Kenneth E. Harker
2010 Croatia - Opatija

We spent the better part of a week in Opatija, a resort town on the Adriatic coast in northwest Croatia. Opatija has more than century-long tradition as a destination resort town. It was first developed in the nineteenth century, when Croatia was part of the Hapsburg Empire, as an Austrian counterpart to the French Riviera. We stayed in the Hotel Kvarner, the oldest hotel in the town.

These photos are copyright © 2010 Kenneth E. Harker. All rights reserved.

	The Hotel Opatija, on the hillside above central Opatija. What you can see here is the older, pre-communist portion of the hotel building. The more modern, ugly addition to the hotel is behind the trees to the right. The street in the foreground is Maršala Tita, the main street in Opatija. Between the little park and the Hotel Opatija was the Autobusni Kolodvor Opatija, the Opatija Bus Station, where we arrived from Zagreb.
	Jen at the Hotel Kvarner. The Hotel Kvarner is the oldest hotel in Opatija, built in 1884. It predates electrification, and while there are lights and outlets in the hotel today, there is still no air conditioning or Internet access. Our room actually had sealed off gas pipes in the walls where gas lighting fixtures once were.
	A view of the hotel pool and the Kvarner Gulf of the Adriatic Sea. The hotel pool was filled with salt water and was almost as cold as the sea.
	The Kvarner Gulf was calm on the day we arrived at the hotel. The Kvarner Gulf is formed by a U-shaped bend in the coastline, with the Istrian Peninsula to the west, the Croatian mainland to the north and east, and islands of Cres and Krk to the south. The island on the left is Cres, and the land to the right is part of the Istrian Peninsula. Between 1918 and 1945, both Cres and the Istrian peninsula (where Opatija is located) belonged to Italy, and all schools and churches were forced to use the Italian language rather than Croatian.
	To the northeast of Opatija is the city of Rijeka, the third-largest city in Croatia. Rijeka is the largest port on the Adriatic Sea, and is the principal seaport of Croatia. The population of Rijeka is about 150,000, whereas the population of Opatija was about 13,000.
	A typical Croatian "beach" at Opatija. Mostly, swimming areas were concrete piers with ladders into the water. This was probably at low tide.
	The Sv. Jakoba Church was next door to the Hotel Kvarner. It is the oldest church in the town, dating to 1449, although this particular building only dates to the 19th century. The church bells must have been rung 50 times a day.
	The famous Maiden with the Seagull statue by Zvonko Car (1956). This statue replaced a religious statue of the Madonna that the communists removed from the promontory in the 1950s.
	This concrete beach on the Lungomare (the Seaside Promenade) was the main swimming area for the town. It was cold enough that few people were enjoying the coffee bars, let alone swimming in the water. The Lungomare was a 12 kilometer (7.5 mile) long pedestrian path along the seaside that goes all the way from Rijeka in the north, through Opatija, to Lovran in the south.
	Some small boats, tied up in an alcove on the Opatija waterfront. Opatija was a fishing village until the late 19th century, when tourism became important.
	Sv. Jakoba Park, next to the Hotel Kvarner.
	Helios and Selena, an 1889 fountain statue in Sv. Jakoba Park by Austrian sculptor Hans Rathautsky.
	Roses climbing the palm trees in Sv. Jakoba Park.
	This golden statue of the Virgin Mary, the "Madonna del Mare" was in an outdoor shrine at Sv. Jakoba Church. It is a replica of the statue that used to sit on the promontory where the Maiden with the Seagull statue now sits, but was removed by the communist government in the 1950s. It reminds me of the golden Buddha statues we saw in 2008 in Korea.
	The Hotel Imperial was one of the hotels that housed teams for the championships. It was the second hotel built in the town, and opened for business in 1885. Supposedly, the author James Joyce once stayed at the hotel, and it was the favorite hotel for Franz Josip Tito, the communist dictator of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1980, when he was in Opatija.
	The garden below the Hotel Opatija, and the view from the patio to the Kvarner Gulf.
	The town of Opatija, as seen from the patio of the Hotel Opatija. The blue domed building is Crkva Marijina Navještenja, or the "Church of the Annunciation", which was constructed in the early 20th century.
	The Crkva Marijina Navještenja, as seen from the Maršala Tita.
	A playground for children down by the waterfront was deserted by early September. The trampolines have the corporate logo of Ožujsko, the largest brewery in Croatia.
	Very few sunbathers were out on the first day we were in town.
	Later in the week, the seas became a little rougher.
	Near the lungomare, this statue of Miroslav Krleža (1893-1981) is apparently gazing out to sea. Krleža is a famous Croatian author and playwright who had strong leftist views and a close personal connection to Josip Broz Tito.
	The Hotel Mozart was a five-star hotel (according to the Croatian National Tourist Board) in downtown Opatija. The Hotel Kvarner (where we were staying) was only three stars.
	The saltwater pool at the Hotel Kvarner in the late afternoon.
	The waterfront side of the Hotel Kvarner, at night, as seen from Angiolina Park, north of the hotel.
	The main sign for the Grand Hotel Kvarner and the grand ballroom (the "Cristal Salle" or Crystal Hall), lit up at night. The best part of this sign is that you can tell it was made with four stars above the word "Grand". One of those stars is now covered up. This means that the hotel lost a star from the Croatian National Tourist Board, and was too cheap to buy a new sign.
	The saltwater pool at the Hotel Kvarner.
	A view of the Kvarner Gulf from the terrace at the Hotel Kvarner. The ropes in the water marked off a designated swimming area for the hotel and the park next door.
	The Hrvatska Pošta building in Opatija looked a lot more impressive on the outside than it did on the inside.
	A modern art in front of the post office appeared to be in need of a new coat of paint.
	Angiolina Park was next door to the Hotel Kvarner. The pink building is the Villa Angiolina. Built before any hotels in the town, it was the private residence of Iginio Scarpa, a patrician from Rijeka, who dedicated its construction to his late wife. Scarpa was a naturalist, and planted gardens of exotic trees and plants on the property. In the 1860s, the Villa Angiolina was a fashionable salon for the Croatian and Austrian elite, and introduced Opatija as a tourist destination. Today, the villa houses half of the Museum of Croatian Tourism.
	Next to the Villa Angiolina was a pavilion with this modern art sculpture of a violinist.
	People swimming in the sea in front of the Hotel Kvarner. The hotel had its own little private concrete beach and roped off swimming area. We went in for a swim on Tuesday, after the model event.
	Next to the Angiolina Park was the Lido Beach. The sandy "beach" with chairs and umbrellas was actually atop a stone seawall at least a meter above the water. There was a diving board and ladders were available for getting in and out of the water. There was also a little bar selling coffee, beer, and cocktails.
	Angiolina Park was full of exotic trees and plants that you would not find elsewhere in Croatia.
	Another view of the Hotel Kvarner, seen from Angiolina Park.
	The Maršala Tita, the main street in Opatija.
	This building was in the city of Rijeka, near the Autobusni Kolodvor Rijeka, the Rijeka Bus Station. We stopped here on our way from Zagreb to Opatija, and then came back on a city bus when we left Opatija. To travel on to Split, we rented a car from a rental agency near the Ferry Terminal, a short walk from the bus station in Rijeka.