Croatia: Trsteno Arboretum

It’s no secret we love Croatia and had a blast every time we spent our vacation there (3 times to this date, we’re planning a 17 day vacation this May … so 5 weeks from now). It’s an amazing country and their seaside is absolutely magical.

Our usual destination is Dubrovnik, we are planning on visiting other locations, but still couldn’t get enough of this one. Few kilometers from Dubrovnik the well informed traveler can find a small ‘village’ called Trsteno, famous for its botanical garden, which they call Arboretum. Today I’ll show you few of the pics we took there 4 years ago, with the promise that, as soon as we get there this year, I’ll have some new ones (more fresh and better).

The Arboretum was started back in the 15th Century by the noble family Gozze, who asked the ship captains to bring seeds from all the places they visited in their journeys. That’s why the tourists can admire a lot of vegetation, from bamboo to palm trees and a HUGE ficus.

What you can see in this picture is the huge ficus I was writing about earlier. It is pretty remarkable, especially since many of us do have the plant in our homes (sure, not as big as this one).

There was also an aqueduct (also built 5 centuries ago), which you can admire if the first photo.

The war didn’t leave Trsteno untouched, but the Croatians worked hard to make the entire area look good again, just like they did with Dubrovnik itself, really maimed by the artillery. Today the war has left only few traces and we can again enjoy such magical places.

Another image that shows just how nicely all the plants were put together and thrive after all this time.

A small road with big and beautiful palm trees. We left our car already, so we walked to the seaside.

This is what the noble family would see from their garden. A wonderful gulf and the blue Adriatic Sea. Amazing view and location. There are few ruins left near the shore, with beautiful details.

Once we arrived at the seaside area, we saw another of Trsteno‘s superb views:

Few waterfront buildings and another proof of how clean and superb the sea can be. When we arrived back home most our friends ask me “so, you worked the photos a little in Photoshop, didn’t you?”. No I haven’t touched them aside for resizing them. This is the REAL color of the sea.

And another view of this spectacular place. From what we could understand a tourist can find accommodation here. Just imagine how it would be to wake up in the morning in such a place.

Being the curious type of people who we are, it was clear we couldn’t pass the opportunity to have a closer look. My brother in law swam in the sea for few minutes. The problem is that he left his phone in his swimming trunks, so he’s got a bitter sweet memory of the place, since he never recovered the phone again.

No matter what happened, we all made a pact that, as soon as we set foot in Croatia again, Trsteno is HIGH on our list. I really recommend the place and can’t wait to write you about it again, in 5-6 weeks time. And show you way more pics than today 🙂