Croatia Part 2
Croatia Day 6: Hvar
So once again, in preparation of our next day departure, we had to be up very early in order to get our boat tickets for the next day. This time Emma got up early (hungover) to get them. Such a stupid system.
Around noon we made our way to the harbour to try to figure out what to do with ourselves. After having lived the high life for a day on board a yacht, everything else seemed quite dull. We ended up getting a boat to a near by island called Palmizana.
We were told that Palmizana had sandy beaches; a rarity in Croatia. Up to this point, all of the "beaches" consisted of rocks. A sandy beach was particularly appealing because of the sea urchins which live on rocks. At the rocky beaches, you had to be very careful, or have special water shoes, as stepping on an urchin would leave you unable to walk properly for a few days.
So off to Palmizana it was. The island had a hotel and a number of restaurants. We followed the crowd to the beach but when we came across it, it was not quite as expected. "Pebbly" would have been a better description than "sandy" however at least it wasn't just slabs of rocks and there was no risk of urchins.
We spent the afternoon on the beach, with a break for lunch at a restaurant on the island. We made the mistake of ordering risotto. It's not like our risotto at home and we had noticed this before as well (but had thought it was maybe just a bad restaurant). Their risotto is basically just standard rice in tomato (or cream) sauce, with fish or meat.
Back in the harbour we had a late dinner. Not risotto. We spent the evening walking around the shops. We also bought some ciders and sat in the square....quiet night
Croatia Day 7: Travel/Dubrovnik
Despite the fact that Hvar and Dubrovnik are both very popular tourist destinations, and despite the fact that they are not very far apart (3 hour boat ride) there are no regular boats between the two places. The only boats go on Tuesday and Saturday. The day we needed to go was Thursday, so we were out of luck; we had to take a boat back to Split (1 hour) and then a bus to Dubrovnik (4 hours).
At first the trip started smoothly. The boat was on time, and once in Split we booked it to the bus terminal and managed to get two of the last seats on a bus leaving just 10 minutes later. But then we hit traffic and the 4 hour ride ended up taking more than 5 (in a poorly air-conditioned bus).
As part of the highway to Dubrovnik passes through Bosnia, we had a brief stop there (and took a picture). I've never seen such slack passport control in my life (Bosnia is not part of the EU so I would have expected a stamp or an inspection at least). Instead a guard got on the bus, and barely glanced at the passports. I don't think the girls behind us even took theirs out. I guess they were just looking for countries which would need a visa. Someone we met in Dubrovnik said that on their bus two Ukrainians had been pulled off and left by the bus on the roadside because they didn't have visas.
We had an apartment reserved in Dubrovnik and the owner was nice enough to come to the bus station and help us get to the apartment. It was HOT, but he carried our bags all through old town (up and down the steps) as he gave us a little tour of what to see and where to eat.
The apartment was nice and in a really good location in the old town. Dubrovnik is a really pretty place, but a bit difficult at times. As with Split, there is an old town surrounded by city walls. It's just beautiful inside but it is BUSY. Everyday cruiseships unload and swarm the city. All the locals recommend leaving town between 11 and 3 each day to avoid this. There are also hundreds of steps everywhere and it's hot and humid. It's a pretty exhausting place to get around, even though it is not big.
We had dinner at a Bosnian restaurant (called the Taj Mahal - go figure). It was good because it was different from the pasta, pizza and risotto we were used to. We then had a few drinks and went on a walking tour of the old town. It was good....it didn't go overkill, but just stuck to the key facts.
We tried to go for some drinks, but we couldn't really find a scene we liked so we ended up back at the apartment by 11ish.
Croatia Day 8: Dubrovnik
This day was definitely the most productive one Emma and I had in Croatia. We got up early to walk the old city walls (to avoid the heat and the crowds). We succeeded at the latter, but failed at the former; it was unbelievably hot. The walk around the wall is about an hour and a bit and by the end of it I had sweat through my dress. It's completely exposed to the sun, and you walk up and down hundreds of stairs. I think it was more work than the great wall of China.The views were magnificent though; made the heat worth it. Dubrovnik is really beautiful.
After that, we went to the Rector's palace museum. The Rector was like the mayor back in the day. The museum was ok. A few preserved rooms, the cells which held prisoners waiting for court, some terrible religious paintings and some photos of the Serbian conflict in 1991.
We stopped for a sandwich for lunch and then took the local advice and got out of town. We took a boat to the island of Lockrum, which is 15 minutes away. Once arriving we settled in on the rocks and went for a swim. This was the most rocky beach we encountered; we were literally lying on semi flat, slanted rocks. While wading around in the water we made a friend; Mark from Cleveland who was traveling alone.
I got fed up with lying in rocks, so the 3 of us went to see if we could find a better spot. We did moderately better; we found a flatter rock with better sea access. Once again though, I got sick of lying on a rock and we decided to go find the island's one bar.
The bar had cushioned seating, so we stayed for a few hours chatting. When you have been with the same person for a week, it's nice to have a new person in the mix for new conversation topics.
We took an evening boat back and went for an Italian dinner. It was soooo good. Probably my favorite meal of the trip. After we went to an Irish pub for some drinks. Mark had to catch a bus to Montenegro the next morning, so he planned on leaving early, but he learnt the hard way what happens when you drink with Emma and I.... you end up wasted.
So off we stumbled to a club we had heard about "Revelin." It was a really cool place. It was built in the city walls so it was all brick and had high vaulted and arched ceilings. We had a good time. I'm not sure how the night went so fast, but by the time Emma and I made it back to our apartment it was 4:30am.
Emma didnt want to come in the apartment (for some reason) so she sat on the steps outside. I guess we were being a bit loud because our neighbour came out, in nothing but his baby blue and tan underwear, to see what was going on. He went back in and came back with a box of apple juice for Emma. I coerced her inside and we went to bed. I have no idea how Mark did with his bus the next morning; not good I would imagine given the state we were both in the next day
Croatia Day 9: Dubrovnik
We managed to get our asses out of our apartment around 2. We were both in rough shape; emma worse off. We ate some pizza which made me feel much better. Emma did not have the same good fortune.
We discovered immediately that Dubrovnik is not a good hangover city. Stairs and heat and people make for a miserable time. Luckily, there are also gelato shops on ever corner, which improved our moods for about 5 minutes.
Once again transportation turned out to be a bitch. As we both needed to get to the airport the next day, we had to venture out of the old town to check the bus schedule. You would think, given that it is 2011, that they could have a regular bus schedule, or that they could post the time table for the week on the internet. Of course that can't be done. The schedule changes daily based on when the departing flights are that day, and you can only check it the day before at the travel agency. So dumb.
After that, we managed to make it to the cable car. It takes you to the top of a near by hill (where Napoleon built a forth back in the day) and the views are spectacular. During the war in 1991 it was destroyed, so it has since been rebuilt and it is very nice. Similar to the grouse mountain sky ride, only smaller, newer and smoother. The views at the top were great. We were both glad we made the effort to go do it.
We had dinner at the same place as the night before and I had the same thing because it was so good. We went back to the apartment early (after a bit of final shopping) as Emma still wasn't feeling well. I think she must have had a bit of food poisoning on top of the hangover because she was really sick all day.
Croatia Day 9:
Emma had an early flight, so she was up and gone before I had gotten out of bed. My flight wasn't until 3, so I spent the morning in town.
I had a veryyyy overpriced breakfast ($5 for a bottle of water) and then went to use the internet for a bit. After I went to the war photography museum, which was small, but quite interesting.
The museum has two exhibits. The first was a permanent exhibit showing images of the war in the early 90s (not just of the Croatian part, but the Bosnian conflict as well) and all the way up to the war in Kosovo in 1999. Dubrovnik was involved for nearly a year in 1991 and 1992. As the 6 states of the former Yugoslavia began to separate after Tito's death, Serbia saw an opportunity to take more land. Slovenia held their ground, but for 10 months Dubrovnik was under attack. 61% of the buildings in the old town were damaged. Remarkably, only 100 civilians (and 200 soldiers) were killed before the Serbs moved on to Bosnia (where obviously the most damage and brutality occurred).
The pictures were quite interesting; some quite graphic. They did a good job of telling a story and educating on the events, without bombarding the viewer with words.
The second exhibit was regarding the recent conflicts in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, etc. Also interesting and also graphic. I think I enjoyed the Yugoslavia conflict exhibit more; since the other pictures are more recent and all over the news, it wasn't as informational to me.
I got the bus to the airport at 12:20. Despite our efforts in checking the schedule the day before the bus turned up at 12:20, not at 12:05 or 12:30 as posted. Good thing I was 10 minutes early (or 15 minutes late). In typical Croatian fashion, the airport was incredibly disorganized. It took me an hour to check in. Unreal.
I'm currently in Austria waiting for my connection to London. I arrive this evening and am staying out by Heathrow. I have a flight home to Vancouver tomorrow morning. So that's it for my Europe blog. I'm off to Mexico on Sept 1, so I may post one from there if there us anything interesting to report. I'm sad my vacation is over, and I'm not looking forward to going back to work next week, but it's been nearly a month and it will be nice to get home. I'm exhausted.
Cheers
- Siobhan
So once again, in preparation of our next day departure, we had to be up very early in order to get our boat tickets for the next day. This time Emma got up early (hungover) to get them. Such a stupid system.
Around noon we made our way to the harbour to try to figure out what to do with ourselves. After having lived the high life for a day on board a yacht, everything else seemed quite dull. We ended up getting a boat to a near by island called Palmizana.
We were told that Palmizana had sandy beaches; a rarity in Croatia. Up to this point, all of the "beaches" consisted of rocks. A sandy beach was particularly appealing because of the sea urchins which live on rocks. At the rocky beaches, you had to be very careful, or have special water shoes, as stepping on an urchin would leave you unable to walk properly for a few days.
So off to Palmizana it was. The island had a hotel and a number of restaurants. We followed the crowd to the beach but when we came across it, it was not quite as expected. "Pebbly" would have been a better description than "sandy" however at least it wasn't just slabs of rocks and there was no risk of urchins.
We spent the afternoon on the beach, with a break for lunch at a restaurant on the island. We made the mistake of ordering risotto. It's not like our risotto at home and we had noticed this before as well (but had thought it was maybe just a bad restaurant). Their risotto is basically just standard rice in tomato (or cream) sauce, with fish or meat.
Back in the harbour we had a late dinner. Not risotto. We spent the evening walking around the shops. We also bought some ciders and sat in the square....quiet night
Croatia Day 7: Travel/Dubrovnik
Despite the fact that Hvar and Dubrovnik are both very popular tourist destinations, and despite the fact that they are not very far apart (3 hour boat ride) there are no regular boats between the two places. The only boats go on Tuesday and Saturday. The day we needed to go was Thursday, so we were out of luck; we had to take a boat back to Split (1 hour) and then a bus to Dubrovnik (4 hours).
At first the trip started smoothly. The boat was on time, and once in Split we booked it to the bus terminal and managed to get two of the last seats on a bus leaving just 10 minutes later. But then we hit traffic and the 4 hour ride ended up taking more than 5 (in a poorly air-conditioned bus).
As part of the highway to Dubrovnik passes through Bosnia, we had a brief stop there (and took a picture). I've never seen such slack passport control in my life (Bosnia is not part of the EU so I would have expected a stamp or an inspection at least). Instead a guard got on the bus, and barely glanced at the passports. I don't think the girls behind us even took theirs out. I guess they were just looking for countries which would need a visa. Someone we met in Dubrovnik said that on their bus two Ukrainians had been pulled off and left by the bus on the roadside because they didn't have visas.
We had an apartment reserved in Dubrovnik and the owner was nice enough to come to the bus station and help us get to the apartment. It was HOT, but he carried our bags all through old town (up and down the steps) as he gave us a little tour of what to see and where to eat.
The apartment was nice and in a really good location in the old town. Dubrovnik is a really pretty place, but a bit difficult at times. As with Split, there is an old town surrounded by city walls. It's just beautiful inside but it is BUSY. Everyday cruiseships unload and swarm the city. All the locals recommend leaving town between 11 and 3 each day to avoid this. There are also hundreds of steps everywhere and it's hot and humid. It's a pretty exhausting place to get around, even though it is not big.
We had dinner at a Bosnian restaurant (called the Taj Mahal - go figure). It was good because it was different from the pasta, pizza and risotto we were used to. We then had a few drinks and went on a walking tour of the old town. It was good....it didn't go overkill, but just stuck to the key facts.
We tried to go for some drinks, but we couldn't really find a scene we liked so we ended up back at the apartment by 11ish.
Croatia Day 8: Dubrovnik
This day was definitely the most productive one Emma and I had in Croatia. We got up early to walk the old city walls (to avoid the heat and the crowds). We succeeded at the latter, but failed at the former; it was unbelievably hot. The walk around the wall is about an hour and a bit and by the end of it I had sweat through my dress. It's completely exposed to the sun, and you walk up and down hundreds of stairs. I think it was more work than the great wall of China.The views were magnificent though; made the heat worth it. Dubrovnik is really beautiful.
After that, we went to the Rector's palace museum. The Rector was like the mayor back in the day. The museum was ok. A few preserved rooms, the cells which held prisoners waiting for court, some terrible religious paintings and some photos of the Serbian conflict in 1991.
We stopped for a sandwich for lunch and then took the local advice and got out of town. We took a boat to the island of Lockrum, which is 15 minutes away. Once arriving we settled in on the rocks and went for a swim. This was the most rocky beach we encountered; we were literally lying on semi flat, slanted rocks. While wading around in the water we made a friend; Mark from Cleveland who was traveling alone.
I got fed up with lying in rocks, so the 3 of us went to see if we could find a better spot. We did moderately better; we found a flatter rock with better sea access. Once again though, I got sick of lying on a rock and we decided to go find the island's one bar.
The bar had cushioned seating, so we stayed for a few hours chatting. When you have been with the same person for a week, it's nice to have a new person in the mix for new conversation topics.
We took an evening boat back and went for an Italian dinner. It was soooo good. Probably my favorite meal of the trip. After we went to an Irish pub for some drinks. Mark had to catch a bus to Montenegro the next morning, so he planned on leaving early, but he learnt the hard way what happens when you drink with Emma and I.... you end up wasted.
So off we stumbled to a club we had heard about "Revelin." It was a really cool place. It was built in the city walls so it was all brick and had high vaulted and arched ceilings. We had a good time. I'm not sure how the night went so fast, but by the time Emma and I made it back to our apartment it was 4:30am.
Emma didnt want to come in the apartment (for some reason) so she sat on the steps outside. I guess we were being a bit loud because our neighbour came out, in nothing but his baby blue and tan underwear, to see what was going on. He went back in and came back with a box of apple juice for Emma. I coerced her inside and we went to bed. I have no idea how Mark did with his bus the next morning; not good I would imagine given the state we were both in the next day
Croatia Day 9: Dubrovnik
We managed to get our asses out of our apartment around 2. We were both in rough shape; emma worse off. We ate some pizza which made me feel much better. Emma did not have the same good fortune.
We discovered immediately that Dubrovnik is not a good hangover city. Stairs and heat and people make for a miserable time. Luckily, there are also gelato shops on ever corner, which improved our moods for about 5 minutes.
Once again transportation turned out to be a bitch. As we both needed to get to the airport the next day, we had to venture out of the old town to check the bus schedule. You would think, given that it is 2011, that they could have a regular bus schedule, or that they could post the time table for the week on the internet. Of course that can't be done. The schedule changes daily based on when the departing flights are that day, and you can only check it the day before at the travel agency. So dumb.
After that, we managed to make it to the cable car. It takes you to the top of a near by hill (where Napoleon built a forth back in the day) and the views are spectacular. During the war in 1991 it was destroyed, so it has since been rebuilt and it is very nice. Similar to the grouse mountain sky ride, only smaller, newer and smoother. The views at the top were great. We were both glad we made the effort to go do it.
We had dinner at the same place as the night before and I had the same thing because it was so good. We went back to the apartment early (after a bit of final shopping) as Emma still wasn't feeling well. I think she must have had a bit of food poisoning on top of the hangover because she was really sick all day.
Croatia Day 9:
Emma had an early flight, so she was up and gone before I had gotten out of bed. My flight wasn't until 3, so I spent the morning in town.
I had a veryyyy overpriced breakfast ($5 for a bottle of water) and then went to use the internet for a bit. After I went to the war photography museum, which was small, but quite interesting.
The museum has two exhibits. The first was a permanent exhibit showing images of the war in the early 90s (not just of the Croatian part, but the Bosnian conflict as well) and all the way up to the war in Kosovo in 1999. Dubrovnik was involved for nearly a year in 1991 and 1992. As the 6 states of the former Yugoslavia began to separate after Tito's death, Serbia saw an opportunity to take more land. Slovenia held their ground, but for 10 months Dubrovnik was under attack. 61% of the buildings in the old town were damaged. Remarkably, only 100 civilians (and 200 soldiers) were killed before the Serbs moved on to Bosnia (where obviously the most damage and brutality occurred).
The pictures were quite interesting; some quite graphic. They did a good job of telling a story and educating on the events, without bombarding the viewer with words.
The second exhibit was regarding the recent conflicts in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, etc. Also interesting and also graphic. I think I enjoyed the Yugoslavia conflict exhibit more; since the other pictures are more recent and all over the news, it wasn't as informational to me.
I got the bus to the airport at 12:20. Despite our efforts in checking the schedule the day before the bus turned up at 12:20, not at 12:05 or 12:30 as posted. Good thing I was 10 minutes early (or 15 minutes late). In typical Croatian fashion, the airport was incredibly disorganized. It took me an hour to check in. Unreal.
I'm currently in Austria waiting for my connection to London. I arrive this evening and am staying out by Heathrow. I have a flight home to Vancouver tomorrow morning. So that's it for my Europe blog. I'm off to Mexico on Sept 1, so I may post one from there if there us anything interesting to report. I'm sad my vacation is over, and I'm not looking forward to going back to work next week, but it's been nearly a month and it will be nice to get home. I'm exhausted.
Cheers
- Siobhan
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