It’s a pretty beautiful world, huh? At least in some places, and Croatia is definitely one of them.
Croatia was part of Yugoslavia, the ill-fated state that shattered to pieces after Tito’s death. I still can’t understand what perceived advantage it had for Yugoslavia’s people to fight each other, often to the death, but fight they did.
Croatia has recently become part of the European Union, Slovenia has been so for years. These two republics could be called the winners of the struggle. Slovenia had the overall soundest economy, while Croatia is a touristic wonderland with what is easily the most beautiful coast in Europe.
There are thousands of islands, most bleak, some very green, many unpopulated, some with villages, some with small towns.
Rab is smallest of the populated main islands in the Kvarner Archipelago. Its landscape is varied, its beaches are everything from rocky to sandy, and the main town, also called Rab, has a rich history.
Rab has never been destroyed. The island has of course been part of the Roman Empire, later of Byzantium, Venice, the medieval Croatian Kingdom, Hungary, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia, and since 1991 it is part of the independent Republic of Croatia.
Quite a long way, but the island has managed to steer free of all troubles throughout the centuries. By all means, this may be mostly due to the fact that it did not offer any riches beside those of its landscape, neither is it in a strategically important place.
Whatever the reasons are, today we enjoy the beauty of Rab’s beaches, its spires and its lush vegetation.
These images have kind of a postcard quality, thus the Song of the Day is “Postcards” from the 1998 Faithless album “Sunday 8PM”. Hear it on YouTube.
