When we talk about travelling to Croatia, people often ask where that is. Lately, more people know it lays beside the Adriatic Sea, just around the corner from Italy. More people know it because several scenes of “Game of Thrones” were filmed there as well as “Mama Mia: Here We Go Again.” Croatia is no longer a well-kept secret.

For many in our June Croatia Cultural Immersion Tour there was a feeling of coming home to a place of our dreams and ancestors. Croatia is that place where we can’t wait to return. It is a feeling of homecoming for some in our group who had been in the country before. Almost everyone in our group of 35 had family connections, and two were born in Croatia.

It was the third time Allen and I had been to Croatia, which is the birthplace of four of Allen’s grandparents. It is a country where many last names end in the letters “ic.” We only need to give our name at a hotel reception desk for them to look up our reservation without us having to spell our last name.

We arrived in Split, Croatia, a day before the tour began so we could visit the Mestrovic Museum outside the city. Ivan Mestrovic was a sculptor and artist who is well known and loved in Croatia and lived for many years in the United States. He was an artist and professor at Notre Dame University in the 1950s and 1960s. His sculptures are often bold and majestic. It was a delight to be in the museum he designed as a home, now full of his sculptures and artwork.

The area of Split and all the Dalmatian Coast along the Adriatic is rocky ground. It is unbelievable that any society and culture could exist and make a living on such stony land. The Croatian people have made much out of very limited resources and developed what they have with ingenuity and artistry.

In Ston they have harvested, traded, and sold salt for hundreds of years. Fishing is a main source of livelihood with seafood on the menu in every home and restaurant. Croatians have also found grapes and wine-making a profitable venture along with olives and olive oil. The tourist industry and tourism has also thrived as travelers come from Europe, the U.S., Japan and Australia to enjoy the warm, azure waters of the Adriatic and rustic villages that time seems to have forgotten.

Homes and buildings in towns along the sea are mostly built with stone. Streets and alleys are also made of stone, and there is a feeling of stepping back in time as one walks in the footsteps of hundreds who passed through those streets. The stone comes from the quarries on the island of Brac in the Adriatic, which is famous for its pure, white limestone.

Our group enjoyed a tour of the stone mason school on the island of Brac. The school is for youth from 14 to 18 years old and opens the door for many careers in sculpture, architecture, and other work with limestone and marble. Stone from Brac is used all over Croatia, including Diocletian’s Palace, which was built from 284-305 AD. Many buildings in Vienna, Austria and Budapest were made of the stone as well as the foundation of the White House.

Our tour guide at the school was a 15-year-old girl who was fluent in English and very poised and confident. She said children in most Croatian schools begin learning English in the first grade and also watch many American TV shows.

A favorite stop on the tour was the island and city of Korcula where Marco Polo was born 700 years ago. Venice, Italy, also claims him, but our guide explained the evidence which clearly shows he was born and lived in Korcula. The Internet and history books offer both places as possibilities for his birth and early life, although much of his business was in Italy after travels to China.

The culture and artistry of Croatia is preserved in many ways. Our tour leader Melissa Obenauf, of Columbus, arranged several musical groups for our entertainment. We heard the number one “Klappa” group of male singers in concert at a palace in Dubrovnik. Their a cappella harmony is both inspiring and toe-tapping music. That group is one of 600 Klappa groups in Croatia who keep the country’s folk music heritage alive.

We saw the artistry of crocheted lace in Hvar where the delicate thread is made from the Agave plant with patterns passed along through several generations. Tourism has brought a resurgence of art and craft making with markets with hand-crafted jewelry, clothing, lavender, lace and leather goods.

Tears came into my eyes as we stood on St. Mark’s square in the Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, on the last day of our trip. Was it the cheerful red and white checkerboard squares on the 900-year-old church or the familiar stone foundation that stirred my emotions? It is exactly the same as it was the first time we climbed the hill in the Stari Grad (old town) in 1978 to visit the city.

It is the country of Allen’s ancestors where we hope our children and grandchildren can stand in that venerable square and feel the history of the Croatian people who have seen wars and earthquakes and after a pandemic a measure of prosperity.

The last four days of our trip were in the area of Karlovac, where Allen’s family were farmers, and in Zagreb, where we met his cousin Jasna who is a Facebook friend since the last time we visited Croatia in 2017. That part of Croatia is to the north, over a line of mountains. The climate and land there is much like Ohio with rolling farm country and woods replacing the palm trees lining the Adriatic Coast.

We visited Pekara Mus, the bakery of Allen’s cousin we found in 2017 and were sad to hear Miko had passed away two years ago. In Zagreb, we enjoyed dinner with our cousin Jasna who gave us a tour of the oldest part of the city the following afternoon. We trace the relationships of his cousins there through church records of the village of Ribnik where Allen’s and their great-great-grandparents were siblings.

Will it be our last visit to Croatia? It’s hard to accept that as a reality. We will cherish the memories of swimming in the Adriatic, marveling at the stone buildings of villages more than 1,000 years old, not forgetting the delicious grilled meats, delectable breads and pastries. The music of the Klappa groups and song of Zivio (to life) will echo in our hearts. There is no breeze so soft as on a sunny day on the Adriatic Sea and no sky so blue as the azure sky over the Adriatic.

Alberta Stojkovic is a correspondent for The Morrow County Sentinel. She can be reached at [email protected].