (potato) and Insalate (salad) is “Blitva.” Run it through the translation app and you get “mangrels.” Ummmm. What are those? Stray dogs? I googled it and they are a “type of beet used for cattle feed.” I think stray dog sounds more appetizing.
They did not have about three quarters of the menu items because they were not in season (ie: nobody caught a tuna today). Squid was the most popular item ordered that I saw. The white wine was slightly fizzy, but not sweet; green wine they call it in Portugal. We are drinking it very young.
Much to our surprise the waitress spoke English.
Much to her surprise we did.
Everything here is in German, Croatian and Italian. "No, nobody from the United States" she said. Sometimes the English. She too is surprised we are here, somewhat curious. I am thinking we will probably be the topic of conversation for a few days.
“Why are you here?”
Why are we here?
Well, we like small places. Out of the way places. And...
There are a lot of little private coves and indentations all around the island, and that is why we are here, to seek out and find our own private paradise.
The village is fronted by a long, curving pebble beach, and there is another little pebble beach just at the north edge of two, but there are people there. Not crowded, there is always plenty of room, but are hoping to hike in the early morning and discover something of our own.
The village kids like to jump off the ferry pier, right by the “no swimming” signs.
But that is not the beach we are looking for.
In Italian, it roughly worked out to, “…cross over up to the little capella (church), little past go down small path, to right, to bay. Rocks and pebble beach backed by olive trees. No one there. At shore go only left not right.”
She is talking about a narrow fjord type bay called Maračol across the island from us.
We took a liter of red wine, some fruit, a lot of frozen water and walked up and over the next morning about 8:00.
And it was a beautiful bay.
We didn’t find the exact olive tree spot, but we found a nice flat area, where someone had cobbled together a bench, and we spent most of the day sitting in the water, then napping. The little fjord has about twenty sailboats parked in it, but it is not crowded at all. You can hear the occasional splash, or a fragment of conversation, but that is is. All is dark dark blue, and calm.
We noticed something on the “resort beach” in Losinj: all the women changed swimsuits during the day. Some of them had three different ones, others just two. Gail figured that they must not like to sit in a wet suit. So, for example, a woman would go swim in her red bikini, then go change into a blue one to sit and hand the red one on the umbrella to dry. Later, swim in the blue one and then change back into the red one. So I figure the woman with the most suits is the richest top-dog power person as she does not have to actually suffer the indignity of drying her suit, like the “commoners."
What beats that is if you don't have to wear a suit at all...
We ate at Uniana Trattatoria, which we discovered totally by accident when we were out exploring, looking for a place to swim. It is right at the north edge of town, down along the water. It is a B&B, but the sign out front said Trattatoria so we just poked our noses in. The owner is a lady from Zagreb, her daughter helps her run the place, and sure, she will feed us. But we must reserve the day in advance, so not tonight. Tomorrow night is vegetarian, so we shrugged and said OK.
The vegetarian meal was really good; different and a nice break from fish. We had a creamed vegetable soup, not too hot on this balmy night, a nice salad that was almost bitter, peas with rice and something called “satan” which I had a lot of fun with, but Gail insists it is spelled “seitan.”
Spoiling all the fun.
I like my way better. Anyway it was breaded, like a cutlet, and had the consistency of meat. A berry crepe was the dessert. The meal included a half liter of wine, water, and we were given an apertif at the end.
She is making sardines next, so we signed up.
That turned out to be a treat. We had home made spaghetti with mussels and tomato, a dozen pan fried, crispy sardines with potatoes, bitter greens, onions and garlic, and a very light apple torte for dessert. Again, a well prepared and presented meal.
Gail had never had, nor wanted sardines before; she ate every one. Amazing how a dozen small fish can fill you up.
We have heard, from the baker’s mouth, that the bakery will be open Friday at 8:00 until 12:00 (Have to go early. First come first serve.) and then at night for pizza. We will see if it happens.
EXCITING UPDATE!
Friday morning, the bakery is not open. We looked in the window and he might be open in August? September, perhaps? Maybe he meant open this same Friday but in 2018.
Gail got a massage out on the coast. We saw a sign down by the ferry office, and I called the number. There is a little screened bed by the beach.
And so we cut across through the brambles and field and weeds, heading along an animal trail in mostly the right direction until the trail curved back towards the village. So we thrashed and struggled and saw a few pheasants and got stuck by a few stickers, and got swarmed by a ton of black little flies that did not bite but were crazy…
It took us one hour and ten minutes to go one and a quarter miles. And our usual pace on any terrain is three miles an hour, easy.
After that fiasco, well…
We decided that Gail needs to sleep in more.
Meanwhile, onboard the ferry, supplies and boxes line the railing. As it draws into the dock, but before it is actually tied up, people are already throwing boxes, unloading crates over the railing to waiting hands, and a general unloading frenzy ensues.
They have less than five minutes to get all the (10? 15?) passengers off and the new ones on, and all the supplies offloaded before they set off again. Things like beds, ladders and building supplies are left stacked on the dock until they can be moved later. Anyone who isn’t actually unloading is watching, cataloguing, mentally observing. This is the news until tomorrow, and for the next couple hours it will be discussed in the cafe and on the benches in the shade; in front of the store by the beer drinking group that gathers every afternoon.
We are already (day three) a subject of curiosity. Today we were stopped, asked if we were the people from California. No other questions, just a smile and “hello.” I suppose it is enough just to meet me and bask in my glow, as I am sure my friends will readily admit.
(Sneak preview: the next day, starting in the heat of the afternoon, we had it to ourselves 5 out of 6.5 hours!)
I will not tell you where it is unless you are family or friend, and then only on a “need to know” basis (as in you are actually coming here and have your tickets in hand). It’s not that it is a “total secret” but it is hidden enough, obscure and overlooked by the many, so that you might just have it to yourself as we did, most of the day. And I do NOT want to be the one who spoils that.
There is nothing so good as the afternoon french fries and beer at the cafe, after a day swimming and sunning, about three hours before dinner. It takes the edge off. The cool breeze, the seaside table, the waves lapping in…
The air is clear here. At night we can see the lights on the tip of mainland Croatia, south of Pula on the Istrian Peninsula.
Friday we wanted to take the early ferry run to the neighboring island of Susak. Fridays have the most there-and-back options; some days the ferry doesn’t run at all. Well, it was sunny and warm, but windy on Friday morning, and we showed up down at the dock at 9:10 to find out the catamaran was canceled due to high winds (rough seas). You know, just another one of those things about island life.
We wanted to visit Susak because it is a small island, 4 square kilometers, just east of us (west from Losinj, we could see it from the beach there). The island is unique because it is made from sand, over the limestone. There is a small lower town and a small upper town; together there are more houses and people than Unije. They even have three working restaurants, so we thought we would eat well. There are no cars on the island, just walking paths with multiple coves to swim in. They say it is very quiet, but not so quiet as Unije because of the sand beaches and the close proximity to Losinj.
Instead we relaxed and ate a good lunch. Then we changed, grabbed towels, and hit up our personal cove again for the late afternoon. Again it was deserted most of the time, again we marveled at our great fortune as we swam and floated in three-dimensional blue warmth and silence.
Goals for today: Go Beach. Swim. Sun. Eat fresh fish. Drink.
Check.
Check.
Check.
Check.
Check.
It is always good to set goals and meet them. Makes for a productive day.
So we spent the time swigging wine out of the bottle, between swimming and laying around. This is about as perfect as it gets. Almost a spiritual experience, in a totally hedonistic way.
I sat, chin deep in the water watching as the sun lowered, down, down until it sizzled and fizzed into the ocean in front of me. I could almost feel the warmth spreading into me. After sunset we got out, dripped dry, and walked slowly back.
Tomorrow we leave for Italy. Part two of our trip is over, part three begins. I will miss these long, lazy days at the beach, but I am looking forward to the mountains ahead of us.
But for right now…
Right now I am warm in the light breeze, the last of the Adriatic drying on my dark skin.
And you know you do...
Here is the latest information, current as of 14 July, 2017
There are about 50 beds for rent in the town, total. I used google maps and TripAdvisor and AirB&B to find a place. You are working with private people on a small island, they will probably want you to pay up front (I paid 50% up front). AirB&B seems to have the most listings, but I still could not find all of them. I think during most of the year except perhaps high season in August, I think you could show up here and find a room.
We stayed with Giovanni & Zlatka. Here is their contact information if you don’t want to look around. You can see photos of the room and place, and read about it in my blog post above.
I could also recommend this place to stay right on the sea: Pansion Unijana (we ate here).
It is a “cash only” island. No credit cards anywhere.
You will find no ATMs here, and nothing anywhere about any bank.
BUT (and you heard it here first) you can get cash on Unije. Go to the post office. The postmaster has a credit card machine, and you put in your card and pin and they charge you an amount, then give that cash to you. I wish I had known this ahead of time, as I was plotting out how much cash to bring over for four days. The post office is open 10:30-3:30 Mon-Fri only.
Everything says there are three taverns/bars/restaurants in the town. Not exactly. Here is exactly the options you have:
1. The ice cream-coffee and pastry shop. Water, coffees, coke and lemonade type drinks, some morning pastries and ice cream. Under the trees, in the shade, open at 7:00
It is called the Slastičarnica Unije.
2. The Knoba Kod Joze This is the only official restaurant open now. The Konoba Kod Barba Ive by the ferry dock is closed, and the other restaurant next to the Kod Joze has been taken over by them, offering shaded afternoon seating. The Kod Joze is open at 10:00 for drinks, food starts at 12:00, and food service goes until 23:00 and they close at 24:00 (midnight). They have great fish, but the prices are up a little because they are the only show in town.
The menu is small, offering (roughly) a small selection of current seafood, beef steak, lamb, soup, salad, cheese, prosciutto, house wine and beer. About half of the things may not be offered. Be prepared to eat (good) sea bass. The menu is in Croatian, German, and Italian only.
3. There is a little B&B if you walk north (to the left facing town) along the waterfront for about five minutes. It is a blue house and out front it says “Uniana Trattatoria.” So we walked in. You can reserve a dinner the day before (NOT the day of), and you get what they are serving. It changes daily, and includes a starter (like soup or salad) a main, and dessert, plus wine and water. Cost is €25 or 189 kuna (approximate depending on exchange rate). Dinner at 20:00 every night. So our first day there we stumbled on this and reserved for the second night. It was a vegetarian meal that night. Read the post above.
The store is small, but fairly well stocked. You could easily make a meal; we used it for picnic supplies for the beach, and to buy wine and so on. Prices are a little higher, and the selection is not huge, but not bad either. Hours are 8:30-12:30 and 18-21 Mon-Fri, 9-12 and 19-21 weekends.
You really should bring the supplies you need. You can buy toothpaste or soap at the store, but not beach towels or flip-flops or clothes. There are no gift shops. One house has some home made trinkets for sale on an honor basis, and the post office has a few postcards and souvenirs, but nothing else.
There is a bakery, but it is not open now. Who knows when it will open? And it is NOT where google maps or local maps might say the bakery is located. Just go up the hill from the Kod Joze and ask around. In the meantime, you can order bread at the grocery to be delivered next day on the ferry.
If you need laundry done you will have to pay your host to do it. Our cost 25 kuna for a load (about $3.50) hung out to dry and ironed.
The ferry office can be hit or miss, and there will be a hand printed notice telling you to buy tickets on the ship if it is closed. The ferry schedules are posted, and they may be different from the on-line times. The ferry may not show up due to rough seas. Our 7:20 catamaran out actually left at 7:05. Good to look ahead of time, or you may be stuck for two days.
The ferry tickets to or from Losinj, 2 hours trip, are $5. For two.
You can get a ferry to Pula. We went out on the catamaran to Rijeka. 110 kuna total for two.
Gail had a massage on the beach. There is a sign, you call the guy. It was 200 kuna ($26) for an hour and she liked it.
There actually is an airfield here, and I saw one plane use it once. There are rolls of hay on the side of it, so they have been farming it lately.
Here are websites about Unije:
The official website, you have to run it through Google Translate.
Unije Info.
Wikipedia