Day 13: In the Pirate's Nest

It is raining heavily at night. It is also cloudy and unsettled in the morning.

Today we want to take a little hike to the Starigrad Fortress, which towers high above Omiš. From this 15th century fortress, one is said to have a spectacular view of the former pirate nest. Through Google we find a 'family-friendly' hiking route: 3.5 km with 300 meters of altitude. We walk through the small old town for a while and then go up 2 switchbacks.

From there, we continue uphill on a rocky path.

We quickly gain height and have a great view. It is quite warm in the sun, but above us we see dark clouds that portend nothing good.

We continue our way, hoping to be fast enough to return back down before getting wet. The path becomes steep and Marik often has to use his hands to move forward.

He enjoys climbing, although it soon becomes apparent that it is exhausting him. After a good hour of climbing, it starts to rain. Tobi and Leo have just taken a short detour to a watchtower and Marik and I are a little further ahead. The rain is heavy and I throw my rain jacket over Marik, put the rain cover over the backpack, and look for shelter. Tobi is nowhere to be seen. I grab Marik and descend a bit to a small rocky ledge where we find a little shelter from the rain. Tobi and Leonora have found a tiny hut and are staying dry. Tobi points out to me on the phone that I have an umbrella with me. I completely forgot about it in the excitement. We wait until the rain has mostly stopped. We go a little further up. Some drenched hikers pass us. They strongly advise us not to continue with the children. The stones have become slippery due to the moisture and the path is becoming steeper and rockier. We reluctantly decide to turn around. The risk of someone getting injured is simply too great, especially since the path is practically not secured at all.

We make slow progress as Marik has no strength left and the descent is not easy due to the moisture. We arrive safely at the bottom and look for a restaurant to rest and recharge.

It starts raining again. We walk back to the car and the children fall asleep immediately. Since we can't do much in the rain anyway, we drive around in the Cetina Gorge. The forest is green and, in combination with the weather, somehow reminds us of a rainforest. The steep cliffs, the river, and the dense forest would also fit well in an Asian country, we think.

After a while, we return to the campsite, turn on the heater, and make ourselves comfortable in the caravan. We use the evening to shower and bathe the children.

In the twilight, we take a short walk to the beach during a rain-free period. Here we have another look at the fortress that we unfortunately did not reach today, and the steep cliffs.

We notice how beautiful this place is and we can understand why pirates chose this place as their hideout.

We are slowly getting tired of the rain and wonder where the summer is. We hope that the weather will improve soon so that we can spend a relaxing day at the beach with Marik and Leo.