Blogs from Dalmatia, Croatia, Europe - page 132

I went to Dubrovnik early in the morning after a nice ecspresso and a sad good-bye to my two Mostar-companions. I had little interest in crisscrossing Dubrovnik, since I, even though having heard of it's beauties, was to affraid of another tourist hell. So as I arrived to the busstation I decided to go directly to my accomondation for the night and spend some time relaxing. The guy from the hostel came picking me up from the busstation and with great fear I found him sitting on a scooter, which is one vehicle I've promised myself after an accident two years ago never to get up to. So with my bagpack in one hand a bottle of water in the other and a long dress on I looked rather pale about the idea. He laughed and ... read more

I had reserved place on a smaller boat to take me on an excursion yesterday to the Kornati Islands. At 8.30 in the morning when all 45 people had boarded the boat, we went off still half sleeping, mostly wishing not to have spent 270kn for getting pulled out of bed on an early Sunday morning. As the boat, which was a nice small wooden boat (I know nothing of boats), left Zadar harbour, we were served coffee, juice and wine, while the speaker system at the boat started playing Waterloo followed by Dancing Queen and most of the ABBA-Gold collection. Alongside a nice fresh breeze, the music woke me as we sailed under the bridge of Ugljan and Pakšman and on to Dugi Otok, where we had a look at the very tall cliffs. ... read more

Or, at the very least, get mown down by a moped ridden by a family of four, all on mobile phones. Tuscany was everything you might expect, winding roads, vines and olives, beautiful farmhouses owned by German industrialists, French politicians and posh English novelists. We saw three quaint fortified towns perched on a rocky outcrop in one day (Pienza, Montepulciano and another which escapes me - they all blur together). San Gimignano is beautiful but they hate campervans and wanted us to park two miles away in a coach yard, which soured us somewhat. The drive down to the Bay of Naples was long but never dull - there's always something happening on an Italian motorway. I saw a conman doing the one with a pea and three little bells at a service station, ripping off ... read more

Yesterday, I came to Zadar. Finally, I should say after spending seven hours in a bus in the morning. I drove down the Croatian coast, gazing at the beautiful Adriatic Sea, as it woke in the morning. When I finally arrived and after finding the hostel, it was already past midday and the big question was, whether I should just stay on the beach and relax my now rather tired bag or if I should enter beyond the city walls of Zadar to sightsee for the afternoon. I chose the last. With my camera in one hand and a bottle of water in the other, I walked, what seemed to me, all the streets of this magnificent city. In the afternoon not many tourists had left the beach area of Borik, so I found the centre ... read more

I am sitting here in the Dubrovnik Airport waiting for my flight bound for Split. I haven't had much time to write since I've been in Dubrovnik, but this place is drop dead gorgeous. Also, this journal was lost to me for 24 hours courtesy of Croatian Airlines losing my bag. But, hey at least they gave me a t-shirt. I was just happy to arrive in Dubrovnik after our daylong trek from Sofia. Sitting down in Dubrovnik for a cold beer after a shower in my clean Croatian Airlines t-shirt was a refreshing feeling. My friend and I have hooked on with the other three members of our traveling party for the Croatian leg of the journey. Yesterday, we spent ten hours on a boat hopping around on three islands. It actually sounds a lot ... read more