The first time I swam in Croatia I told H I was over sand. Croatia doesn’t have sand. (You may say “duh” but I really didn’t know.) The beaches are rocks. Water shoes are a must, and my Tevas were a bit clunky, but you don’t get sand stuck everywhere and anywhere. And the water is crystal clear.
We spent a week road-tripping around Croatia and got into a bit of a rhythm. Wake up, make breakfast, visit old beautiful city (Sibenik, Primosten, Old Trogir, Split, Krk), eat big meal out, swim, make dinner.
I heard this song once called Sea Baby from this musician in San Francisco. I too am a Sea Baby and being near the ocean makes me truly happy.
From the sea we went to Plitvices National Park. While expensive (39 euro entrance fee per person) and crowded it’s still very beautiful. After the Park we got ready for a long drive through Croatia, Slovenia, and into Italy. But before we got through Croatia we got pulled over.
An unmarked flashing car pulled in front of us and slowed down. We too slowed down but didn’t understand what was happening. We weren’t speeding but nobody else was around so we followed the car. We got off the highway and the car pulled over next to a toll booth. We pulled over behind them.
Two young guys get out of the car. 25 year-olds maybe. They both were in casual clothes and one was even wearing an under armour shirt.
They come over to the car and flash a badge (that one is wearing around their neck) and ask for our identification. I said okay but also asked to see theirs. They again showed me their badge necklace.
And perhaps this was the uppity white lady in me but it looked like a badge I could have bought at Party City. So I said, “that doesn’t mean anything to me though, can I see your identification?”. He went off to his car to get his before saying “ma’am” and showing me his info.
They then looked at our passports and asked if anyone else was in the car and then told us to open every door so they could look in.
(Since this happened I’ve looked up if Croatian police can search cars. Apparently they cannot without a warrant. I wonder if “looking” doesn’t qualify as “searching” in a legal context…? I talked with my dad about this, he’s worked in law enforcement his entire professional career and he does think asking to see vs search is probably a legal distinction for them. He also told me not to post this until I was in Italy.)
After glancing at our messy car, sleeping bags, camping supplies, etc., they said thanks we were good to go and let us go. We were shook up but relieved. It all felt chaotic, but maybe we just didn’t know how this is done? And would we have been pulled over if H wasn’t driving? Or if I was alone?
Interesting tidbit, the research I’ve done since implies that Croatian police are paid very poorly. Wikipedia says it the lowest paid police force across the EU and much lower than other professions in Croatia at only €700 Euros a month.