ASIANOVERLAND.NET WINTER EUROPEAN DAY 39/212:  BELGRADE TO VENICE, ITALY

“19-1-81 ST MARK'S SQUARE

GRAND CANAL

MURANO GLASS”

Our drive today is through Croatia, at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe on the Adriatic Sea. Croatia borders Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, and  shares a maritime border with Italy.

The Croats arrived in the area in the 6th century and organised the territory into two duchies by the 9th century. Croatia was recognised as independent on 7 June 879. Tomislav became the first king by 925, elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom.

Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, faced with Ottoman conquest, the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of Austria to the Croatian throne.

In October 1918, the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, independent from Austria-Hungary, was proclaimed in Zagreb, and in December 1918, it was merged into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Following the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, most of the Croatian territory was incorporated into a Nazi installed puppet state, the Independent State of Croatia. A resistance movement led to the creation of the Federal State of Croatia, which after the war became a founding member of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

On 25 June 1991, Croatia declared independence, and the Croatian War of Independence was fought for four years following the declaration.

Trieste is a seaport in northeastern Italy on a narrow strip of Italian territory lying between the Adriatic Sea and Slovenia. It is only 160 kilometers from Venice.

Trieste was one of the oldest parts of the Habsburg Monarchy (from 1382 until 1918). In the 19th century the Habsburg Monarchy was one of the Great Powers of Europe and Trieste was its most important seaport. As a prosperous seaport in the Mediterranean region, Trieste was the fourth largest city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (after Vienna, Budapest, and Prague).

Trieste, with its deep-water port, is a maritime gateway for Northern Italy, Germany, Austria and Central Europe, and is the end point of the Maritime Silk Road, via the Suez Canal and Turkey.

Trieste lies at the intersection of Latin, Slavic, Germanic and Greek culture, where Central Europe meets the Mediterranean Sea.

We drive from Trieste to Venice and Piazza San Marco, which is flooded, but contains wooden walkways so tourists can still visit the Piazza. St Mark's Basilica dates back to the 11th century, influenced in its architecture and design by the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. The gold ground mosaics which cover almost all the upper areas of the interior took centuries to complete. In the 13th century the external height of the domes was greatly increased to try to emulate the Hagia Sophia dome, by hollow drums raised on a wooden framework and covered with metal.

Many of St Mark’s rich artifacts and relics were plundered from Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade in 1204 CE, including many artifacts from the Hagia Sophia. The famous Madonna Nicopeia, also known as the icon of the Virgin Nicopeia, was also looted, and was one of the city's most precious icons, carried into battle by various Byzantine emperors. The icon was brought to Venice in 1205 CE and remains in St. Mark's Basilica. To the Venetians, the icon was a symbol that God had transferred His blessing from Constantinople to Venice by military conquest.

We always stay in Venice at Camping Fusina, across the lagoon from the ancient “floating” city of Venice, and a “home away from home” for Top Deck crew and punters. The BBQ’d spare ribs in the camp restaurant are to die for, we all drink too much, especially Raki and Grappa, which is flamed with a match for a towering inferno around your mouth (and beard!!).

While we visit Venice on day trips, the Camping Fusina staff make the T-Shirts the punters design for their own individual trip. The showers at Camping Fusina are usually freezing (no-one I know has ever had a hot or warm shower there), but on this occasion, the showers aren’t freezing because the water pipes have all frozen and don’t produce any water at all.

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