Croatia by sea

I have now finished my Adriatic cruise out of Dubrovnik and have arrived in Rome.
It was just  a small ship, the Adriatic Pearl seen here docked in Puscisca on the island of Brac.

There were 33 guests. I think 14 were from NZ, about 10 from Australia, 2 USA, 2 Bosnia (one of 2 honeymoon couples) and 4 UK/Ireland. There were 2 sisters and everyone else except me were couples.
Our planned itinerary had to be changed due to weather forecasts. We were mainly docked at night. 
Saturday night was at Korcula where we had a tour of the old town guided by a very amusing lady.

 On Sunday we sailed to Pucisca and had a tour of the Stone masonry school. There was a swim break in a sheltered bay on the way. Due to the weather this was the only such stop although some did swim at beaches near where we docked.

On Monday I was disappointed when strong winds forced us to miss a stop which would have involved a river cruise in a National Park. Instead we sailed to Split where I had stayed overnight the previous Tuesday and were bussed to yet another old town, Trogir. However this UNESCO world heritage site was one of the best preserved and pretty of the many such towns I visited.
The fort

and a street in the town.

Another walk included a serenade of Croatian songs a cappella.

The afternoon was spent visiting the Diocletian Palace in Split which was built in the 3rd century. Diocletian’s mausoleum is now a cathedral. His remains were removed as he was probably one of the worst persecutors of early Christians and the cathedral is St Dominius one of the martyrs of that time. I also visited Jupiter’s temple nearby.

On Tuesday we sailed to the very pretty island of Hvar. Some of us climbed up the stairs

 to the fort above the town for  a view before lunch.

Afterwards we had a talk and demonstration of lavender oil for which the island is famous and another guided walk. Unfortunately forecast  storms meant we did not stay the night there but instead went to Vela Luka on the other side of the island of Korcula. We did not go ashore there and left again at 3am on Wednesday to sail to Mljet.

I was glad of this as it is a National Park. We walked to the large lake and crossed in a very small ferry to a monastery on an island. Returning to the mainland, I left the others and walked several km around the large lake and back then round the far shore of the small lake and arrived back at the dock with 15 minutes to spare. I estimate I walked over 8 km but it was lovely. The large lake is a deep blue seen here with the monastery in view

 and the small lake a brilliant green.

This was even more obvious when I flew over it on the way to Rome on Saturday.

We had to go to a more sheltered harbour for the night on the island of Sipan. This was not on the original itinerary but was a small, less touristy town where I tried some artistic photography.

On Thursday we had to keep to sheltered waters so went to the mainland town of Slano where we boarded a coach for Ston. Ston is famous for its salt pans producing a lot of salt in the original methods and we were given a talk then we climbed part of the “Great wall of Europe”.

 Apparently this is the longest such wall in Europe though much smaller than its counterpart in China. We needed a drink in town afterwards. The coach took us to a wine and liqueur tasting. Most were not impressed with the wines and I did not try any of the wide range of very sweet liqueurs, not to my taste. Then it was on to an oyster tasting, for which the area is also famous. I am told they were not up to Bluff oyster standards but still they were quite good.
On Friday we sailed across the biggest seas of our journey back to Dubrovnik. Again we had a town tour, so I learnt a little more although I had wandered by myself in the town a week earlier. Probably the worst of the town’s long history was in the siege from October 1991 to May 1992. Thankfully most has been restored.

It was time for a final dinner and sleep aboard before travelling to the airport on Saturday for the afternoon flight to Rome. 15 went to the airport and 7 were on the Rome flight.

Travelling Croatia and Nearby

I have been in Croatia over a week now and the land based part is finished as I board a ship this afternoon to cruise the islands. The last 3 days have been particularly hectic as I continually crossed borders, changed currency and saw different cultures.

First I based myself in Zagreb and after a day exploring that city (and buying bus tickets), on Sunday I went by bus to the original royal city of Varazdin.  Sadly rain set in and I discovered the museums and galleries closed at 1pm, so after a visit to the castle and an art gallery and a quick walk around the small city, I was back in my hotel by 3.30pm.

Monday was much better although the weather began similarly and remained grey all day.
I spent 2 hours in the bus down to Plitvice lakes and then took about 4 hours to do the walk which was advertised as 5 to 6 hours. I could have taken the first part more slowly. We began with a trip in a bus/train  along park roads to the beginning of the lake and then walked the upper lakes followed by a boat trip across the largest lake and another walk through the lower lakes and finally back in the bus/train to the entrance.

The falls were everywhere and sometimes we walked almost under them. I have had to include 4 photos but have many more and hope to upload a youtube version when I find time. I am not sure about the strength of the wifi signal on the ship so am rushing to produce this.

On Tuesday afternoon I was suppose to travel for 6 hours by train but discovered due to track work the first 2 hours were by bus then half an hour wait and a slow train rather than the modern one promised and I arrived in Split at 8.30pm nearly 2 hours late only having eaten a banana and drunk one expresso in all that time.

I will be returning to Split on the ship so did not do any sightseeing but it was crowded with a festival and fireworks at 10pm, all I heard was what seemed like cannon shots.

Wednesday I was back on a bus and travelling for 5 hours to Dubrovnik. We crossed into Bosnia Herzegovna for 23 km so the first borders since entering Croatia. Croatia becomes part of the EU on July 1st and while the Slovenia/Croatia border will no longer have checks, I am told these others will possibly be worse.

In Dubrovnik my apartment has been up on the hill overlooking the city and I have included a photo from the terrace.

To pay for this there are hundreds of steps to climb to reach it. There were even 40 from the taxi to the front door.  I have just climbed them once each day after dinner in the old city.

I walked the walls the first afternoon and will explore more this morning but the last 2 days have involved bus tours, first to Mostar in Bosnia Herzegovna which meant crossing the borders 6 times. Mostar is pretty but sad. The bridge

has been rebuilt but our guide described her time as a girl of 12 hiding in cellars during the day and going with her mother into the countryside to find food at night. We visited a mosque and a Turkish house. Bosnia is largely Moslem and they have their own currency but also use Euros and the Croatian kunar.

Yesterday another long bus trip but only across and back the border with Montenegro. There the people are Orthodox (Croatia is Roman Catholic) and they use Euro as currency.  We spent several hours in the pretty old town of Kotor before taking a terrifying road which climbed 900 metres with 25 hairpin bends and nothing between us and a steep drop. I will never complain about the Otago Peninsula roads again.  The view of Kotor

 was stunning. We drove through the mountains and to the seaside town of Budva which has been built largely by the Russians as a resort. Then back, crossing a vehicle ferry to Dubrovnik.