The Croatian Journey Begins
Trip Start
Jun 01, 2005
1
6
12
Trip End
Jul 22, 2005
Dubrovnik,
Croatia
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Other than booking a plane ticket from Budapest to Split (a large coastal city in Croatia) and buying a Lonely Planet guide, Jody and I had not planned anything for our trip to Croatia. I will admit this was more based on my own laziness than anything. Based on advice from a few of our friends who had been here and someone we had dinner with in Budapest, we decided to skip Split and hop a bus straight to Dubrovnik. Due to a miscommunication between Jody and I, we basically arrived at the bus station and hopped on a bus that left the station about five minutes later, without time to grab food or arrange for a place to stay after arriving. The bus ride itself was positively beautiful. It was 4.5 hours along a beautiful stretch of coastline with the mountains on one side and the sea on the other. Jody and I also got excited as we found out that we got to cross through Bosnia on the journey. Yes, mom and Mrs. Plotkin, that's right! Your children were in Bosnia for all of 15 minutes! I tried to take a photo of the sign directing traffic to Sarajevo, but I wasn't quick enough :-(.
We arrived in Dubrovnik at about 9pm and proceded to look for a place to stay. We walked about two miles with our backpacks to an area where Lonely Planet claimed to have a lot of hotels. The first one we checked said they only had a room for one night and another one they called for us was booked. We ended up renting a room from a nice Croatian woman recommended by the hotel. She was really sweet and we obviously saved a lot of money. We have to share a bathroom and it's really hot in our room, but it's only more night and the location couldn't be better. Due to these difficulties, though, Jody and I made sure to plan out hotels for the rest of the trip. We're headed to an island called Korcula tomorrow and then to another island called Hvar. Figuring our ferries was a bit of a nightmare as there are like 15 different companies and no one person knows the deal with any of the other companies. I did think Jody was going to kill me a few times this morning, but once we got places to stay and figured out our transportation everything was cool.
The funny thing is that this morning as we were recovering from our travel planning, we headed to the old city in Dubrovnik to see it. On the way, Jody was like "I didn't even want to come here". I think she regretted having said that about 15 minutes later. Dubrovnik is absolutely amazing. The old city still has intact, centuries-old walls surrounding a bustling city center. The main street is entirely marble and every nook and cranny is positively spectacular. There are a ton of things to do there...museums, palaces and churches galore, but I just find walking around the city to be the most spectacular part. They had fountain with water that was brought from 12 kilometers away. Beautiful squares. And apparently, the Dalmatians loved there pizza, as there are at least 12 pizzarias on every street (ok...that might have been a more recent addition). We visited the ducal palace and several churches. We also visited the oldest Sephardic Synagogue still in use and the second oldest synagogue in Europe (these definitions are a little shifty, but it was really cool). We found out that there are still 12 Jewish families living in Dubrovnik...I guess no one's allowed to leave or they'll lose their minion? Incidentally, Melissa and David...we checked for your names in the guest registry there and were disappointed to find them missing! SHAME ON YOU!
After touring the city and having some lunch, we found a beautiful cafe along the city wall to have a drink. The cafe sat on some rocks overlooking the sea, where some people were swimming in the amazingly clear turqoise water. We then scaled the city walls and circled the entire city. It was so beautiful. You'll just have to see the pictures to understand. The way the city sits between the mountains and the sea is just spectacular.
So the neighborhood we're staying is seems to be part suburb, part tourist ghetto. There is a pedestrian street leading to the beach and a ton of cool restaurants. We actually were on the way back from the beach just now when we came accross this Internet place. It is so cool. It is basically a park with computers set up underneath various trees. We asked and they don't open when it rains ,-). It's definitely a cool spot.
Meanwhile, Michelle, things are definitely looking up from our days in Budapest, if you know what I mean?
The adventure continues...
