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SVN Solovelanet Global
N
estled between the islands of Rab and
Krk and the heights of Velebit, a rock
seems to float in the blue sea of Kvar-
ner; a white island, which is reflected
in the velvety depths of the Morlacca
Canal: it is Goli Otok, the naked island.
Jadranska magistrala is a road that tangles along
the entire length of the Croatian coast, from Rijeka
to Split, climbing the cliffs overlooking the sea and
slipping into the deepest and most hidden inlets.
Goli suddenly appears after a hairpin bend. The
road climbs the Velebit almost as if it were a Dolo-
mite pass. The van engine deserves a break after
this endless climb, and here there is a rest area
from where you can embrace the whole Kvarner
with a single overview: the Lopar cauliflower, the
pink rocks of Krk, the blue silhouettes of Cres and
Losinj and the more elongated finger of Pag.
Among them, here is Goli: a stone thrown into the
sea that looks like the back of a prehistoric mari-
ne animal, fishing among the other larger islands.
A leviathan that rests on placid waters, before di-
ving again into that sea as transparent as only in
the Kvarner it can be. It is an amazing sight when
the setting sun turns the sea purple and the white
Istrian stone, of which those islands are made,
becomes entirely pink, like the Dolomites.
by Luca Da Damos
