Highlights
Discovering the olive oil factory in the ‘Death House’
Exploring Susaks church
Island life
Learnings
A good rinse after swimming is always necessary
Ice cream after climbing steps to the highest point in the town - not before
Time lapsing! New found tool
Always buy the audio tour - although pricey they never disappoint
It was hard to wake up today! I felt quite exhausted and realize this may be why I’m not feeling so great, I wanted to be up early to enjoy a coffee and a moment to sketch but I slept a bit longer than I wanted. I jumped out and made my way to a few points I thought would be great for coffee. I found two great spots. The first by one of the main arches and the other a little later above the coliseum. With more time I think it would have been amazing to walk through the underground tunnels built through the city - they were called Zerostrasse. I have a photo below. Next time!
The girls were at the Coliseum so I made my way in to meet them. I picked up the audio tour guide which as mentioned is always a great little item to have in these historical places. It gives such specific details of the structure and these moments of history that I find they are must haves. I learnt that there were 4 coliseums along the coast at one point in time and this is the last one standing.
We walked through the stadium seats and then Kathleen and Antonia departed as we were on a bit of a timeline to meet Jose back at the boat. This allowed Caitlyn and I a bit more time to explore and one of my points was to find the underground area - there is always one and I knew that to pay admission into the Coliseum I wanted to see what you couldn’t from the outside looking in. We were not disappointed!
Walking down into the cellar area we discovered that beyond what Jose had told us this was actually an Olive Oil producer. They had large presses and many of the ceramic containers which had the craftsman engraved on the top portion. It was incredible to see the amount of jugs they had found here and the different ways it was manufactured in bulk for the city. Jose had explained earlier that what you don’t necessarily understand just from walking through is that the Coliseum was basically a required social activity - they had wine for all the spectators and I can’t remember the name but I’ve heard of it before - an area where you vomit to make room for more food and wine. The gruesome events which took place created a literal blood bath within the main area which is why they are typically layered with sand - so that the blood can soak in. So, if you think about it this packed area in the scorching heat filled with blood and vomit... not the image portrayed in the cinematic perspective we have today. Very interesting history!
We left the Coliseum and made our way back to the boat. Goodbye Pula - today was an island day. Not too much to tell other than some amazing views, a break along the way to open the swimming pool, and then arriving in Susak.
No more marina life - which is quite classy - here we hook into a buoy and sleep on the water. It’s kind of like a campground with no hook ups for power or water. Enter Dario. We didn’t see how we could grab the buoy - I had hooked in on the first try but there was no slack and basically it seemed damn near impossible to get our ropes on this let alone be able to pull it up high enough to attempt. So we actually were anchoring in a different location when Dario approached asking us what our intentions were and explained we could not anchor and would need to return to the buoy. He actually had to help us with the connection so we didn’t feel to bad - previously it had felt like we weren’t skilled enough to complete the task.
Dario turned out to be quite a character. He was rewarded with one of my beer as payment for his assistance with our ropes and he hung around for a few moments getting to know the girls. Another boat was pulling in (which we knew would also need his help) but he chose to ignore it since a boat full of single girls seemed a little more fun than the family that had just arrived. He clearly made his own rules, and seemed to be living the life (an empty beer already in his boat).
Our neighbours took some notice as well, apparently even bold enough to take a few pictures. I didn’t see this, but they were definitely interested... which may sound like fun but not really when it’s a boat full of older men speaking a different language.
The pool opened again! We swam for a bit and then got ready for dinner - Dario gave us a few suggestions for dinner. We left the boat just at sunset which was beautiful and captured by Caitlyn with a time lapse. Really interesting tool that I didn’t even realize existed! It’s just another option on your camera apparently... I’m not with the times it seems.
We walked through the small town and looped back around to the ‘Anchor’ restaurant located right by a small marina. The waiter knew little English and didn’t even give us menus, simply told us a few of the main dishes for the night to choose from. I tried to ask him his favorite or what he recommended and I ended up with Cevapchichi another traditional Croatian dish which consists of small meatloaf like logs I guess for lack of a better description (thank you to my mother who was able to tell me the name - with no menu - I had no idea). They were delicious and came with Ajvar - what my mother described as ‘Croatian Ketchup’ which is a spread found here made of roasted peppers. It’s amazing. I hope I can find it at home but this was clearly made in house and was a perfect pair for the meat.
With dinner behind us, Jose wanted to venture up to the old city which was higher up the mountain to see the church and perhaps a view of the town. Along the way the girls found gelato and we all got a little cup - I’m not sure I mentioned but the Americans made a deal to have gelato every day no matter what and no matter the cost. A fun little point of each day. This is where I recommend having gelato at the end of an adventure - although only about 15 mins to the church, it was all at a climb.
Gelato didn’t really sit so great while I sweat my way up the third set of stairs. Water maybe a better choice to bring. But again, worth every step. The church was closed as by this time it was approaching midnight I think. We had a late day. It was fun seeing the quiet areas and of course the view from the top.
A nice little work out too after being on the boat most the day. As we descended it was notable how the air changed from a damp humidity heat to a cooling breeze coming off the water. Magical really after the climb and the dull air up top.
We climbed into the dingy and made our way back to find our neighbors mid way through a bit of a party. Their honoured guest? You know exactly who it was, Dario of course. He seemed to be the kind of guy who knew where a party would be. They were found of Johnny Cash and proceeded to sing along to a few classics. At which point they hollered over to us. Previously Dario noted many of the Americans that came here were based out of New Jersey - to which our American girls noted they were not fans of. Somewhat rivalry, somewhat ‘other side of the tracks’ mentality from what I gathered. Dario had obviously enjoyed a few libations and was making his way to leave which we all were a tad concerned with, at this point I had excused myself for bed - with my stomach not so good again I knew I needed sleep and I try to stay up as long as I can for the coolness on deck but into my hot room I went. I could hear Dario approach our boat flirting a bit with the girls and he noted they should not be concerned he lived approximately 4 minutes away. He also very poignantly noted that he only needed 4 minutes for good sex, and asked if any of the girls had 4 minutes to spare. Lol quite the pick up line. The story ends here for the day, with our friend Dario leaving alone back to shore. I’m sure he has many interesting stories to share working these waters during the summertime. Perhaps we will meet him again one day
The cruise on the dingy into Susak and a wonderful sunset - every day feels magical here.
The view of the coliseum from the top close to where I had my morning coffee.
Walking towards the coliseum from
The bottom
Inside on the steps - each step was purchased by patrons and their seats actually had the family initials carved into them to reserve them.
View from the church at the top of Susak
My amazing dinner - so flavourful I’ve been happy choosing some of the traditional dishes althoyg
The view of Susak as we approached
Gelato not such a marvellous idea - perhaps I need more of a fruit based one. This wasn’t really as minty as I hoped it would be.
The overview of different kinds of vessels used for the oil and wine that we found in the crypt of the Coliseum
Walking through Susak before dinner we had a great little photo opt with all the girls in these lovely flowers
The olive crushing machine! I love how nothing was done small during these times, large batch was the way to go especially for supplying an entire city.
The flowers here are incredible and these were right along the steps to the Coliseum.
We arrive to Susak!
The tunnel leading to the oil factory.
Stairs to the Susak church!
All the vessels recovered in the Coliseum
Caitlyn living the salt ocean float life just off the boat where we pitted for the night in Susak waters - with help of course from Dario.
My morning Pula coffee location
And you may notice the order of photos no longer sequential - you have no idea how ridiculous this platform is trying to put photos in or edit... it is a nightmare.
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