(Dubrovnik, Croatia)

When I went to Lokrum Island, I did not expect to be confronted with the above creature right off the dock.  Thinking that I had stumbled upon the only one, I took lots of pictures.  But there were more:  in the gardens, in the palace, on the rocky beaches, everywhere.  If you want to see peacocks (and peahens), this is your place.  They wander freely and have little fear of humans.  I’m somewhat surprised that neither one of my guidebooks mentioned this; personally, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a peacock wandering around humans like that before.

Having already wandered extensively among the walls and the back streets of Dubrovnik, the past two days have been devoted to boat trips…and laundry.  Laundry is one of my favourite travel experiences, because (in addition to refreshing my wardrobe) it often brings me out of the tourist zone and into a truly local environment.  Alas, there aren’t many locals in the old town of Dubrovnik and everybody I met at the laundromat was also a traveller.  That was OK, though, as we all enjoyed swapping travel stories and giving warnings/recommendations as necessary.

Yesterday’s boat trip was a true adventure.  I decided to visit the town of Cavtat, which is a much smaller resort to the southeast of Dubrovnik.  Instead of taking a bus, I opted for the boat.  How could I pass up an opportunity to sail the shimmering Adriatic?  I didn’t see the boat before committing, nor did I see the weather outside of Dubrovnik harbour.

Well, it was a very small boat.  Even worse, the winds really whipped up the waves outside of the harbour and we were travelling directly into them.   The next 45 minutes could be best described as “violent turbulence” with additional “violent side-to-side movements”.  I’ve only been on one boat ride like that before, when Louise and I took a three-hour ferry from Iceland’s north coast to the remote island of Grimsey (I shall spare you the details, except to say that even some crew members were ill).

I began to wonder about the etiquette of being seasick in a small space but fortunately it remained a theoretical question for me and the other 6 passengers.   The weather improved marginally while I was in Cavtat and the return trip was also improved (although I was prepared to forego the return ticket and take a boring but safe bus back to Dubrovnik).  As for Cavtat itself, it is a quaint, cobbled town with many cats and is a nice change of pace from Dubrovnik.  Lunch was once again “al fresco” on the waterfront.

Today’s trip to Lokrum Island was a last-minute decision but I made a point of checking out the boat first.  I also knew it was a much shorter journey and that the winds were much calmer than yesterday.  In addition to the proliferation of peafowl, the island is a forest preserve and has a vast network of hiking trails through the woods and along the rocky shoreline.  It also has a collection of huge, crumbling buildings in the middle of the forest, including a palace and a fortress.   I wandered happily for a couple of hours and returned to Dubrovnik by a satisfyingly large boat.

I forgot to mention that my Dubrovnik soba is located in a 600-year old building.  It was damaged during the siege of Dubrovnik but has been very well restored.  As you can see from the photo below, even the streets are gleaming.

Tomorrow I will be on the road again.  I’ll be in another new country, although I will be back in Croatia in a few days.

Finally – a note to the subscribers of this blog.  It seems that the “cover photo” at the top of every posting does not get included in the blog entries that you receive by e-mail.  All the written content is there, however.