The Blaus - South America and Europe

6th of September - Dubrovnik, Miljet, Korcula and Hvar, Croatia

We met up with our friends James and Julianne from Chicago in Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik is at the very Southern edge of Croatia and probably the best restored old citadel in all of Europe, or so all the experts say. The city itself is incredible, it is built out on a peninsula, completely walled in from the outside world whether it be sea or land, with the wall reaching heights of 75 feet. Inside the large wall is a well restored city full of old churches, houses, shops, and the 3rd oldest pharmacy in the world, dating back to 1391. Although the city was shelled by the Serbs at the beginning of the war, for no reason at all, it is now well restored and except for the newer red shingles on some of the roofs, it looks just like the pictures of the city before the war.

The four of us spent a few days walking around the city, up and down the narrow alleyways and along the top of the wall where we could get the best views. Croatia is bustling with tourism, especially in such a historic and beautiful city as Dubrovnik, so the remnants of the war are much less pronounced than in Bosnia. We did talk to a guy who was there during the war, and recounted tales that we have heard from so many people in the region, no food, no water, no electricity for months on end. We did hear a bit more than just those words, as he described people drinking out of puddles and eating rats to survive. It is hard to imagine the shop owner or the taxi driver or the person whose home we stayed in living that way, which was sure to be true of anyone who was there 12 years ago as most of the population was.

Our evenings were spent walking along the craggy shoreline watching the sun go down, and then to one of the many restaurants that line to shore all along the new and old city. We also spent one hot afternoon swimming right off of the old city wall. It was spectacular to be in perfectly blue water, swimming in the shadow of a 75 foot wall. People swim all around the outside of the wall, and from the water you can see how foreboding it must have been for those who wanted to get in 700 years ago.

From Dubrovnik we took a ferry to Miljet, an island a couple hours away. Miljet is a beautiful green island that has giant natural inlets that they call lakes. We rented bikes and rode around the island all day, finding nice secluded places to jump in the water. In the middle of one of the inlets there is an island with an old monastery built on it, which has now become a tourist attraction. Apart from the hill we had to ride up and down twice to get to the other side of the island, it was a very relaxing ride and there were very few tourists to contend with.

From Miljet, we took a ferry the next morning to the island of Korcula, where we rented a very nice apartment for two nights. It was one of the nicest places we have stayed at on the entire trip, and was no more expensive than any other accommodation. There we explored the island, which also had an old walled town much like Dubrovnik, but smaller and more relaxed with fewer tourists. We cooked dinners on our deck that looked over the sea, and went to the "best beach in Dalmatia", which turned out to be just a little less pebbly than the other beaches, with some actual sand mixed in with the rocks. Our apartment also had a huge garden all around the house with fruits, tomatoes, herbs and other vegetables that we were allowed to pick for ourselves and use for cooking some gourmet dinners. Korcula had a really nice atmosphere, and was probably our favorite spot anywhere on the Dalmatian coast.

From there we all jumped on another ferry to Hvar, the famous island where the supposed rich and famous go to escape the more famous coasts of Italy and Greece. There were many giant yachts in the harbor, and one was carrying some kind of diplomat who had many bodyguards and people securing the area before he wandered into it. Apart from that, Hvar is similar to Korcula, but a little more run down from all the tourism, and not as quaint. One afternoon the four of us (trying to fit in with the yachting crowd) rented a small boat so we could go and explore the nearby islands. We had to cross the channel in the boat, but the winds were a bit strong, the waves blowing into our boat, and when the big yachts sped past us our boat almost got overturned in their wake. On top of that, it became very overcast and chilly, and we could hear thunder roaring on the other side of the hills. This was not the nice, relaxing boat ride were were hoping for. It did clear up enough for us to make it back across the channel with no incident. We had one more nice dinner in Hvar, and then we said goodbye to James and Julianne as they headed on to Split and we went off towards Montenegro.

posted by The Blaus @ 10:56 AM