ISTRIA - Croatia and Slovenia - page 275

pastas, and other dishes (35-70-kn pizzas, 50-75-kn pastas, 45-130-kn main dishes, daily
10:00-24:00, up the road behind Grand Hotel Palace at Veprina č ki put 2, tel. [phone]).
Roko, alongthebusymaindrag,hasacozystone-and-brick interior,asmall terrace, and
abusywood-firedoventurningouttastyItalianmeals.Ifyoufindthisplacecalming,itmay
be because it was the home of Opatija native Leo Henryk Sternbach, who invented Valium
(40-80-kn pizzas and pastas, 70-140-kn main dishes, daily 11:00-24:00, Maršala Tita 114,
tel. [phone]).
The Bora Or, How to Predict Croatian Coastal Weather
When asked what tomorrow's weather will bring, a salty Croatian fisherman looks to
the mountains and feels the stiff wind on his face. “Sun,” he says. “The Bora brings
good weather.”
Like any people whose fate is tied to the sea, coastal Croatians can extrapolate a
breeze or a front of clouds into a full-blown weather report. While this is a precise
art cultivated over a lifetime, even the casual tourist can learn a few tried-and-tested
clues from the natives.
Croatian coastal weather is shaped by a mighty wind called the Bora (named for
the Greek Boreas, the North Wind; sometimes called “Bura” in Croatian, or “Burja”
in Slovene). Much like France's infamous mistral wind, an unavoidable fact of life in
Provence, the Bora has an indelible impact on this region's weather, vegetation, ar-
chitecture, and tourism.
The Dinaric Mountains, which rise sharply up from the sea for nearly the full
length of the Croatian Coast, act as a barrier for cold, cloudy weather. As the air on
thecoastalsideofthemountainsheatsup,theairbehindthesnow-cappedpeaksstays
cool. Something's gotta give to equalize this temperature and pressure differential.
A white fringe of clouds builds up along the ridge of the mountains, as the cool air
moves toward the warm air—a sure sign that the Bora is about to blow. When all that
pent-up air finally escapes, the Bora comes screaming down the slopes to the sea.
The Bora occurs anywhere that mountains create two different climates in nearby
terrains, including Slovenia's Karst. But the Bora's power is at its peak along the
Kvarner Gulf—especially where a gap in the mountains provides a natural funnel
toward the sea (such as at Senj and at Karlobag). It's strongest in the winter, when
the temperature differential between the interior and the coast is most pronounced.
Farther south, such as in Dalmatia, the inland remains warmer and the Bora is milder