Life's a Beach

Laundry day today. After a week on the boat we were running out of wearable clothes. We found Lavaman, a laundry where you just drop off your dirties and come back later in the day and pick up your clothes all folded and smelling good. Well worth the 10 kune($20).
Once we dropped that off we went and took in the Picasso exhibition of his pottery work/art. Interesting stuff.












From there we went looking for the Buza Bar which is a bar built right along the cliffs outside the wall with great views.


















From there we went looking for some food and we stumbled upon Dolce Vita, a place known for their crepes. Mary had a vanilla raspberry crepe and I opted for the marmalade. We should have just shared one!






It was such a beautiful day that we decided to go spend a couple of hours on a beach. We found St. Jakob Beach not far from our place but a lot of stairs down to the water. What a surprise! We got down there when we discovered that neither of us remembered the sunscreen. So, back up all the stairs for me to the road, along the road dodging cars and cement trucks and then back up all the stairs to our villa and then back down all of them to the beach....and a glass of rose "whine".
Later we went to the old town for our second pizza night this time at Pizzeria Oliva. After this I strolled around in the evening light taking pictures while Mary browsed more shops.
























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Location:Dubrovnik

Moving Out

It seems like on these month long trips I always have a melt down day. It usually happens on a moving day and generally around the 3 week point of the trip. I thought maybe I had managed to avoid having one on this trip but when you least expect it....
Today we were checking out of our hotel and moving to Villa Odak, the place we had scoped out when we were first in Dubrovnik. We couldn't check in until two so we stored our bags and got a ride into town with Gord and Christine who were going to Ston for a day trip before flying on to Zagreb.
Once in town we did some wandering and picked up the 3 day Dubrovnik card which gives a deal on museums, the wall and transportation.
Later we returned to the area around our hotel and did some more exploring. This area on the other side of the Gruz port area has a few larger resort hotels. We were told about an interesting cave bar so we tried to find it to have lunch. After much up and down hiking we found a beach club that wasn't open yet but we never found the cave.





We did the long hike up to our hotel to get our bags, got directions to our bus, went out in search of our bus stop, went back for more directions and finally found our bus stop after a long walk back down to where we had just come from.
We had a fairly good idea of where we would have to get off but once you get on the bus with all your luggage taking up lots of space strange things happen. About 15 minutes into our trip I saw a sign for a number of hotels and villas, one of them being Villa Odak, and it was pointing in a direction that our bus wasn't traveling.
In a panic I quickly herded Mary and the bags off the bus at the next stop. I went back and checked the sign....Villa Orsula, not Villa Odak. Never trust a guy with a cataract to lead the way. So, after a tantrum, a sulk and an hour waiting for the next bus, we made it to our villa. (Fortunately there are no photos to document that this part of the trip.) Luckily the villa had a nice little shared balcony with a view that Mary could escape to while I had a nap.












Later we took the cable car up for some great views of the city and stayed for sunset.









We have blown our food budget long ago so when we got down we went for our first of 3 pizza nights with wine, of course. That budget seems to be doing just fine.

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Location:Dubrovnik

On the Road Again

On the Saturday after breakfast we boarded
our bus that would take us to the tour hotel, the Lacroma. While we were doing this Gord picked up a car and then later picked us up for our road trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro. Gord figured this would give us all a few more stamps for our passports. Leaving Croatia at the border was easy but we just about blew through the border into Bosnia-Herzegovina. We were just about past went we heard this loud "Hey" as we kind of forgot about checking into the new country and our lane had no barrier down. The guy wasn't impressed and after many apologies, like a true Canadian, we were on our way. Our only stop in Bosnia-Herzegovina was Trebinje, a beat up city a lot of the old communist era still showing. It was really raining so not a lot of pics. We walked through the local market with way more sellers than buyers. There was lots of homemade cheeses as well as homemade bottled drinks. Just outside the market near a pub they were selling what I assumed to be black market cigarettes.
We visited an ethnographic museum a got a personalized tour because there were no guide books in English. Basic life in Bosnia-Herzegovina and wartimes were the main emphasis. There is a lot of poverty along with a tough life. Our guide was leaving soon to take up residence in Barcelona.
From there we drove into Montenegro where the poverty and socialist times were still evident but less so. We stopped at a quaint roadside restaurant where Mary had a mystery meal. She pointed to something on the menu to ask what it was and the little waiter took that to be her order and left. He was an interesting waiter speaking lots of German with friendly hands for the guys. Mary's meal turned out well.









On we went to Kotor with a quick stop for bijela cava. Kotor is a beautiful city with lots of cats to keep the vermin population under control. The cats even have their own square in the old town. And of course the city has a wall....with lots of stairs.....we almost got to the top. We also met up with 2 couples that were on our cruise. We had an interesting trip back to Dubrovnik, traveling along a very narrow road in the dark to get to a ferry. Good thing Gord was driving!





















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Location:Jurja Dalmatinca,Konavle,Croatia

Get Back

We got back to Dubrovnik just in time for our last lunch. After this we hopped on a bus to old town with Gord and Christine and walked to the old port. From there we caught a small ferry over to the island of Lokrum. Lokrum is known for its botanical garden, peacocks a monastery and as a place to go for a swim. It is just a fifteen minute boat ride from Dubrovnik and nobody actually lives there.
When we started out the day was beautiful and we dressed accordingly. Being the seasoned travelers we left behind jacket, umbrella and of course I wore shorts. You'd think after 3 weeks in the Croatian spring you'd be aware of the changeable weather....nope.
It started off well with all the peacocks and interesting plants and we were on our way to the monastery when the skies opened. We hustled to the outside restaurant near the monastery, all trying to get under Christine's umbrella, and shuffled umbrellas and chairs to get a place for a hot drink. As we were sitting there about four peacocks scurried through making their way towards the monastery. This is where they got to.























When the rain let up we made our way back to Dubrovnik and went looking for a place to eat. We joined up with two others from our cruise, Wendy and Arlene, sisters from Calgary. After some wandering and shopping, Rozario's was recommended to us for its pasta with truffle oil. Unfortunately for some of us (that would be me) the only table was outside, away from the heaters. Three people went with the specialty, one with a fish stew, Mary had risotto with shrimp and I was able to eat my bowl of mussels despite being draped in two blankets(I'd stolen Mary's when she went off to the bathroom).
























After dinner we went back to the boat for our last night.




























































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Location:Frana Supila,Dubrovnik,Croatia

Long Boat Ride to Trbenik

The weather affected our circuit through the islands so today was an extra long day on the water....close to seven hours. It was supposed to be a day to relax on the sun deck and take in the scenery. I think it was also supposed to be a second swim day. The weather did not cooperate with our plans so it was a lot of in time with lots of food supplied.

We pulled into the small town of Trstenik, a town known for its wine. Last July it was hit with a major fire that took out parts of vineyards and a lot of the surrounding area. We hiked up to a local winery and sampled both the white and red. The winery is owned by Michael Grgic who now lives and makes wine in California but wants to give back to Croatia as well. The winery is best known for its Plavac Mali wine.
























After the winery we joined up with some others from the tour and hiked back into the parts of the village away from the water. This area was also hit by the fire.
























Back at the boat we got ready for the Captain's Dinner. Nadja has been our cook and the food has been excellent!






Our captain is Captain Gojo and he speaks no English but he showed up for the dinner. Our tour manager was Inga. All together, with captain and guide, there were 9 crew members.


















Dinner was great and later we had a couple of young guys entertain us with some traditional music.
























Tomorrow we sail back to Dubrovnik.

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Location:Somewhere in the Adriatic Sea