114 In the footsteps of the mlekarice

 Distance: 18 km, Altitude change: 540 m

 

In the past, life was hard for everyone. This was especially true for women who carried and delivered milk, known locally as mlekarice. Every morning, before five o’clock, they would put a basket with thirty or forty litres of milk on their backs and walk down to Opatija, so that the town’s wealthy people could have fresh milk for breakfast. Weather conditions made no difference to the mlekarice: in rain and snow, through mud and ice, on Sundays and holidays, they trudged downhill because Opatija simply could not remain without milk.

 

This circular trail starts in the village of Zvoneća, known for its Jarbola wine and the Church of St Anthony, and leads towards the hamlets of Sušnji and Zdemer, where there is a memorial plaque to the mlekarice dairy women and a počivalo bench where they would rest for a while along their daily route. The trail then continues towards Rukavac and Lisina. Offering fantastic views of Kvarner, interesting places to visit, forest areas to admire and local foods to taste, this itinerary is simply irresistible.

 

DID YOU KNOW?

 

It is estimated that a dairy woman who carried milk to Opatija for about forty years would have walked more than 40,000 km in total – like walking around the Earth’s Equator!