Dubrovnik, the Islands and Bobby Mcferrin

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September 6th 2008

Published: September 6th 2008

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Lucky Cats

Dalmatian coast

The road to Dubrovnik

06-08-08 - Dubrovnik, the Islands and Bobby Mcferrin

We have just spent three days in Dubrovnik and the surrounding coast. It is a remarkable place. Again we were very luck with accommodation - we found a small private apartment about 50m from the gate to the old city - the Pile Gate, and parked the bike on the patio. The city is stunning, it is obscene to see images of when the city was shelled and held under siege for 8 months, in a city full of tourists now the idea just seems ridiculous. There are still shrapnel marks evident on some of the buildings in town, it was rebuilt pretty quickly in the late 90s with help from Unesco and donations.

I guess it is a sign that we have had a bit of history overload for it to take us 3 days in a town before we went on the walking tour, It was well worth it, this place has an interesting history of being stuck between large empires and trying to trade and remain friends with everyone. They succeeded remaining largely independent and a free republic for three centuries before a massive earthquake in

Dubrovnik

Outside wall at sunset

1667 destroyed half of the town. I like the idea of their political system - a republic where the leader (the Rector) was only in power for one month. He could be re-elected again - but only after two years.

Again with so many tourists from everywhere it isn’t the most homely place, unfortunately because of the property values in the old town there are only a thousand or so residents that live there.

We went out to the island of Lokrum - a 15 min ferry from Dubrovnik, it was a French military base and they used to send people with the Black Plague out there to die. Dubrovnik had a good querentine system - they never has a major outbreak in the town. Lokrum has nice gardens, and beaches, and has a really laid back feel.

Other than the trip out to Lokrum and some walks around the city, Dubrovnik has been a good place to do some maintenance to the bike and do some laundry etc, and generally just laying about on the beach.

We are now on the island of Hvar. We followed along with some friendly Czech motorcyclists today, and they

Dubrovnik

Early eveninig in old town

said Hvar is rated as one of the 10 best islands in the world. It’s hard to make comparisons but the place is pretty stunning, covered by tall hills and pine forests and surrounded by azure water and beaches. It has a very laid back feel - at the campsite we asked:
Q “Where can we camp”
A - “Where ever”
Q - “When should we pay”
A - “Whenever. Don’t worry be happy.

I like it here - we are camped about 20 meters from the beach. Jen is very happy because we got a water melon at a bargain price. She has wanted to buy one for a few days and we haven’t had time to eat one or found one at a reasonable price (everything is priced at a premium in Dubrovnik). It tasted great.

Tomorrow we will be looking around the island more and generally doing very little before heading on to Slovenia.

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