Slano Things to Do

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Croatia
From Italy we took the “Croazia Jet,” a high-speed catamaran ferry across the Adriatic from Ancona, Italy to Split, Croatia. We sat in lazy-boy type seats with DVD movies for the 4-hour trip. After resolving a little mix-up about the Croatian rental car, we spent 5 nights in Croatia after driving down the coast to Jay and Christine’s home in Slano, Croatia. The Garmin GPS mapping was useless in Croatia because it showed only major highways.

We have become quite comfortable with Slano life, and this was probably our best visit ever. Each morning, 8 dollars American gets you 2 cappuccinos and either a bike or kayak rental. One night after dinner, at around midnight, we walk next door to visit Jay’s 83-year old neighbor who used to be a “harmony singer,” part of a traveling group around Europe. We sat outside, and he sang old-time love songs for all of us. This year a new 5-star hotel resort opened in Slano called the Admiral. Jay and Christine were gracious enough to buy a summer swimming pass at the place, so we used the kid-friendly facilities every day. In addition to the beach, the hotel has indoor and outdoor salt water pools, whirlpools, and massage jets in both pools and towel service.

We also checked out the new Radisson Blu resort in a nearby town. This place has 7 pools, 5 restaurants, a bakery, butcher shop and its own post office -- a self-contained village. We enjoyed a long afternoon lounging, swimming and eating. Saturday night in Slano was the “White Night” street dancing festival. There was a famous Croatian Las Vegas style singer named Jasmin Stravos, who was enthusiastically welcomed by the crowd. Just another after-midnight event for us.

Because we had an early morning flight out of Dubrovnik the next day, we decided to get a room in Cavtat about 5 minutes from the airport. Hotel prices were very high (200 euros per night) since this is high season in a quaint, touristy, seaside village. The clerk then asks if we want to stay privately. We agreed, and he calls his girl friend who shows up about 10 minutes later all dressed up for an evening out, and rides with us to show us an apartment for the night. The place is clean and very cheap. Accommodations worked out well for all involved.