Marija Orebic

My girlfriend and I decided to travel around Italy and Croatia for six weeks in our uni holidays. We decided having a week sailing through through islands with a bunch of strangers would be the perfect way to break up the trip. We didn't realise what we were in for. We hopped on the boat in Split and nervously sat around having the initial small talk with the other 30 or so people on the boat. We were soon served lunch and things started to ...

... the town of Orebic is one of the larger islands along Croatias coast called Korcula, this island is purported to be the birthplace of Marco Polo and is a major producing area for olive oil and wine. We have found that the prices are about on par with costs in Prague, but we get a lower exchange rate for the Croatian currency. Today we have taken a passanger ferry from Orebic over to the island which has three major towns on the island and ...

(S) Thus began our drive to Peljesac Peninsula. First top - Ston and Mali Ston. Mali just means "little" but really, they're both pretty little. The city walls on this one ar very confusing, as we don't know what they were exactly trying to keep in or out. Besides the mountain. And onward down the peninsula we go.

... with everywhere in Croatia, there was a hefty surcharge for such prettiness. And there were nudists. I was unfazed; the Croatian coast boasts literally thousands of islands, and if the ruggedness of Mljet was proving inhospitable maybe the quaintness of Korcula would do otherwise. Korcula; home to a tiny walled old town, incredibly cute, and advertising donkeys carrying loads of olives over the windswept hills. Unfortunately the donkeys had been replaced with ...

... our way up steep coastal roads, hugging the spectacular coastal cliff which tumbled down to the water below and passing islands speckled with red roofs in the distance, We also travelled through the hinterland which consisted of little white stone houses below huge rocky mountains, surrounded by vineyards and wild poppies growing in the fields. Soon we will be arriving in Dubrovnik- the jewel of the Adriatic but l felt like l had just said goodbye to my secret treasure of the Adriatic- Korcula.

... was built around 1400 I think. It received very heavy bombing in 1992 during the war. In fact, on the way here in the countryside, we would come upon small areas where the sides of houses were peppered with old gun fire and walking around old town there are 100 + sites of damage due to scrapnel. But that doesn't dominate the scence as this older area is contained in a wall or fortress, and one could ...

... father barked his disapproval and the only thought that occurred to me was that I was glad his kid had done it and not Collette because it could have easily gone either way. It is easier to take care of a boo-boo, which can easily be dispatched with a well placed kiss, than a misbehaving kid. The town has a long road that follows the coastline and is sprinkled with the usual assortment of churches, nick knack stores and restaurants ...

... being the longest way around, was the easiest. Only in the Balkans does it make sense to go north in order to go south. This had left me pretty wound up, and all I was capable of was sitting on a beach somewhere. That somewhere happened to be very attractive and we whiled away the afternoon. Dusk fell, and we followed the mass exodus of tourists into the old city of Dubrovnik, on arrival we realised that its reputation as being one of the ...

... bedroom of this friendly old lady's place, we made our way out to the street to get a better view of this unexpected tourism gem located nearby. It seems the Romans used this incredibly well preserved 20,000 seat stadium to host gladiatorial combat and all manner of ancient spectacle, but that now that the Romans have moved on the Croatians were more than happy to take over this fine monument. To our good fortune we had arrived on the first night of a big film festival that ...

... from the morning sun, the sky bright blue, and the port busy with fisherman in their boats. The warmth of the sun was perfect after a brisk Slovenia. I was probably walking a little slower than normal, between the lack of sleep, the breathtaking views and the extra time to kill, it took me almost 45 minutes to reach the white stone gates of the old town. The city of Dubrovnik is still surrounded by the original city walls built centuries ago to defend against attacks. Old Town ...