Week three of The Guardian’s discovery of Croatia in the slow lane on August 28, 2016 – from Motovun to Split on foot.
This week, the majestic towns on the islands of Cres and Krk – the Kvarner region.
“Opposite a vast painting of the Last Supper in 13th-century Saint Francis of Assisi monastery in Cres town is a small alcove. Smiley father Zdrak, whose benign presence is like a tonic, leads us there. And in the alcove is another kind of tonic. No, not the half-empty orange Fanta bottle, but a glass urn of greenish liqueur from which the father pours with some glee. “It’s called koromac,” he says, “We make it using fennel from our garden.”
It is delicious. We repeat the tasting. My daughter Maddy (13) turns down the koromac and gazes longingly at the Fanta, but it is not offered. It is 9am and Maddy, my partner Sophie and I are just beginning our exploration of the island cities of the Kvarner gulf, the broad bay of Adriatic sea that snuggles up under Croatia’s Istrian chin.”
