We are heading now towards Dubrovnik where we are going to spend the rest of our stay in Croatia. As the weather is getting a little chillier, we are renting a studio apartment. We aim to continue to improve our Italian as our return to Italy is soon approaching and we are going to continue our fitness with a focus on cycling. To break up the journey we stayed in a few sites on the way down.
Croatian mainland is intersected by a small strip of the coast around the town of Neum which is part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, forming Bosnia and Herzegovina’s only outlet to the sea. All traffic travelling from south-eastern Croatia to Dubrovnik has to undergo two border checks, alternatively, you can take a ferry to avoid the borders (foot and car).
The Pelješac Bridge is near completion with the purpose to provide a fixed link, thereby passing entirely through Croatian territory and avoiding any border crossings with Bosnia and Herzegovina at Neum.
Ston
Our first stop in the county of Dubrovnik was Ston. An area famous for its wall at a 5km length (was once 7km) making it the longest defensive structure in Europe. Built to protect the salt pans with 3 fortresses. Ston is small but worth a short stopover for lunch and a cheeky drink.
Onwards to Lapad
Located outside of the old town situated in an enclave this is where we are going to stay for the duration of our visit to Dubrovnik. Lapad provides a good array of restaurants, bars, places to stay, beach and forest walks. Our studio apartment is lovely with fantastic hosts and off-road parking for our van. We are only a few steps up from the centre and a short walk to the beach and forest.
Rain, rain, rain and thank God we are in an apartment. Some down time is in order. One activity we still need to do irrelevant of the weather is walking the dogs, a good thing as it gets us out and about. We brought the OCULAS out with us, so out this comes, purely for the exercise! Oh ok for entertainment as well, along with focusing on our Italian learning and general fitness of Yoga and HIIT.
Graham continued to swim however gave that up due to the colder sea temperature!! Luckily the rain stopped and brighter weather continued.
Cycling in Dubrovnik! Throughout Croatian we experienced excellent cycling facilities, with an array of designated cycling paths which were well maintained, well sign posted and varied in distance and difficulty. However, in Dubrovnik these didn’t exist and the only option is to ride on the roads. Well ….. the drivers really don’t like cyclists and have no tolerance, at all, making it dangerous. We went out 3 times however had to really give this up due to the lack of ability to do it safely.
So, what did we do In Lapad. We found a lovely Irish pub and made this our local. Good Guinness, sport TV and a little atmosphere. We also wondered down to a local brewery and grazed through the many varieties of their beers. Walks with the dogs were through the national forest and along the coastline normally finishing with a café and the odd time a piece of cake. There was a really good Mexican restaurant, engaging hosts and fabulous food and a good but expensive cocktail bar on the rock edge overlooking the bay. Any many more restaurants café’s and bars
Dubrovnik
Venturing through the Pile Gate you enter a completely different world.
Located next to the deep blue sea, with a defensive wall encircling the city which has protected Dubrovnik from raids for centuries. Nearly 6m thick, 2km long and 25 m high, built-in 10th century and repaired 13-14th century, the walls constitutes a solid defences barrier that prevents enemy hostile forces from entering.
It costs 20 euros each to scale the stone staircases and embark on the scenic amazing walk around the perimeter, there are several ticket check gates along the way, allowing you the flexibility and freedom of leaving and re-entering the wall.
Our route started near the Pile Gate and headed up a steep flight of stone stairs to the top of the wall. From the top you get a much better appreciation of Dubrovnik’s stunning layout, as well as some fantastic views of the city, a patch work of church domes and bell towers poking through the sea of red roofs, the ability to obtain a full understanding of the maze of small winding streets and the Adriatic Sea with its harbours. The width and height of the walls varies as you walk around getting as narrow as a metre wide in some areas, the dizzying views all around you are just perfect.
The highest point of the walls is at the Minčeta Tower, with its walls up to 12 m think and worth a steep climb up to the top of the tower with more spectacular views. The other fortresses are Bokar, Lovrjenac and Revelin.
Church St. Blaise was built 12th century with a major earthquake in 17th century destroying this building and was rebuilt 2 decades later.
The clock Tower was built in 1444, 2 ton bronze bell with two bronze men statues called Zelenci (Blue man) who hit the bell and the tower is 31m high.
In the back alleys of the Old town there was a small yellow sign reading “cold drinks with the most beautiful view” this was the entrance of the Buza bar. Literally a hole in the city wall you find yourself on the edge of the cliff, staring directly at the Adriatic Sea with the best view of Lokrum Island. Perched on the cliff side with crude metal scaffolding poles and concrete platforms to prevent you stumbling down the cliff side. You can sip your drinks while taking in the location, soaking up the atmosphere, while watching crazy people cliff jumping against a magnificent sun set back drop – No toilet so drink carefully!!
There are a huge number of restaurants in Dubrovnik, too many to mention individually. During our stay we took it in turns to choose a restaurant and had a little competition, who could choose the best restaurant for food, drink and hospitality. I must say we had such an array of magnificent food with the hosting attentive and informative and just each day/night was a wonderful experience. Although the food throughout Croatia was a mixed and in the majority poor, Dubrovnik stood out and we could not fault it.
You can also take a cable car to Mount Srd mountain which presents you with an opportunity to see entire landscape of the beautiful city, a memorable scene of Dubrovnik especially at sunset from a height of up to 778m.
Lokrum Island is a 15 min boat trip and is a botanical garden, fortress, monastery and a nudist beach!
Little bit of history:
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was made of six republics: Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia. The largest among them is Serbia, while Montenegro is the smallest.
The Balkans war – Why Servia invaded Croatia
In June 1991, the republics of Slovenia and Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia, beginning the country’s break up. The next month, the Yugoslav army, largely composed of Serbs and controlled by Slobodan Milosevic, invaded Croatia, justifying the act as a means to protect the Serbian minority there.
The former Yugoslavia was a Socialist state created after German occupation in World War II and a bitter civil war. A federation of six republics, it brought together Serbs, Croats, Bosnian Muslims, Albanians, Slovenes and others under a comparatively relaxed communist regime. Tensions between these groups were successfully suppressed under the leadership of President Tito. After Tito’s death in 1980, tensions re-emerged. The Serb-dominated Yugoslav army lashed out, first in Slovenia and then in Croatia.
The Yugoslav forces mounted a sea attack on Dubrovnik in October 1991, just four months after Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia, setting off a four-year war. More than 25,000 people died during the war in Croatia.
The city was subject to a major bombing campaign with 886 buildings being totally destroyed and 1,675 sustaining damage. Although it is hard to spot it now, the only clues you have are the pockmarks left on some buildings and roofs which have been restored, with their bright orange newer roof tiles standing out against the more weathered originals.
Travel adventures 