Primosten, Croatia. Walled town.Meet the flaneur. The flaneur is one who ambles, no particular destination in mind, see discussion of the vanishing cyberflaneur at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/opinion/sunday/the-death-of-the-cyberflaneur.html?scp=1&sq=flaneur&st=cse. Those who mess about in boats have the chance to be flaneurs of a coastline, in ways that the unplanned road traveler also enjoys.
Fjaka, on the other hand, is immobile. The lean-back, the siesta time, the lazy scratch behind the ear without opening the eyes.
Fjaka.
The article notes "fjaka" -- Croatian for "lazy mood." But that is in itself inadequate for the period of nap, of indeterminate length and posture, between productivity and productivity, if even one cares if it returns, or was ever there, huuuunnnhhhhh.
Find a meandering but seductively astute observation of fjaka at http://www.croatia.org/crown/articles/9842/1/Fjaka---Between-Times.html. Blissful state, beyond control. A faint unconsciousness. Fjakuni. Those who withdraw, seemingly uselessly, from the world. A lengthening cat, heavy in sleep in the sun.
.
If my brother is allowed to fjak, why am not I?
.
1. Flaneurs. Dubrovnik area. For those with sailing in mind, the Dalmatian Coast offers multiple destinations, easy cruising in between. See http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/09/15/sailing.dalmation.coast/index.html.
Dubrovnik is not the only walled city to see. Primosten, is south of Sibenik, others dot the coast. Enjoy the areasouth of Dubrovnik, on the way to Montenegro, although the walls were there for defense and to consider it only beautiful or interesting does not do history justice.. Dubrovnik was once was the republic known as Ragusa, in the 15th century. Its maritime power rivaled Venice. It came under its latest siege in 1991, in the "dismemberment" of Yugoslavia, see Financial Times, September 11-12, 2010, article "Grace Under Fire" by Alec Russell. Dubrovnik is a favored location, with its 4-meter thick walls. Best to see it in fall or spring, not the cruise-crowded summer.
.
Newer possibilities in Croatia: lighthouses. See again the Financial Times from July 8, 2011, Send Out the Speedboat, We Need More Champagne. Rent Grebeni, off Dubrovnik, some 3 miles off. Rental lighthouses are now available and going fast. Find some with butlers, chefs, housekeepers.
.
Some lighthouses originated in the 1800's with the Austro-Hungarian Empire's Habsburgs. Grebeni was de-commissioned in the 1960's. Take the family: One single and three double bedrooms.
.
Rental lighthouses. For us, too time-warped, too static.
.
II. Fjaka; and the more mobile flaneur.
Think of gentlemen of Dubrovnik, quill in hand, and in the soothing arms of the sacred nap. What is that, the enduring image, half-seen, see Fjaka, Between Times, at http://www.croatia.org/crown/articles/9842/1/Fjaka--Between-Times.html. The fjaka. The fjakuna's yawn does not take a lighthouse to find, but perhaps ... it .... can ... dzzzzzzs.
.
Croatia; Fjaka. Just lean back ...2. Island off Split, via Hvar, to Vis.
.
This takes a map. We did not get to Vis, but understand also from the Financial Times, this one from July 30-31, 2011, has a Hotel San Giorgio that also rents out a lighthouse nearby. Vis is some two hours by ferry from Split, and housed a cave headquarters for Tito in WWII. Other military installations were also on the island. There is a dreamy grotto to explore, baroque palazzos (Venice was less influential here than on the mainland, however), Roman baths, Greek necropolis - city of the dead.
.
We tend to keep moving, but in a later incarnation, would return to Vis for some fiaka.
