Sailing Croatia’s Adriatic coast is one of Europe’s top sailing experiences these days, but how did it look it in the mid-nineteenth century? Meet the incredible work of Guiseppe Rieger, who documented a moment in time for future generations.
I am just back from the Dalmatian coast after three days with the fabulous team from Gastronaut, a foodie club consisting of journalists, restaurateurs and other food-related businesses. The trip took in the sights and culinary highlights of the island of Murter and the national parks of Krka and Kornati, an outstanding programme as one has become used to with the team from Gastronaut.
I will be featuring the food and destinations shortly, but one of the main attractions for me on these trips is the opportunity to meet with interesting characters from all over Croatia, who are happy to share their decades of knowledge and love of Croatia with this less experienced foreigner. The majority of the participants know every inch of and every story about destinations, and it is truly the best way to get to know a destination intimately. As we were sailing towards Kornati, it was a privilege to meet Vlatko Ignatoski, a man whose love of the sea is reflected in some of the incredible work he has done to promote sailing and to clean up the Adriatic. We will be featuring this in more detail shortly, but I wanted to start with his contribution to some beautiful work of an Italian sailor as far back as 1845, which Vlatko has made more accessible to the modern sailing enthusiast via this YouTube video below.
Born in Vienna in 1812, Guiseppe Rieger lived in Trieste for most of his life. Rieger traced the Adriatic coast all the way from Trieste to Budva in incredible detail, and he published his work in 1845. Vlatko’s contribution below is to put those sketches into a continuous montage, so that you can literally sail the entire Croatian coast as it was back in the 1840s. Rieger’s attention to detail is very impressive. Learn more about some of Vlatko’s work on cleaning up the sea here, and other projects on the sea here.
