Dubrovnik

Before we left Hvar, I realized that I was missing my black skirt, which I had last seen the night before in Split. While we had hoped to take a ferry straight from Split to Dubrovnik, it turned out that there was not one running that day and we would instead need to ferry back to Split and then bus to Dubrovnik - which meant that I could return to the place we had stayed and inquire about my missing skirt. When we got back to Split, I found out I had 30 minutes until the bus arrived and so I ran back to the apartment. I then realized I did not know which buzzer it was and so I buzzed every single apartment. A bunch of people let me in and so I walked up to the apartment where I had stayed and fortunately the woman was home. Now came the challenging part - explaining to her without any comprehension of English, why I had come back. Eventually she let me into the room and sure enough, under a chair in the corner, was my skirt. I showed her and thanked her, she gave me a hug, 3 plums and her phone number in case we ever came back to Split, and I ran back to the bus station. Mission accomplished.

We got on the 4-5 hour bus ride to Dubrovnik. While the view along the coast was beautiful, the bus had no air conditioning or bathrooms - which meant that drinking water had to be done in moderation. Fortunately the bus did stop twice at rest stations so I managed to survive quite nicely. Once in Dubrovnik, the information desk at the bus station agreed to call the owner of the villa where we would be staying and he came by to pick us up. I should clarify. We were not staying at his villa, since it was all booked, but rather in a spare bedroom at his mother in law's apartment, a few minutes away from there. We arrived, we given a brief overview and again quickly put on beach clothes and set off for an afternoon on the beach. While the water was again beautiful and the scenery (trees and people) quite enjoyable, the rocky beaches leave a bit to be desired when lying on using only a towel. Tough life, I know. I played in the waves for a while and the water was so nice that Jordana even stayed in for a while and she hates the water.
When we had had enough, we wandered back through the old town, admiring the sun shining off the stones and the red brick roofs. We put together a picnic dinner, walked all the way back to shower, get changed and come back into the old town for the night. We opted to just meander around and sat and listened to some great jazz outside of the Troubador Jazz Cafe as well as to a Mariachi band outside of a restaurant. Lots and lots of people outside enjoying the night and I could certainly see why Dubrovnik has become such a popular tourist destination in recent times.
The next morning, we did sightseeing inside the old town including one of the oldest functioning pharmacies in Europe, the 3rd oldest synagogue in Europe, as well as some more churches. Then it was time to board a boat to Lokrum, a nearby island. We soon arrived and decided to walk around for a bit before we settled in for yet another beach afternoon. We climbed up to a fortress (not really the best idea given the heat - but it did have a great view). We also walked around a botanical garden which mostly had a lot of dead looking things and a few funky palm trees.. kinda look like pineapples. And some cacti, which I tried to stay away from (see last post). We saw some unusual looking birds and baby birds which I thought looked like peacocks without the pretty feathers. We had our picnic lunch on a bench and then decided it was beach time. Of the various beach fronts, we opted to try and fix our tan lines. We lay down on the rock shelves and soaked up the sun. At one point, a girl who had been tanning nearby returned from the water with cuts from slipping on the rocks. Very promptly Jordana was to her rescue, offering bandaids, alcohol swabs and gauze. The firstaid exchange certainly had an element of humour, given the situation.
We went to swim in a different nearby cove, where the water was yet again clear and refreshing. After I became tired of treading water (it was too deep for me to stand) I climbed out and dried off. And then, I spotted a male peacock (those are the ones with the beaitiful feathers).. which meant that the ones we had been seeing all day were indeed the female and baby peacocks. I took a few pictures and was able to get right up close. The bird did not seem bothered by it and just walked around, showing its colours. Soon it was time to head back to Dubrovnik. Since the heat was dying down a bit we decided it was a good time to do the tour of the city walls. The old city walls have a 2km path along the tops with many lookout points, all with phenomenal views. Jordana pointed out that it must be annoying for the people who live inside the walls to have the constant parade of tourists outside their windows.
We bought some wraps for dinner from a restaurant called Fresh, whose logo looked an awful lot like the one in Toronto. One of the waiters recognized our MEC bags and came over to chat as he was from Vancouver. He told us that the restaurant becomes a bit of a hotspot at night and we should check back in a few hours. And so we went back to where we were staying, again showered, get ready for the night and also packed up since we would be leavng town the next morning. When we got back to Fresh, indeed there were people drinking all over the alleyway outside the entrance as well as inside. We chatted with a group standing outside made up of Aussies, Kiwis, Norwegians and Scots. I tried one of the Croatian beers. Not bad, but I think my favourite so far has been the Austrian beer. Eventually the group moved from Fresh to EastWest, a danceclub/bar thing right on the beach. Surprisingly, it was not very busy and no one was dancing on the dance floor. We had our own little dance party instead.
Eventually, I could not keep my eyes open any longer and it was time to head back. On the way we chatted briefly with some guys who were from Croatia we shared some history of the city with us. Friendly and not sketchy locals, always a bonus.

We woke up early for our last morning in Croatia, had gelato for breakfast and then found a very small swimming cove for one last brief beach outing. The cove was behind a little residential area and initially it was just us and some old ladies, but by the time we left, there was a mixed group. Back to the apartment to collect our bags and take a bus to the station. We never did find the first bus stop and once we had been walking for a while decided to just walk the whole way (especially since someone had mistakenly told us that it was only 10 minutes away! more like 20...). We did arrive on time, and Jordana bought a ticket for her bus to Split from where she would catch her flight to London-Gatwick and then on to home. We said our goodbyes and I even got a little teary.. it had been an incredibly fun few weeks traveling with her. I boarded my bus to the airport in Dubrovnik. The ride was brief and soon I was checked in for my flight to Rome. The airport was tiny but clean and modern. After a 30 minute delay, my flight eventually boarded and I waved farewell to beautiful Croatia. The view from the airplane was quite special.
My time in Eastern Europe officially done, I was now getting excited to meet up with Jasmine and Winnie for our weeks in Western Europe. The journey continues!