Hello from Croatia,
First of all, I will say I am very frustrated because I can't figure out how to publish the pictures with the blog. Once I figure it out, there will be tons of pictures, promise!
Dubrovnik has well lived up to its reputation after a miserable flight on Tuesday night. We had babies in the front and back of our section who alternated crying all night. Kills me that they fall asleep an hour before the plane lands. However, all of that is a distant memory. ( I started writing this last night in Dubrovnik, wrote some on a bus to Split, our choice to take the bus and am finishing in the apt in Split. For future reference in most European countries, assigned seats mean nothing so if you want to be on a certain side of the bus, get to your seat early
After a very long night, the drive into Dubrovnik is breathtaking. We aren't staying in the old part of the city, but at the Hotel Berkeley near the port. It's actually a great location because you can easily catch the bus that goes to the Old City. While the old city is wonderful, it's a relief to get to away from the crowds and to a quieter section. Especially when the cruise ships disgorge. The restaurants in this area are also outstanding. Some of the best fish I've ever had. We freshened up when we arrived at the hotel and then walked around the port area. A couple of massive cruise ships were docked nearby. We asked at the hotel where we should go for dinner and they highly recommended a restaurant not far away. Not far away is relative to your level of tiredness. I felt like I was on the Bataan Death March when we finally arrived. The name of the restaurant was Orcane and I was so glad we made the effort. It's a very elegant locals place and you're basically seated on a dock. I had the best tuna I've ever had. While the hotel said we didn't need to have reservations, we're glad we did because they turning people away.
When we were walking back to the hotel, I was very MOVED, and knew I couldn't make it back to the hotel. We ducked into a very nice restaurant for a glass of wine, i.e. bathroom. When I got back to the table feeling much refreshed, Cham was laughing and said there's no telling what the waitress thinks. I asked what happened and he said I don't think they were thrilled about us just coming in for a glass of wine but they weren't going to turn away business. She said so you want a glass of wine in English and he said se, duo vino blanco por favor. She came back and said in Spanish two glasses of white wine and he responded merci. She was really perplexed and asked him a question in French and he responded danke schoen. Oh, my gosh, still laughing as I type this. We've learned thank you in Croatian so yet another word to add to the vocabulary list. Chambo!
Dubrovnik is astounding; history, beaches, boats, great food and very good wine. There are also an astounding number of day trips that can be made. I highly recommend this fabulous city to everyone. All of the surrounding terrain in the area is rocky, sparsely vegetated, intimidating mountains.
We
also took a day trip to Budva and Kotor located in Montenegro. Budva is
a small resort town. Kotor's claim to fame is the incredible city wall
which is almost a vertical climb midway to the top of the mountain. I
would loved to have watched them built the wall because it would be an
incredible feat now; I can't imagine how they did it years ago.
It's
hard to imagine all of this area was involved in a war in 1992 which
was caused by the break up of Yugoslavia. Yugo was made up of now five
independent countries, Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro being three of the
five. There are still places in Dubrovnik that have been left in
ruins. According to our city guide, they never thought they'd be
attacked because her UNESCO status and tourism in the city so they were
astounded when they were. She said the media has tried to portray it as
a religious war; she said that was entirely false. She said Bosnia and
Montenegro wanted all of the money Dubrovnik was bringing into Croatia
so they wanted to annex it. Dubrovnik hung in for 2 years and remained
Croatian. They are also members of the EU although they still use their
own currency. Unfortunately, there is about 30 miles of coastline in
Bosnia that divides Dubrovnik from the rest of the Croatia. It used to
be you could easily pass through the two borders, but the EU has
cracked down and now you have to go through passport control in Croatia
and then Bosnia. It has made everyone pretty angry, but I'm not sure
there's any other solution to the problem.
Our
Kotor guide, a cute, male college student studying American literature,
said Montenegrins were very proud they weren't involved in the war. I
was thinking, what, you're bombing Dubrovnik but you're saying you
weren't involved? I think he was saying they were very proud they
didn't have any fighting on their land. Oh, right. I can understand
how you would say you weren't involved . . . .
Our
day guide to Montenegro who was from Dubrovnik said the citizens of
Montenegro are very embarrassed about the entire incident. They have
always had good relations with their neighbors, but had heard that
Dubrovnik had missiles trained on them so they decided to attack first.
We heard that some Serbians who had lived in Dubrovnik for centuries
(Orthodox religion) stayed and defended their hometown, others took off
for Serbia and Croatians who lived in Serbia left and moved into their
homes in Dubrovnik.
I'm
finishing this part of the blog in our Airbnb apartment in Split. The
location is absolutely perfect, just as the review said. Very different
feeling from Dubrovnik. We've only taken a brief stroll through
Split, but definitely like what we see. It has a very energetic vibe,
lots and lots of large walking areas and the show stopper, Diocletian's
Place. We are touring that tomorrow morning for
sure. When you consider a huge earthquake hit this area in the 1700's,
this palace was built to last. It is massive. I haven't watched any
of the Game of Thrones, but have read the first book. Parts of the
series have been filmed in Dubrovnik and Split. I guess I'm going to
have to start watching now to figure out where they are. I'd appreciate
it someone could let me know what book(s) the location was used for. I
may have a lot of reading ahead.
I'll
try to keep the blog up as best as I can and post lots of pictures.
I'm going to try and head the pics so you'll know where they're from.
Also, any feedback is welcome. I didn't realize people were having
trouble with the font until someone told me about it before we left. I
am truly thankful for that comment!
Happy Labor Day everyone! We look forward to hearing from you.
Carpe Diem!
