Dubrovnik, Croatia
42° 39' N 18° 5' E
Oct 23, 2006 22:12
Distance 62km

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Dubrovnik

Text written in: English

21-10-2006 SAT

The border crossing was a slow affair for me. The customs officer decided to checked every single thing in my car. He even removed the carpets to check under the floor panels. Despite all that, I managed to get to the airport on time to meet Karen.

 

We got what I thought was the best apartment outside the fortress. With parking, kitchen, a balcony that over looked the fort entrance, laundry, Wireless internet access, extremely friendly couple running the place - who could ask for more.

 

The fortress was the best I had ever seen. It was lit beautifully at night. The stone floor was shiny and it was fully pedestrianised. There was a Croatian wedding in full swing with people singing as if they were at a football match, then the bride came out of the church, she was beautiful - then they all started to dance as well. Fire works, singing, clapping, dancing ...all this at 8pm. It is very funny to see wedding processions drive through town. They go in cars with the wing mirrors decorated in ribbons. The drivers do not pause to take their hands of the horns. So it can be a loud affair.

 

The restaurants were a bit over priced and I didn't feel you got value for money. After dinner, popped into a great friendly bar called FRESH. It was run by a Canadian guy called Johnny who was extremely friendly and chatty. Some of the cakes I had tasted in Bulgaria and Bosnia were simply delicious. So soft and moist but cakes here were a bit dry. The ice cream also looked good but tasted as if they were made of artificial flavours.

 

The last time I had seen a horse and cart was in Kosovo. Since then I haven't seen one in Serbia, Croatia or Bosnia.

 

22-10-2006 SUN

In the evening, it was dry in Dubrovnik. It was a perfect opportunity to discover the windy, twisty streets of the fort.

 

23-10-2006 MON

After a good breakfast at the apartment, went for a walk on the walls of the fortress. That took about 90 minutes at a leisurely pace. After resting in the afternoon, joined a walking tour with a Croat called Igor. The War tour enlightened us to the war of 1992 between Serbs and Croats from a croat's point of view as seen from Dubrovnik. It was amazing to see how much was damage was still evident, if you looked hard enough in what seemed like a perfectly well preserved fort. The  evening was rounded off at Johnny's cafe ...FRESH.

24-10-2006 TUE

Got some fresh bread from the local supermarket and had a good breakfast after a lie in. THen took a walk to the fortress to have another look at the war damage in day light that Igor talked about last night.

Then dropped Karen off at the airport and started to drive up north. Was still in mixed minds whether to go to the Korcula island. The road was narrow, twisty and slow so decided to carry on going all the way to Split.

Managed to get stopped for speeding. The traffic policeman was suggesting a £300 fine. After a while, he was happy with a 50 euro note.

There are two border crossings within about 10kms while you cross from Croatia to the Bosnian sea side town of Neum and then back to Croatia. I was dreading two crossings in such a short time but it was very quick and hassle free.

Orange seems to be the product of this area. There were many stalls on the road side selling one thing ....Oranges. The scenery was great once again. Many small beach town with loads of hotels and apartments for tourists. Also islands small and big all along the coast.

 

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