Adriatic [antikvár]

THE ADRIATIC COAST The long upward pointing arm of the Mediterranean called the Adriatic is like a huge recreation area for three Continents, it is an inexhaustible source of sunshine, fresh air, warmth and health, a region where the tourist season never ends. This is not the place to enumerate those many features that aii Mediterranean countries share. Rather we shall concentrate on those special aspects which distinguish the Yugoslav Coast from those of other Mediterranean countries. First and foremost, there is the exceptional configuration of the land itself. The huge ranges, valleys and gorges of the Dinaric Alps stretch longitudinally from the north- west to the south-east like some heaving sea of stone. Parallel with this huge mountain chain a string of islands, paninsulas, chan- nels, bays, inlets and coves runs uninterruptedly to form the unique coast of Dalmatia which, along with the Greek coast, is the most indented shoreline on the Mediterranean. Thanks to this high degree of indentation, there are hundreds and thousands of blue bays and coves protected from wind, and with pebbled and sandy beaches, which are like pearly crescents curving at the edge of the rocks or sunk into rich and fragrant southern vegetation. These beaches are like the beads of some precious necklace scattered carelessly along the entire coast and islands. More than 1,200 islands, islets, rocks and reefs are another exceptional aspect of this coast. Just as Fin- land is a land of a thousand lakes, so is Yugoslavia a land of a thousand Islands. Unique is also the off-shore sea-bed made of strangely shaped rocks, steep crags, flat stone slabs, crevices, caves studded with red corals and opalescent shellfish and mussels shimmering with hundreds of hues; on this rocky bottom live the best and most delicious species of Adriatic fish. The Wagnerian romanticism of the configuration of the sea-bed is an attraction not only for skin divers, but for ordinary swimmers, too, who with a simple mask or goggles can stare for hours into this mysterious world of silence, strange colours and forms, and eternal restless life.