ZAGREB, April 12, 2020 - Austrian daily Kurier on Sunday wrote about the Croatian island of Šolta as the second home of Austrian tourists who, because of the COVID-19 epidemic, could not visit it now.
"Our longing has a name, the small Dalmatian island of Šolta which rises to the surface from the infinite deep sea, and because of the coronavirus it is uncertain when it can be visited again," Kurier said.
"The small Croatian island of Šolta between Split and Brač used to be our second home for two to three weeks at the end of summer, and the trip to the island was a special experience and ritual," it added.
Some Austrians booked their holidays on Šolta this year when people did not know about COVID-19. But the outbreak has changed everything and no one knows when normal travel will be restored.
"For now, coronavirus is forcing us to stay home, but this only increases the burning desire to live soon as we lived before," Uwe Mauch wrote in Kurier.
He says Šolta is full of beautiful olive groves, gardens with lemon, orange and fig trees as well as fragrances of lavender, rosemary, laurel, immortelle and other Mediterranean plants.
A unique environment and the smell of the sea, the relaxed and nice southern population, their songs, dishes, wines, customs, walks through orchards and olive groves, and local honey are just some of the specificities of Šolta, Mauch wrote.
It would be beautiful if at the end of the endless tunnel of restrictions caused by coronavirus, it would be possible to visit Šolta again at the end of this summer, he added.
According to the Austrian health ministry, 13,945 Austrians are positive for the virus and 350 have died.
More news about Šolta can be found in the Lifestyle section.
