Croatia

17 October 2008
Rovinj, Croatia
                Our third train left from the border and arrived in Pula on time.  Oddly enough we didn’t get stamped into Croatia despite being stamped out of Slovenia.  We arrived just before sunset.  We asked the train ticket guy for an itinerary for getting to Dubrovnik.  Unfortunately it was going to be about 4 trains and a lot of lay-overs.
                After getting our bearings, we made our way to the bus station.  While we were buying our tickets to Rovinj, we were warned it was going to be 20 minutes late.  Unfortunately it was even later than that.  An hour later we arrived in Rovinj well after dark.
                As we walked into the center we had some difficulty figuring out where the apartment we reserved was at.  Anna found a guy who was able to get us to the apartment.  Unfortunately nobody was there.  Anna headed off to nearby bar and borrowed the bar tenders cell phone and called the lady that ran the apartment.  The lady said she was sending her daughter down to meet us.  About 30 minutes later the daughter arrived and let us in.  The room was pretty cramped but we all fit.
                For dinner we found a place down the street that served up some really good dishes.  For an after dinner drink, the restaurant offered a glass of schnapps each.  Unfortunately the schnapps wasn’t nearly as good as the food, in fact it was terrible.  We were off to bed soon after.  It was a long day that involved driving from the lake, three train rides, and a bus ride.

18 October 2008
Rovinj, Croatia
                We all slept in which was nice after our long travel day.  Once we were up we headed to the city’s main cathedral.  The church overlooks the entire peninsula and has an amazing view of the sea.  After exploring the inside and enjoying the aerial view of the city we set off into the streets of the city below.
                The entire old town area is forbidden to cars, mostly because the tiny streets would never allow them to fit.  The streets also weave around in a pattern that makes little sense.  The streets are lined with art, souvenirs, food and cafés.  Over our heads we consistently had clothes lines with laundry.
                After some lunch at a gyro place we walked into the “new town.”  We had a great view of the Old Town peninsula and got an up close view of some of the Adriatic’s Sea wildlife.
                With sunset approaching we headed back up to the church to get an aerial view of the sunset.  When we arrived we found not one, but two weddings in progress.  One bride was outside getting ready to go in and the other was already in progress.  Both sides had a couple accordion players and it felt like a European version of “dueling pianos.”
                While the accordions locked in a musical showdown, we turned our attention to the sunset which was quite breath taking.  Eventually we left the wedding area and headed down to a lower level that was away from the “merry making.”
                After our sunset we stopped in at a café to check internet and then headed off to our place for dinner.  Our tiny apartment actually had a miniature kitchen tucked in the corner.  The ladies prepared some pasta while Doug DJ’d and worked on organizing photos.

19 October 2008
Rovinj, Croatia
                Our bus to Pula left at 9:15 am.  It brought us quickly to Pula and we found our way to Avis for our car rental.  Somehow there were no delays so we arrived an hour early, of course there was no one at the office.  Anna and Debra found a café to have breakfast killing some time.
                The Avis guy got us into a tiny Toyota Yaris and we headed off towards Dubrovnik.  We had to head north to get off the Istria peninsula.  Soon we were headed back south along a toll road.  We were quite surprised that our first toll was nearly $25USD.  We got off the toll road and found a restaurant for lunch.  We were served up huge portions of grilled meat and some really soft bread.
                Back on the toll road we drove towards the town of Split.  Once we arrived we had some difficulty finding the proper way to get into the pension we liked.  Once we figured out how to drive around the city and navigate through the city to find it, it was fully booked.  We worked our way out of the city looking for hotels, pensions, hostels, and sobes…everything short of a cardboard box on the street to sleep in.  Finally we saw a sign for a 3 star hotel and headed towards it.
                The More Hotel was quite nice, but it had a price to match.  Anna was ready to stay at any price, thankfully Doug asked about getting a “rack rate” or anything.  The lady said she couldn’t but she could make a call.  When she got off the phone they agreed to charge us for only 2 people and not three saving us about $65USD.  The lady showed us to our apartment and we were quite please.  The living room had a huge fold out couch, fridge, a flat screen TV, DVD and surround sound.  The bedroom had a massive bed, the bathroom had big soft towels and a very nice shower.
                We went back outside to a nearby mini-mart and found some wine and snacks and headed back to our room and settled in.  It was Anna and Doug’s first year anniversary and we were going to celebrate.  The wine we picked was quite good and our little picnic didn’t disappoint either.  The only real bummer was Debra was really coming down with a cold and was not feeling well.  Soon we all went to bed.

20 October 2008
Split, Croatia
                The hotel had a free breakfast that was pretty good.  We all filled up before checking out, and got back on the road.  We decided to stay away from the toll road and head down the coast.  As soon as we left the “city” the road was loaded with hotels, pensions, hostels and sobes…just what we couldn’t find last night.
                The drive along the coast was quite beautiful with little towns scattered throughout.  Eventually we arrived at what we thought was a toll road.  As we pulled up there was a police official.  He looked at us and waved us through.  A few meters down road we saw a “Welcome to Bosnia” sign.  We knew we were close to Bosnia, but we didn’t think we’d be driving through it.
                There was a small town on the coast called Neum, supposedly the only coastal town in Bosnia.  The road went right around it and soon enough we were back in Croatia.  The entire Bosnia coast was 10km long.
                Dubrovnik wasn’t much further away.  We found the ferry terminal and Anna found a ticket place and purchased our tickets to Italy for later in the week.  Then we headed off to find a place for lunch.  We stopped at a couple cafés but both only had drinks, no food.  We headed up a road and quickly found ourselves on a narrow one way road headed out of the city.  Eventually it joined the coastal highway we had been on before.  We saw a sign for a restaurant and decided to have a look.  When we got there, it was closed.  We all loaded back up in the car and headed back into Dubrovnik.  We ended up back around the ferry terminal.  There was a little pizza place and we were so tired of driving and being lost, we decided to eat there.
                When our food order was placed Anna ran off to call the guy that was renting us an apartment.  He wanted 1 hour notice so he could drive into town and meet us.  We ate and then headed to the parking area near the meeting point, the Pile Gate.
                Anton arrived a couple minutes late due to traffic (which we were well aware of by this time).  He brought us into the gated city and up around 150 stairs to our apartment.  The first floor had a living room, bathroom, dining room and kitchen.  The second floor had a large bedroom with a king sized bed.  The third floor had two bedrooms, one with a queen sized bed and the other with a small single bed.
                Doug ran off to return the rental car before our $3 an hour parking expired.  Doug found the rental place and took the bus back.  Anna ran out and did a market run getting food and supplies most notably, laundry detergent for the washing machine that was in the bathroom.
                When we were all back we cooked up mushroom soup and had either grilled cheese, or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. 

21 October 2008
Dubrovnik, Croatia
                The morning began a little slow.  It had been a long couple of days driving, and we didn’t have a schedule today.  After everyone was ready we went out to find a café for breakfast.  We went to several cafés reviewing the menus, and it seemed none of them really catered to breakfast.  Finally we found one which served omelets, and had pastries.  Debra ordered an omelet to go with her coffee, Anna ordered a strudel with her coffee, and Doug shared with everyone’s food. 
                Once breakfast was over we headed towards the entrance to the walls.  Old Town Dubrovnik is enclosed within some high walls similar to the ones Doug and Anna saw in China.  We all paid the fee, and ventured up the steps to view the scenery.  It was a beautiful clear day.  We could see all around the Old Town, including down the coast, and some of the islands.  The walls took up a couple hours of our time, being it is a mile, and a quarter around the walls, including many, many steps. 
                After viewing the walls we went outside the city to find a grocery store.  Being that it was so easy to find a place to have breakfast, and all the cafes were quite pricey we wanted to make sure we could cook some of our own food.  There was a grocery store we had passed yesterday that Anna directed everyone to. 
                The grocery store was large, but surprisingly didn’t have a very good selection.  Once the food shopping was done, we bought bus tickets back to the Old town.  The food ended up being much heavier than expected. Once we reached our new little home, and put all the food away it was almost dark, so we decided to stay in for the night.

22 October 2008
Dubrovnik, Croatia
                Today we made breakfast at home.  But when we finally went down into the city Anna and Debra needed their coffee.  So we stopped at the café we were at yesterday for a short break.  Once the ladies had their fix, we walked around for a short while.  Debra wanted to over to the Lapad Peninsula to check things out. 
                The bus stop was right outside the walls, we bought24 hour bus tickets, and hopped on bus #6.  The bus took us to the Peninsula.  At the final bus stop we got off.  We were really unsure where we needed to go to so we started walking back up the hill to another bus stop, got on the next bus back up the hill, and got off at a stop a local said was nice to walk around. 
                Getting off the bus we wandered into a shopping center, and asked a shop keeper where to go.  He pointed straight ahead to a walking path, so this is where we went.  The walking path took us to the water, and to another path.  Before getting on the other path, we sat down to have a light lunch.  It was another gorgeous day to be outside.  We walked around for another hour or so before heading back to the bus stop.
                The day before we went to a section of the wall called Fort Laurence.  The guy running the entrance, Teddy, said we could come back today to watch the sunset after everyone had left.  So we headed back up the stairs, and he let us in.  The three of us began to enjoy the sunset after closing hours until Teddy’s boss showed up and said we had to leave about 10 minutes before sunset finished.
                We then headed back to the room to make dinner, and watch a movie.

23 October 2008
Dubrovnik, Croatia
                The alarm went off around 7:00.  Today we were going to rent a car, and drive down the coast to Montenegro.  It was only about 50KM to a city called Kotor.  Our guidebooks said this was a nice city sitting on the largest Fjord in Europe. 
                We made it to the bus stop at 8:30, and ended up at the Avis car rental place by 8:50.  There was a sign on the window, “Out making deliveries, will be back by 9:35.”  Well we had scheduled to pick up the car at 9:00, but we guessed it wasn’t now going to be until 9:35.   So we went across the street to fulfill Anna and Debra’s caffeine fix of coffee. 
                Sitting at the café Doug received a phone call after about 5 minutes.  It was the guy from Avis, he was waiting for us.  Doug then went across the street to begin the paperwork.  Anna and Debra soon joined him to finish up the paperwork.  We were given the same type of car we had for the drive to Lake Bled, Slovenia. 
                We were off by 9:30 to Montenegro.  It was another clear day.  The drive was really quiet and pleasant.  The Croatia border crossing was reached within an hour or so.  Even though we were never stamped into Croatia, they stamped us out.  Then the Montenegro crossing soon followed.  It was nice to have our passports stamped again.  We reached Kotor by 11:30, or so. 
                The city was right on the water within the fjord.  We parked the car, and walked to the old town.  The walls here were similar in height to Dubrovnik, but the city was much smaller.  The city was built right up against a hillside, and the walls continued up the hill to a small castle at the top.  It was quite interesting. 
                Entering the city we went to a café for lunch.  Doug and Debra each ordered a monstrous cheeseburger, and Anna ordered a club sandwich.  After lunch we began walking around looking at all the alleyways.  This city seemed much older because it was not kept up as well as some of the other Old Towns we had visited.  Because the city was much smaller it didn’t take long to explore it all within a couple hours. 
                While exploring the city we all bought postcards.  Near the entrance to the walls there was an internet café.  The internet was quite cheap so we sat down to make more accommodation reservations for the following week.  While doing internet we filled out our postcards, and made sure they were mailed in Montenegro.
                After internet we left the walls, and headed back to the car.  Then we just headed back to Dubrovnik.  We arrived back in Dubrovnik around 5:30.  Since the car was still ours we headed back to the little area of Lapad we had enjoyed the day before to watch the sunset. 
                Anna and Debra went to a little market to buy a bottle of wine.  Surprisingly the wine was from Macedonia, and it was delicious.  The sun set behind a large marine layer out towards Italy.  It was a nice evening to be out.  After sunset Doug dropped Anna and Debra off by Old Town, and then went to drop off the car. 
                The girls went to do a little shopping while waiting for Doug.  Doug showed up about 30 minutes later after successfully dropping off the car.  We just hung out for a short while walking around the old town before headed back to the place.  Doug and Debra were still full from lunch, but Doug made Anna an egg sandwich for dinner. 

24 October 2008
Dubrovnik, Croatia
                The three of us made it a late morning.  It was nearly noon by the time we ate breakfast and made it out the door.  Our first chore of the day was to mail a package back home.  This was mostly clothes Debra had brought that she didn’t need and didn’t want to drag around anymore.  Anna and Doug threw a couple things in along with it.
                When we arrived at the post office they told us we had to go to a post office outside the city walls.  Thankfully that one wasn’t too far away.  Once the package was sent we wandered south through the city to a beach just outside of the walls.  We settled in on the pebble beach.  Doug and Anna fed some pigeons and watched them fight over the bread while the water from the sea snuck in occasionally and stole a piece from them.  Then we noticed that were finding pieces of what looked like mosaic tile mixed in with the pebbles.  We started digging through the pebbles, collecting the tile pieces.  At some point we decided collect tiny pieces of shattered glass that had lost their sharp edges.  After some time we had a nice little pile of broken tiles and shattered glass.
                Back at our room we took a little rest before going to a nearby park for the sunset.  Once again the sun set behind some clouds off on the horizon.  Back into town we picked out a place for a nice dinner.  The place we picked was very well decorated with table clothes, flowers and little lamps at each table.  The food wasn’t quite as good as the décor, but was decent overall.
                For desert we wandered around town and the ladies picked out a couple things from a bakery.  Debra’s cream puff however was flavorless and got dumped and replaced by a chocolate cream pastry at a different bakery.  Doug got a gelato and the three of us sat by the Pile Gate and watched people enjoy their own evenings before we retired for the evening.

25 October 2008
Dubrovnik, Croatia
                For our last morning in Dubrovnik we finished up our food and packed our things and then headed to the ferry terminal.  When we arrived we had time to burn so the ladies had some coffee and then did some shopping for snacks.  Once they returned we went to the ferry terminal across the street.  Once we were confident that we had found the right place we settled in for some lunch.  At some point Debra asked somebody about the ferry and they mentioned that we still had to check in across the street.
                Debra and Doug ran across the street with all three passports and stood in line.  While we were waiting, Anton, the gentleman who rented us his apartment here in Dubrovnik turned out to be right in front of us.  We chatted with him and then got checked in and crossed back over to the ferry terminal.
                Not much later we went through immigration (no stamp) and boarded the ferry.  The boat was quite large and cars and buses were slowly filling the bottom deck.  We found a nice spot to sit up a few floors with a power outlet nearby for the computer.  We spent most of the time playing cards although each of us did get up to stretch our legs a bit.  Before we got off we met a couple from California.  The husband was 65 and the wife was 62.  Three years ago they set off around the world with a tandem bicycle, and they were still going.  They would take some transportation other than their bike, but they have ridden around most of the world.  Furthermore, they would even camp most of the time.  One could only hope that when they reached their 60’s they could be in good enough health to do the same.
                Six hours later we arrived in Italy.  We got off the boat and immediately didn’t know what way to go.  Finally somebody heard that we should take a right.  After a few hundred meters we arrived at immigration.  One by one we went through immigration and we were all stamped into Italy.

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