Lovran, Croatia —

“Yes Sir, I see that you have a double room with sea-view and air conditioning reserved. And we have a note that you have a small dog along with you. You have reserved for one night. What’s up with that?”

These were the first words that I heard on our Croatian trip and with them, all my previously conceived stereotypes of the county flew out the window. Professionalism, courtesy, humor? This was a good start.

“You’ll probably want to check out the Starigrad”, he said. I didn’t doubt him but to me Starigrad was a town on the island of Hvar, 200 miles to the south and it seemed an odd recommendation. It turns out that Starigrad is a universal word for “old town” and in Lovran they really have a gem of one.

This is the only walled medieval village along this stretch of coastline and an exploration of its twisting alleyways revealed a handful of small chapels, lush private gardens and interesting, if weathered facades.

We settled into the cafe in the main square and a young girl promptly arrived for our orders. At this point, the only Croatian I could muster was “Good day” and “Thank you” so I inquired what might be the best language to converse in. Italiano, Deutsch, Francais, English? Her reply: “Si, Ja, Oui and Yes.” Either I had just met the county’s most gifted linguist or Croatians are very handy with foreign languages. It’s the latter.

It had been a long day. Driving past Lake Como, Milan, Verona, Venice, Trieste and thorough Slovenia, we had arrived. I took a sip of local lager, looked up at the lovely village church and relaxed. The scent of good things to come hung heavily in the air.