Monthly Archives: May 2014

Posts from the road

Close Encounters of the Bird Kind

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(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.

A peacock, when it is not showing off (Lokrum, Croatia)
A peacock, when it is not showing off (Lokrum, Croatia)

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.

Today's Laundromat (Dubrovnik, Croatia)
Today’s Laundromat (Dubrovnik, Croatia)

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.

One of many cats living on the streets of Cavtat, Croatia
One of many cats living on the streets of Cavtat, Croatia

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.

The boat I took to Lokrum, as seen from Lokrum
The boat I took to Lokrum, as seen from Lokrum

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.

Stradun, the main street of Dubrovnik's old town
Stradun, the main street of Dubrovnik’s old town

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.

Posts from the road

And now I’m in Croatia!

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(Dubrovnik, Croatia)

While I was excited about moving on to Croatia from Bosnia & Herzegovina, I was a little worried about the process.  I had heard some traveller stories about the border formalities, especially as Croatia has recently joined the European Union.  However, I was even more concerned about what kind of bus driver shenanigans I would be subjected to this time, especially once I saw the “well used” vehicle that was taking me to Dubrovnik.  Fortunately, the driver mostly stayed on his side of the road and didn’t try to overtake anybody on blind, downhill, cliff-side hairpin turns. I arrived in Dubrovnik with a great sense of relief.

View of the old town (and Lokrum Island) from the city walls in Dubrovnik, Croatia
View of the old town (and Lokrum Island) from the city walls in Dubrovnik, Croatia

Nothing prepares you for Dubrovnik.  It has the same “wow factor” as Venice, one major difference being that Dubrovnik has hills instead of canals (and apparently it had canals once too).   Dubrovnik also has these incredible walls that completely surround the old city.  You walk on them just like the Great Wall of China.  The Dubrovnik walls are HIGH – I’m usually pretty good with heights, but in some places there were huge drop-offs on either side and not too much in the way of railings or space to manoeuvre.  It was almost like being on top of the Mostar Minaret again.   However, this also means that you can get some pretty sensational photographs.  I must have taken about 200 in the hour or so that I was walking on top of the walls.

Unbelievably, this is one of the "lower" sections of the wall around Dubrovnik's old town.
Unbelievably, this is one of the “lower” sections of the wall around Dubrovnik’s old town.  Not much in the way of guardrails, as you can see.

I could go on and on about the visual impact of Dubrovnik.  The main street in the old town is made of marble.  Most of the side streets are incredibly steep and narrow staircases.  Clearly, this city was once very powerful.  In fact, it was apparently the first nation (called Ragusa at the time) to recognize the independence of the U.S.A.

One of the many side streets, as seen from the Dubrovnik city walls
One of the many side streets, as seen from the Dubrovnik city walls

Dubrovnik also has a tragic recent past.  It was bombarded during the breakup of Yugoslavia and a huge number of buildings were destroyed.  However, it was rebuilt incredibly quickly and there really aren’t any physical signs of the war.  The reminders are much more subtle here than in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Dubrovnik's Cathedral
Dubrovnik’s Cathedral

I also visited the Fort of St. Lawrence (Tvrdava Lovrijenac) later in the day.  It’s somewhat reminiscent of a smaller, emptier Fort Henry (for those of you from Kingston, Ontario), so it wasn’t too exotic for me on that level.  However, it provides an outstanding location for photographs of the city and the incredibly blue Adriatic Sea.  The photo at the top of this blog posting was taken from the Fort.

Looking toward the Pile district of the "new city" from the Dubrovnik city walls
Looking toward the Pile district of the “new city” from the Dubrovnik city walls (Tvrdava Lovrijenac on left)

I’m staying in a “soba” here – a room in a private house, as opposed to a hotel.  In this case, the owner doesn’t live here but stops by from time to time in order to check people in and out.  I have to share a bathroom with one other person on my floor.  While a private bathroom is a nice luxury to have,  doubling the cost of your stay really can’t be justified for the sake of some convenient plumbing.  (Dubrovnik is a very popular destination; hotel rooms are both scarce and fiendishly expensive in the old town.)  The alternative was to stay in a nearby town and commute into Dubrovnik.  While I would consider that in a more modern city with less character, Dubrovnik’s old town is so unique that I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to stay in it.  I will not be traumatized by sharing facilities for a couple of days.  My expectations for food are also lower here, as the tourist volume drives up prices…and often puts downward pressure on quality.  I know that I will eat better in other Croatian towns.