What would Putin do?

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Somehow the theme of this trip ended up being ‘What would Putin do?’, strange but true. Scott and I, plus two good friends Adam and Myles headed for Croatia for 10days of sun, island hopping and bottles of Croatian’s finest vino (read horrid). We set out early Saturday morning with my work laptop backpack full of clothes, the night before we had a minor disaster. After our Sri Lanka trip we decided to throw away Scott’s backpack, clean forgetting this fact I merrily lent by backpack to Adam and it wasn’t until 11pm Friday evening we realised our predicament. Lucky the laptop backpack I have been given was large enough to fit a small child, so we jammed all our clothes in there. It meant we had to be pretty ruthless with items taken, which worked out rather well.
The Croatia Airlines flight was substandard to say the least, the arm rest was not attached to the seat, the tray table was held together by duck tape and the other arm rest by sell-o-tape, interesting. We arrived in Split late afternoon and managed to have a look around this old city. It had an old Palace and winding streets, very pretty. We had a cheap and cheerful pizza dinner and out first of many gelatos. That evening from our top floor apartment on the waterfront we watched a strange Roman time re-enactment. All addressed up in Roman period clothing about 30 people marched around and then jumped on a boat and floated out into the harbour.
We had a lazy morning, a good sleep in a few double espressos, the first of many pastries and then jumped on the fast boat to Hvar. In about an hour we had arrived in this very pretty stone old town. It was steaming hot and even hotter once we walked through the main square with all our bags to wait for our host (Andreo) to pick us up. We were staying in just east of the centre in a large room with a balcony and we just managed to get a glimpse of the sea, and it was only a very pleasant 15min stroll around the bay. That afternoon we had a relaxing lunch in the square then Scott and I decided to climb up to the fortress on the top of the hill. We got a sensational view to the town below, the bay and out to the nearby islands - the destination of Kayak tour the following day. We were up bright an early the following morning and head down to the bay just below our accommodation, after our usual morning espresso we jumped in our vessels and off we paddled. It started out very calmly; the water was flat as a pancake. We discovered that many of the island beaches off Hvar have a bath-suits optional policy. So on many occasion we spotted white or very tanned buttocks bobbing in the water as people snorkelled. Yes nude snorkelling, never seen that before. The kayaking was good fun and we soon reached our first stop and lovely little bay with clear blue water. We had a refreshing swim this is where Adam and Myles first showed us their ‘Putin’s’, a few strokes of butterfly! Great! After this we set off for our lunch spot at another bay, which was also another popular swim spot. It all got a bit hairy on the way back to Hvar with the waves rolling in and strong winds. I really struggled to keep my boat going in the right direction; it was very frustrating and slightly worrying. Bit we all made it back safely to shore and relaxed with a dip in a lovely beach over the back of our accommodation. That evening we hit the town, Hvar is a known to be a bit of a party town, however we stayed out of the main ‘night-clubs’. We went to a fantastic open air restaurant, and I had lobster, my obsession continues! After that we went to a cool DJ bar for a couple of overpriced cocktails. It was very good for people watching; there were many young men out on the pull wearing some very euro trash style outfits, very funny. The following morning after a run around the bay, we all decided to hire a car and have a fang around the island in a green open top beetle. We had a great day visiting all the other little towns and then got wonderful view across to Brac (our next destination) and across to Vis on the other side.
It was an early start to get to Brac, we had to get the first ferry back to Split. But it was good timing as we were able to leap directly onto the car ferry heading for Brac. We had accommodation booked in Supartar, and we starting having doubts on our walk to the hotel. It kinda looked like an English seaside with a fun-fair, bars, water-sides etc, yikes. However after confirming there was nothing going on and nothing to see in the centre we hang out at the beach, which was very nice. That evening we went down to a small beach bar and sucked back multiple cocktails watching a spectacular sunset. A little boozed we headed to a really good seafood restaurant, where I discovered I loved John Dory. After which we unashamedly decided to go on some of the fun-fair rides, great fun zooming around in dodgems and on a swing ride! The next morning we hired a car and whizzed around the island visiting other sleepy towns and across to see the famous Bol, Zlatni Rat. There was a zillion people on the little beach and rather a lot of boats so after taking a photo we headed for a small bay which was just stunning for a dip. That afternoon we drove to the highest peak on the island for a stunning view onto Bol and back to Hvar. We then set off on a hot and sweating walk to a monastery that happened to be shut, ho-hum, but the walk was pretty so all was not lost.
The following morning we were up early and off again to Split, for the hot tin can ride from hell - the bus to Dubrovnik. The bus looked like it should have air conditioning, but as soon as we got on and got moving we realised it was just pumping out a mild stream of warm air, nasty. I was on the sea side of the bus, usually this is the priced side, not today. The sun was streaming in the window and I soon started melting FOR FIVE HOURS. Let it be said it was horrible and I would bring it up ever again. Once in Dubrovnik we leapt into a beautiful air conditioned car and speed towards the walled city. The walls were really impressive, really tall, super solid and in great condition. It was another hot sticky walk through the centre of town before arriving at our apartment, what a joy. Our little room was perfect it over looked the old harbour, back into the old town and the highest point of the wall. That afternoon Scott and I enjoyed a wonderful late lunch of freshly grilled squid and prawns, with a glass off wine at the harbours edge (the tin can a distant memory). We visited a grim photography exhibition, with graphic shots from the war in the region, it was very sad but does make you remember how fragile peace in this area is. That evening we ended up a rather late one, meeting up with some American girls we ended up doing a bit of a bar hop before settling in a square side place for a few Mojitios. Clearly the next day started slowly for all of us. We managed to get up and have a good wander and look around the old town after having some pizza watching 1000’s of people pour off a huge cruise ship and steam into the town. The place was heaving and hot, hot, hot, we were melting. Late afternoon we heading up the city walls for a stroll around, it was one of the highlights of the trip for me, the views are beautiful. The early evening light provided some wonderful colour of the multiple shaded orange roofs.
The next morning we were up and at it again, heading out to another island - Mljet. We nearly completely fruited it up by getting out on the wrong part of the island, however, we ended up hiring yet another car (lucky it was so cheap £12 per person) so all was not lost. We burned over the other side of the island and into the national park. Adam and Myles swam across the lake in the park as Scott and I walked around, there final strokes were of course the Putin’s favourite - butterfly. After a boat ride and some lunch we hired a bike and road to where the lake meets the sea, it was a nice ride lake side, the best part was that the bike handles were in fact garden hose pipes, te-hehe. The boat ride back to Dubrovnik was packed to we were able to stand/sit on the top of the boat watching the sun set over the coast. That evening we went for a lovely dinner overlooking the old harbour, followed by a final cocktail at Giles a famous restaurant and DJ bar also preached on the harbours edge. Before heading back to London, Scott and I did a very interesting walking tour of the city to learn more about war times in the old town. The position the Serbs held focused right down the main street so that was heavily bombarded; you can see the different stone work where they have been replaced. You can also very clearly see the shrapnel in buildings, it is all very sad. After enjoying another delightful fresh seafood lunch harbour side we headed to the airport and back into autumn.

Photos

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