The Coolest Bar in the World
The Carlow Nationalist - June 2010
Vice (pronounced Vee-Say) runs the perfect bar and he knows it. He smiles a big wide-eyed smile and raises his hands towards the sea like the conductor of an invisible marine orchestra. "What more do I need?" he asks, "I have the greatest view in the world; the best music in the world, a job that I love and the sea at my feet. What else is there?" I could only nod in agreement, afraid to remove my gaze from a Croatian Sunset whose colours appeared mixed by the hands of God alone, afraid to miss a single second of this 'lifetime moment'.
If a single place has the power to encapsulate what I venerate about a country then Vice's is the sum total of myCroatia. This cobbled-together dream – for it was Vice's dream – concealed on the end of a pine-covered peninsula on the outskirts of the idyllic town of Cavtat (pronounced Sav-tat, if you please), typifies my adoration of the country. But, more than being just a bar where the music is 'laid-back and chilled' and where Sunset plays daily as the main feature, Vice's windowless tavern on the steps of the beach at Kamen Mali offers its guests the possibilities that exist outside the touristic centres of the Croatian Riviera and invites them to explore beyond the confines of the known world.
As the Sun sank lower in the sky, adding a new spectrum of unimagined hues to my mental palette, I sipped my ice-cold drink and pondered my visit to Cavtat and its surrounding countryside. In past visits I had rarely strayed from the area's supposed highlights: Dubrovnik steeped in history, both ancient and contemporary; Trsteno's renaissance botanical gardens; the islands of Lopud, Sipan, Kolocep, Korcula and Mljet; the holiday beaches and resorts of the Peljesac peninsula; and so much more. But this time I had ventured forth into the regions hinterland. Into a land of hills and mountains where streams and rivers gushed in great cooling draughts towards the sea. Where the river Ljuta babbles through cooling, leafy forests as tourists and locals alike dine on the fruits of the sea and the earth in restaurants lovingly hatched from the ruins of ancients mills.
In the foothills which rise towards Mount Snijeznica I had seen the trails of hardy hikers and adventure cyclists who braved the mountain tracks which would ultimately, on high, reward them with a sublime view of unimaginable beauty across the azure waters of the Adriatic and the islands which rise like green whales from its stillness. As lizards and harmless glass snakes soaked the thirty-degree heat from the baking earth I wandered the neat rows of vines which offer up their bounty to produce delicious local wines; Plavac, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malvasija.
Beneath the tower of the church in Cilipi, the largest settlement in the region, ancient traditions of culture, dress, song and gastronomy can still be witnessed and tasted as if time-travel were a possibility, an actuality. The Konavle, situated at a cross-roads of historic trade and commerce, also boasts a wealth of archaeological diversity. The Illyrian Necropolis at the village of Brotnice and a Mithraeum shrine – dedicated to the Persian God Mithras – standing sentinel in the village of Mocici are but two examples of an historic lineage traceable from Neolithic times to the Roman occupation of the region and beyond.
Across the bay from Vice's bar the Sun had now stooped low to caress the hills with a last lingering kiss of orange light. Its reflection ran like a golden road to where I sat, inviting me to follow. But, for now at least, I was content where I was, bathing in a moment of heavenly perfection. Beneath my vantage and down on the rocks below a young couple slipped quietly in to the gently shimmering waters and embraced as a single silhouette against the backdrop of the disappearing Sun. He, splashed her playfully with drops which arced like a rainbow through the fading light. Further out to sea a fisherman steered his noiseless boat through the highway of remaining light until he too became a silhouette, united with sea and sky. Somewhere in the pine trees above an owl called.
Like shy children the first stars appeared, coyly at first then growing in confidence in the Sun's fading afterlight. "Same time tomorrow," Vice said creasing the silence. "Now we need the music for the night" he picked through his collection until he found what he needed. "You'll like this," he said. The voice of Bill Withers wafted between the branches of the pines, down across the rocks and out over the mirror of water. "Ain't no Sunshine when you're gone, it's not warm when you're away. Ain't no Sunshine when you're gone and you're always gone too long, every time you go away..."
Getting There:
AER LINGUS operate four weekly flights from Dublin to Dubrovnik on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. For more information on fares and schedules and to book log on to www.aerlingus.com
Tourist Agency:
Accommodation,
excursions, tailored holidays, wine and gastro' tours, cycling, hiking and
beach vacations can be arranged through
Viator Travel Dubrovnik. Contact: www.dubrovnikviator.com Tel: +385 20 313 140
Where to Stay:
Hotel Croatia, Cavtat, Croatia. www.hoteli-croatia.hr Tel: +385 20 475 555
Hotel and Restaurant Major, Uskoplje bb, Cavtat. www.hrmajor.hr Tel: +385 20 773 600
Hotel Supetar, Cavtat. www.hoteli-croatia.hr/supetar/hotel_supetar Tel: +385(0)20 479 833
Where to eat:
Restaurant Major, Uskoplje bb, Cavtat. www.hrmajor.hr Tel: +385 20 773 600
Ancora Tapas Bar and Restaurant, Cavtat.
Konovski Dvori, Gruda, Konavle. www.esculap-teo.hr Tel: +385 20 791 039
Leut, Trumbicev put 11, Cavtat. Tel +385 20 478 477
Restaurant Rozario, Prijeko 2, Dubrovnik.
Where to watch the Sunset:
Vice's Bar, Kamen Mali, Cavtat.