4 Days in Dubrovnik

So this is Mike entering the final entry for our trip as Sherrie (the natural story teller you have had to date) is back to working crazy hours and has no time for this at the moment.  I applogize for the significantly reduced quality of this entry :-)
The ferry ride from Split to Dubrovnik went really well.  The ferry is passenger only and a pretty high speed ride.  We stopped at several islands along the way before arriving at the busy port in Dubrovnik.  The port is the commercial side of town, including where the cruise ships arrive, making it a bustling area for sure.
We stopped at a tourist ticket office, picked up our tickets for bus number 8, hit a bakery, and were soon on the bus heading toward the old part of town.  We got off the bus near the cable car terminal and with a little help from google maps, managed to find our way up to our home away from home for the next 4 days.
As we were pre-warned, our place was well uphill from the walled city and we were quite glad to arrive after lugging ourselves up a few hundred stairs.  We were met by our friendly host and a couple of complimentary beers to enjoy on the terrace were I soaked up the beer along with the sun, and the view all at the same time (Sherrie skipped the beer of course).
I will summarize the next few days and allow the pictures to tell the story:
- we explored the old town
- walked the wall in early morning
- visited museums (including several dedicated to the war effort defending Dubrovnik)
- spent an afternoon hiking around Lokrum Island and swam in the Adriatic
- hiked to the top of Sdr mountain and took the cable car back down
- relaxed at a bar clinging to the outside of the wall and ate an amazing meal at a Bosnian restaurant
- and spent the rest of the time wandering around in amazement at the beauty of this city
Dubrovnik is an astounding place to visit.  If you get a chance, do it.
After 4 great days, our host called us a taxi and we were off the Dubrovnik airport on our way home via one night back in Zagreb and then a 2 hour flight to Paris and the 10 hour flight to SeaTac.  The flights home went well, and we were all too soon collapsing in our own bed, exhausted but knowing we had an amazing trip that we will never forget.

Skradinski buk hike/Trogir

We arrived in Skradin, checked in at our hotel, named for the local waterfall, Skradinski buk, and promptly took a nap. Our day on the water with sun and fresh air had left us too sleepy to really explore the town. We managed to rouse ourselves enough to join our colleagues at a local pizzeria, then hit the sack promising an early start to explore the city in the morning. 

We both grumbled a bit when the alarm went off at 6 but got out of bed and by the time we finished our push ups, the sun was casting a lovely glow over the city. In true hiker tradition,  we headed straight for the highest point, the small fortress above the town. From there we had a clear view of the marina and could see over the rooftops of the town as well. We wandered along a trail through a few trees that eventually led to a road back to town. On it we saw a sign with various hiking and biking routes listed. Couldn't resist the selfie with Croatian cartoon hikers in the background.  The morning continued to bring us more stimulation for all the senses. The light on the Cathedral highlighted the stone beautifully while the scent of freshly baked bread filled the air in front of a small bakery. Wish I could make the photo below "scratch & sniff", it smelled delicious! 

We returned in time for a quick breakfast then off to the marina to catch a boat up river to the next national park on the adgenda, Krka. Like Plitvicka Jezera, Krka is home to many waterfalls including Roski slap (slap is Croatian for waterfall) and Skradinski buk. Buk means loud and we got to hear it first hand.  We took advantage of this opportunity for photos before the crowds of visitors arrived. We meandered around the trails, viewing the various falls on the river and learning some Croatian history and tradition.  The Croatian's are justly proud of their native son Nikola Tesla who was born not far from Skradinski buk and whose ideas were used to design the world's second (by two days) hydroelectric power plant there. We also saw other earlier examples of hydro power being used to mill grain and soften wool for weaving. Our ramble through the park extended into a walk back to town. Apparently, you can only take the boat one way. We all had a good time trading jokes as we walked. Robbie was best at Chuck Norris jokes and jokes involving two things walking together. Mike's favorite was " two toothpicks are walking down the street when they see a needle. One says to the other 'Terminator!'" I guess you had to be there.

After our hike it was, you guessed it, time to eat lunch. We ate al fresco at our hotel then loaded up into the vans for our last road trip. We were off to the upper part of Krka National Park on our way to Trogir for the evening.  Our visit to the park was modified by the filming of a remake of a famous German movie about American Indians, filmed in Croatia.  It sounds crazy, Robbie had mentioned it when we were hiking in Paklenica, part of the original was filmed there. The main characters Winnetou and Old Shatterhand were well known to the German tourists. One person in our group whose father was Hungarian recognized the films. The rest of us were more dumbfounded than starstruck as we passed by a shoot with actors dressed in loincloths spearing fish in the river. This area was closed to hiking to avoid any "extra" extras in the shot. We adapted our plan and headed up the road to another storybook scene, Visovac, a monastery in the middle of the river Krka. Our boat ride to the tiny island was brief but refreshing as the wind whipped up some white caps on the water. We toured the monastery and saw their collection of incunabula, books from the 15th century, including a copy of Aesop's Fables from 1487, as well as other religious treasures. 

As we began our descent into Trogir the sun was low in the sky. Once at the hotel, we again opted for a pre dinner nap. This was our last dinner as a group.  It was bittersweet to share this meal with our new friends. Of course there was plenty of laughter as we watched the slide show of photos Robbie had taken all week with his "GoPro" camera. The meal was traditional food of the region, including "Split cake" made with figs and raisins and frosted with an egg based frosting.  After a round of hugs and exchange of emails, we headed off to bed with full bellies and loads of wonderful memories of Croatia.

Skradin

Yum! 

Swan on the river

water powered corn grinding wheel

Visovac

Split on our own

Our trip fromTrogir to Split was easy as Goran volunteered to drive us in the van.  He was heading back to Dubrovnik and could drop us on his way. The narrow, windy streets required some navigation skills but we managed to find our apartment relatively quickly. It was an adorable little flat just outside the walls of old town and the Dioclesian palace. We took a little break to settle in and get the lay of the land.
Eventually,  we got motivated to head back out for more culture and history. As we walked through the farmer's market on our way into the old town, we stopped to try the figs on offer and ended up with figs, hazelnuts and candy coated almonds from the local woman who despite her lack of English, was well versed in the "upsell". Newly fortified, we entered the town at the "iron gate" and headed over to the belltower to climb to the top and photograph the view. The view was amazing with terracotta tile roofs galore. We were not as excited about the cruise ship brigade who were also trying to enjoy the area. We made a quick trip to the cathedral, Jupiter's temple and listened to the a capella group in the dome before making our way out the gate on the opposite side of the city. We stopped in a grocery store on the way back to our flat. This was really the first time we had been on our own for food.  It's always entertaining to see what the locals like. We found the kikiriki (peanut) flavored corn curls interesting.
That evening after the crowds had thinned we decided to take a walk through the city,  up to the park on a hill that overlooks the city. We arrived at the top in time for sunset. The colors were even more incredible than the photos can express. The lights of the city glowed as the sun dimmed. We had survived our first full day on our own.
The next morning, we bid a slightly sad farewell to our apartment and made our way to the ferry for our trip to Dubrovnik for a bright an early ride at 7:45am.

Sea kayak around Vrgada

We were extremely grateful the skies were clearing this morning since our plan for the day was kayaking. We packed up early and headed for the town of Pakistane where we caught a boat for the island of Vrgada.
There we outfitted ourselves with life jackets and paddles and headed out to circumnavigate the island. The sea varied from dark green to brilliant turquoise depending on the light and depth of the water. We had another opportunity to practice our Croation as we paddled,  lijevo, desno (left, right) trying to stay in sync. 
About half way around the island we stopped at a cove for a swim and the requisite snack. I was happy I brought my swim goggles as they came in handy to watch the sea life.  There were only a few fish, but there were urchin and sea cucumbers. The best sight by far was a small octopus who was completely camouflaged in the sandy bottom until I scared him by swimming too close. He zipped away quickly but did not feel frightened enough to shoot his ink, so I had a good view.  The water was a nice temperature but it wasn't particularly warm out as the clouds had returned. I was happy I had kept my shirt and shorts dry while I swam. However, this comfort was short lived. A few minutes later I capsized us while adjusting my seat! I was laughing harder than Mike, who was completely dry up to that point. We easily righted the boat and jumped back in, paddling quickly to catch up with the others. We were all happy to see the little harbor where we had started, come into view. This meant LUNCH!! Robbie had been raving about the Croatian tuna and this was the day it was being specially prepared for us. We were offered the traditional aperitif combo of figs and rakija. I stuck with the figs which were delicious! These were followed by salad, bread and  "black risotto" made with squid ink. The risotto was rich and flavorful, the challenge was not to eat too much before the tuna arrived. The tuna steaks were cut thin, simply grilled with olive oil and served over a cold vinagrette style potato salad. It was incredibly delicious and we thrilled and complimented our host by making an extremely generous amount of food quickly disappear. With full bellies we walked back to the boat to head for the mainland. On board with us was a older woman who claimed to be the granddaughter of the Duke who had once owned the island. She was speaking with some older men in Croatian and Robbie started quietly laughing. Later, he explained one of the men had told the woman her face "reminds me of my dead aunt." We all chuckled over this slightly creepy comparison.  Ever the comedian, I expect this story to be incorporated into Robbie's repitoire. Speaking of creepy, we found this life sized gelato cone a little disturbing.  It was a prelude to the somewhat disturbing image of a girl on the cone dispenser at the gelato shop in our destination for the evening, Skradin.