Last thoughts on Croatia

CROATIA PHOTOS

To fill you in on the remainder of our trip in Croatia...

We had to walk 40 minutes to Dubrovnik from the port, or we could have ridden the bus for 7 minutes. The first night we walked both ways, but in the morning, in order to save some time, we rode the bus from the port back to Dubrovnik to walk along the rim of the city on a high path that is at the top of the fortressed city's surrounding wall. From the wall above Dubrovnik, it's possible to see all of the roofs that have been repaired after the bombings 15 years ago. If you look closely at some of the photos, you'll be able to differentiate the new terra cotta tiled roofs from the faded old ones. Gordon and I both bought new books that morning, for me, Strange Pilgrims by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and for him, Arabian Nights. We have a lot of free time to read these days aboard the Vrgada. Both of us have finished reading Kite Runner, Gordon has finished Snow by the Turkish author, Ohram Pahmuk, and I have begun it. After our purchase, we walked back to the port and on our way, we stopped at a fruit market that was buzzing with bees to buy half of a watermelon and a fresh supply of peaches. I had slipped one of our breakfast spoons in Gordon's pocket that morning, so we were prepared to feast! The two of us sat in a park on a shady bench just across from the boat and devoured our melon (almost the entire half). It was so delicious! And kind of a mess!

From Dubrovnik, we went to Mljet, a national park with two big beautiful lakes that we didn't actually see because we didn't make the effort. Lovers of ancient Greek history will be interested to know that, according to a Croatia guide book, Mljet has been identified as Homer's lost island, Ogygia, where Ulysses met the nymph Calypso. We, however, were not as fortunate as the brave Ulysses, although we did sample the pizza.

After a lazy morning in Mljet we went to Korcula, stopping first, as always, for an afternoon swim. Gordon has been perfecting his swan dive from the upper deck. It's lovely now. Please feel free to assess the photo and post your Olympic score on our comments page. I never made the plunge from ahigh because I get scared, my suit never ends up the way it begins, and I always get an ocean of salt sloshing around in my brain after. I am, however, very good at floating for hours without a raft. Korcula was one of my favorites, well known becuase it is Marco Polo's hometown. As it was our last night together with our upper deck starboard friends, we ate dinner with Astrid, Karen, Isobel, and Julia and then had drinks in one of the city's look-out towers where you have to climb up a ladder to reach the top and the drinks are delivered by a dumb waitor. hah!

A week passed from the time we had set sail, so we returned to Split, tan and happy, spent a last night on the Vrgada and then caught an overnight bus to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. (Say it with me now: Loo-byana, very easy, or Loo-bliana, we're still not positive which is more correct so say it quickly and no one will know). The bus ride took us north along the Croatian coast at sunset, with our new land-perspective we were finally able to see some backyards!, and deep into the night. As the sun rose, we arrived in Ljubljana and eventually meandered to our hostel after Gordon, seeking directions, explained to someone that it was near the Dragon Bridge. He gestured for a bridge and then growled like a fire breathing dragon. It worked beautifully! The woman, who was sweeping the sidewalk in front of her store at 5:30 a.m. made the connection and excitedly pointed us in the correct direction. Then, she began to giggle uncontrollably and it became really funny to all of us.

Well, we found our hostel and luckily we were able to check in at 7 a.m. after sitting on the doorstep for a short time and making friends with the neighbor's dog. We took a looong nap to make up for a poor night's sleep and then Gordon and I set out to explore and find food. I'm amazed that neither of us had heard of this town before because it's so lovely! The people are the friendliest that we've met so far, the architecture is interesting, the main river is lined with bridges and outdoor cafes, and the colors are vibrant.

We are two happy travellers!

CROATIA PHOTOS