Day 9 Overland to Karanac, Croatia • Dinner with local families
• Destination: Karanac
• Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Accommodations: Autohtono Gospodarstvo Sklepic
Activity Note: Today, we’ll cross the border from Bosnia & Herzegovina to Croatia. Please be aware that you will need your passport for all border crossings, and that sometimes crossing the border can take longer than expected. We’ll be traveling approximately 6.5 hours today, with a stop and a lunch break along the way.
Breakfast: Included at the hotel.
Morning: We’ll depart early this morning for our overland journey to the village of Karanac in the Baranja region of Croatia, a drive of about 6.5 hours, with stops along the way. Baranja sits in the northeast corner of Croatia, right at the confluence of the Drava and Danube rivers. Despite its history as part of a Roman province, Baranja has been a Slavic state since the sixth century. When Croatia declared its independence in 1991, a struggle for Baranja ensued between Croatia and Serbia—which wasn’t too surprising, as its fertile agricultural lands and robust wine industry make it an important part of Croatia’s “breadbasket.” In contrast to the rugged Croatian coastline, you are sure to notice that the terrain in this region is very flat, which prompts local Croatians to joke that “the highest mountain is a cabbage.”
Lunch: We’ll stop at a local restaurant for an included lunch on our way to Baranja.
Afternoon: We’ll continue our journey and officially cross the border back into Croatia early this afternoon. Our final destination is Karanac, a charming rural village with a population of just about 1,000 outside Baranja’s largest city, Osijek. Here, we’ll take advantage of our small group size to spend A Day in the Life at a farmstead located in this agricultural region—one of only two A Day in the Life overnight stays offered by O.A.T. We’ll arrive at our farmstead in the late afternoon, where we’ll be greeted by the couple who owns and operates it. Leaving the city to pursue a life in the country, our hosts will tell us about how they came to relocate here and welcome us with some rakija, a local brandy. We’ll also learn a bit of history about the community, which is home to Serbs, Croatians, and Hungarians—all living together peacefully.
Like many homes in the area, this farmstead is very simple. Wireless Internet connectivity may be weak or even nonexistent. All of its country-style guest rooms have a private bath with a shower. In this intimate setting, we’ll have the unique opportunity to spend time with the family who runs our farmstead, and even speak with them one-on-one about life in this region of rural Croatia. We are the only travel company that offers this unique overnight stay at a family farm.
We’ll also experience more of the local culture as we learn how to make cheese, which we’ll eat with our breakfast tomorrow morning.
Dinner: We’ll split into smaller groups and walk to the homes of neighboring families for a shared home-cooked meal, featuring regional specialties of Slavonia and Baranja. As the seasons change, so does the menu, so our preparations will always include the freshest ingredients.
The families we visit reflect the diversity of this village—your host might be Hungarian, Croatian, or Serbian, and practice the Catholic or Orthodox faith. You may be dining with farmers, vineyard workers, car mechanics, hairdressers or other working- or middle-class villagers. Multiple generations of the family are likely to be present for your meal, ranging from young children to elderly grandparents, offering a glimpse into the full spectrum of what life is like in Karanac. Once you regroup with your fellow travelers, be sure to compare stories and perspectives to get a full picture of daily life in rural Croatia.
Together with our hosts, we’ll share a home-cooked meal, made from the type of dishes that they would normally enjoy in their day-to-day lives. We might have oven-roasted potatoes and homemade sausages, homemade ajvar (roasted red pepper sauce), fresh cheese spiced with paprika, a fresh salad made from seasonal vegetables, and a traditional dessert.
Evening: After dinner, we’ll walk back to our farmstead and settle in for the night.
• Destination: Karanac
• Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Accommodations: Autohtono Gospodarstvo Sklepic
Activity Note: Today, we’ll cross the border from Bosnia & Herzegovina to Croatia. Please be aware that you will need your passport for all border crossings, and that sometimes crossing the border can take longer than expected. We’ll be traveling approximately 6.5 hours today, with a stop and a lunch break along the way.
Breakfast: Included at the hotel.
Morning: We’ll depart early this morning for our overland journey to the village of Karanac in the Baranja region of Croatia, a drive of about 6.5 hours, with stops along the way. Baranja sits in the northeast corner of Croatia, right at the confluence of the Drava and Danube rivers. Despite its history as part of a Roman province, Baranja has been a Slavic state since the sixth century. When Croatia declared its independence in 1991, a struggle for Baranja ensued between Croatia and Serbia—which wasn’t too surprising, as its fertile agricultural lands and robust wine industry make it an important part of Croatia’s “breadbasket.” In contrast to the rugged Croatian coastline, you are sure to notice that the terrain in this region is very flat, which prompts local Croatians to joke that “the highest mountain is a cabbage.”
Lunch: We’ll stop at a local restaurant for an included lunch on our way to Baranja.
Afternoon: We’ll continue our journey and officially cross the border back into Croatia early this afternoon. Our final destination is Karanac, a charming rural village with a population of just about 1,000 outside Baranja’s largest city, Osijek. Here, we’ll take advantage of our small group size to spend A Day in the Life at a farmstead located in this agricultural region—one of only two A Day in the Life overnight stays offered by O.A.T. We’ll arrive at our farmstead in the late afternoon, where we’ll be greeted by the couple who owns and operates it. Leaving the city to pursue a life in the country, our hosts will tell us about how they came to relocate here and welcome us with some rakija, a local brandy. We’ll also learn a bit of history about the community, which is home to Serbs, Croatians, and Hungarians—all living together peacefully.
Like many homes in the area, this farmstead is very simple. Wireless Internet connectivity may be weak or even nonexistent. All of its country-style guest rooms have a private bath with a shower. In this intimate setting, we’ll have the unique opportunity to spend time with the family who runs our farmstead, and even speak with them one-on-one about life in this region of rural Croatia. We are the only travel company that offers this unique overnight stay at a family farm.
We’ll also experience more of the local culture as we learn how to make cheese, which we’ll eat with our breakfast tomorrow morning.
Dinner: We’ll split into smaller groups and walk to the homes of neighboring families for a shared home-cooked meal, featuring regional specialties of Slavonia and Baranja. As the seasons change, so does the menu, so our preparations will always include the freshest ingredients.
The families we visit reflect the diversity of this village—your host might be Hungarian, Croatian, or Serbian, and practice the Catholic or Orthodox faith. You may be dining with farmers, vineyard workers, car mechanics, hairdressers or other working- or middle-class villagers. Multiple generations of the family are likely to be present for your meal, ranging from young children to elderly grandparents, offering a glimpse into the full spectrum of what life is like in Karanac. Once you regroup with your fellow travelers, be sure to compare stories and perspectives to get a full picture of daily life in rural Croatia.
Together with our hosts, we’ll share a home-cooked meal, made from the type of dishes that they would normally enjoy in their day-to-day lives. We might have oven-roasted potatoes and homemade sausages, homemade ajvar (roasted red pepper sauce), fresh cheese spiced with paprika, a fresh salad made from seasonal vegetables, and a traditional dessert.
Evening: After dinner, we’ll walk back to our farmstead and settle in for the night.
This is one of two long transfer days during the trip. We had our luggage in the hall at 7:45 am. Overseas Adventure Travel always moves the luggage from the room to the bus and then from the bus to the room at each stop.
After breakfast in the hotel, we met the group in the lobby to board the bus. Leaving Sarajevo, we headed northeast along the Bosna River. We passed the largest steel mill in Bosnia and Herzegovina; it's a significant industrial facility located in the central city of Zenica. The plant is owned by ArcelorMittal, one of the world's leading steel producers. While ArcelorMittal Zenica has made efforts to improve its environmental performance, it has faced criticism for pollution issues.
We made a brief stop on the Bosna River below the Maglaj Fortress. This medieval fortress was significantly expanded during the Ottoman Empire, reflecting their architectural style and defensive strategies.
We had lunch at Etno restoran Cardan in Doboj. The tour guide described it as lunch during a transfer. It included soup, chicken and rice. After lunch, we crossed back into Croatia. They made us get out of the bus and show our passports individually at both border crossings.
We made a longer afternoon stop at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Dakovo. I was very surprised by this Cathedral. It felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. It is beautiful. After visiting the cathedral, we walked through the small downtown and made a stop for coffee.
We got to Karanac a little after 5 pm. We are spending the night in the village as part of Overseas Adventure Travel’s “Day in the Life.” We are spending one night at Autohtono Gospodarstvo Sklepic.
After getting settled in the rustic room, the group got back together. We worked with the host and hostess to make cheese for breakfast for the next morning.
We finished the day with a home hosted dinner in the village. Our group included Maureen, Joan, Caroline, Keith, Holly, Van, Sharon and I. We had a very nice dinner of pork sausages, potatoes, polenta and beets. The inside of the home was very nice. The host and hostess both joined us for dinner, They had four children ranging in age from four to twelve. The host's father was also living with them. We had a wide ranging conversation that focused mostly on their work experience and jobs. They are also bee keepers.
After dinner, we walked back through the village to our cottage. We crashed about 10 pm.
A footnote, I wrote this blog entry on my iPad on the bus ride from Karanac to Zagreb using my iPhone as a hotspot.
Thanks for this great description. Curious: do you recall if there was a safe deposit box in the room?
ReplyDeleteMy wife says that there wasn't a safe deposit box in the room. She added that she wasn't worried about valuables, including jewelry, in the room given the people and the surrounding...
Delete