Weeks 3 & 4: Dubrovnik - the mothership has landed!

Weeks 3 & 4: Dubrovnik - the mothership has landed!

On Saturday , 14th June we finally left the “comfort” of the Tamara and headed south to Dubrovnik. I was especially excited as my mum had arrived the evening before and had texted to say how beautiful it was. To get to Dubrovnik we took a 5 and a half hour bus ride along the Croatian coast, passing more of the stunning scenery we have come to expect from Croatia (it really is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been) and eventually arriving at the bus station in Dubrovnik at about 4.30pm.

We had rung the owner of the apartments where we were all staying and he brought mum with him to collect us - it was so good to see her (and that was even before we saw all the goodies she had brought us - toiletries, anti-histamine tablets and creams for my mossie bites, books and from Col’s mum Ann - 500 Tetley’s teabags - Yippee! Thank you to both mums! ). We arrived at the apartments at the top of the hill in Lapad Beach, a suburb of Dubrovnik, and Col and I were shown into our lovely studio apartment. It was just one room with a big bed (much needed after spending 7 nights into V shaped bed in the bow of the boat), a kitchen unit comprising a sink, 2 ring hob, fridge and cupboard and a glass box in one corner containing the shower, toilet and sink (it’s lucky neither of us is shy as there was no privacy at all!). Most importantly though, we had a TV, air conditioning and a lovely terrace with a sea view. Bliss.

The first night Zvonko, our landlord, walked us down the 350 steps to the beach where there were loads of café bars and restaurants. We decided to eat in the Hotel Kompass as it was right by the sea and Zvonko’s nephew was a waiter there, but cut the night short when the amazing lightning show we had been enjoying during our meal lead to light rain and the mass evacuation of diners from the lovely sea front location into the hotel proper. We jumped in a cab and Mum came back to our apartment for a drink but it soon became apparent that the storm was going to hit hard and she ran up the 2 flights of outdoor steps to her apartment just in time - 5 minutes later and she would have been paddling up waterfalls. It was a brilliant storm though - one of the best we’ve had in Croatia, about an hour in there was a crack of thunder and it actually sounded like the houses above us had collapsed it was that loud - it shook our whole room. It took ages to get to sleep and once I did I kept waking up panicking because I wasn’t on the boat (where’s the hatch? what’s happened to the sails? where am I?) it was very weird and unfortunately something which plagued me every night that week!

Sunday was a lazy day as Col and I recovered from the boat and did load after load of clothes washing. In the evening we once again made our way down to the beach and ate at Lapad Beach Bar (it has a roof) but managed to avoid rain this time and after dinner had a gelato (chocolate for me, vanilla for mum and yoghurt for Col) followed by a gentle stroll up the hill (not the steps) back to our apartments.

On Monday we finally ventured into the Old Town to walk the city walls - it was a struggle at first, there were so many steps and it was about 28 degrees but it was well worth it for the views of the Adriatic as well as the Old Town. Croatian houses are gorgeous, big imposing buildings in Dalmation Stone, the street are all paved in the stone as well, worn smooth by generations of feet and still bearing the scars of the war. Most of the roofs of the buildings in the old town have been restored since the war with the bright orange of the tiles giving the town an added vibrancy - this is no dusty old Unesco relic but a living breathing city with people still choosing to live, work and party within its walls. Once we’d completed the walk we headed into the Old town for a refreshing drink and a relaxing read in a pavement café bar and stayed there for most of the day. Finally Col and I roused ourselves and left mum browsing the shops so we could get home and make dinner. At 7pm dinner was served on our terrace - salad, cheese, ham, fresh bread, beer, wine - and we ate and drank till all of about 10.30pm before the heat got to us and we all headed to bed.

Tuesday was another lazy day (can you see a pattern emerging here) but that was more because the weather was rubbish, dull and rainy so we weren’t too motivated to do anything. In the evening, Zvonko introduced us to our fellow residents - Jurgen & Heidi from Germany and 2 polish girls who’s names we never learnt. Tasks were quickly divided - Women - kitchen, Men - barbeque - and a veritable feast of badly cooked meat presented to us. First course was sausages & belly pork, second course was more sausages and cevapcici (balls of kebab meat, v popular in Croatia) followed by a third course of pork cutlets and more cevapcici. I have never seen so much meat in my life, we were all groaning by the time he brought up the third course but it was a really good night. Jurgen was particularly funny, albeit more than a little sexist. After the meal tasks were again assigned by Zvonko - Men - sit and drink in lounge, Women - clean and tidy the kitchen, and once all our chores had been completed we sat down and watched the football.

On Wednesday mum and I ventured out on our own for the afternoon, visiting the beach, having a drink and a snack before heading out in the evening for my “birthday dinner”. As you may have read in a previous blog the actual day of my birthday wasn’t much fun (but at least it was interesting) so Col decided that while my mum was over we would have a proper birthday night out. I was allowed to pick the place so I chose a place called Gil’s Restaurant and Pop Lounge as we had seen it from above during our walk around the walls and it looked cool. If only we’d known beforehand how cool (and expensive) it was! We got there and were greeted by the hostess who called someone through her mouthpiece to come and show us to our table on the terrace - now to say that it was opulent would be an understatement. We sat down and another waiter brought me and mum a small upholstered stool each - for our handbags! Then we looked at the menu and all I can say is ouch - the cheapest wine was £35 and the mains started at £20 making it probably the most expensive place I’ve eaten. To make matters worse, when the meal arrived it was nouvelle cuisine (another new experience) but I have to say that despite this it was very filling. After we’d eaten we headed up to the Pop Lounge to sit on uncomfortable seats and drink v expensive drinks and, joy of joys, my mum bought me a (stupidly priced) glass of champagne! Over here they only do expensive champagne so you’re talking about at least £100 a bottle so as you can imagine I have been experiencing massive withdrawal symptoms!

On Thursday we headed back to the Old Town to do a walking tour called The Story of The War about the bombing of Dubrovnik during the Balkans War - it was a fascinating tour and the level of destruction that was unnecessarily inflicted on Dubrovnik was shocking. It has now been almost fully restored but a number of buildings still bear the shrapnel scars of the conflict. The tour made a good introduction to the conflict but Colin and I were desperate to understand more about what had happened so we bought a book called “The Death of Yugoslavia” the companion book to the BBC series of the same name - it is a brilliant book that details how the greed of few led to the death of so many and how the ignorance of the international community contributed to this.

On Friday it was time to say goodbye to mum so after a day of sunbathing, followed by our first climb up the 350 steps to the apartments, we saw her off from the apartment and then headed down to the beach to watch Croatia lose their Euro 2008 quarter-final (see Euro 2008 blog). There followed a leisurely week of sunbathing, reading, watching TV (all US and UK TV shows are shown in their original language with Croatian sub-titles), and relaxing. It was our first full week together on our own since we left Leeds and potentially our last week of luxury (and air-con) before months of camping so we wanted to make the most of it. When we did leave the house it was mainly to visit Internet Café’s to plan our next move - by Thursday we still hadn’t decided where to go on Saturday but the plan finally came together on Friday - next stop the island of Korcula!

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