Nat Hurrell

I've been wanting to visit Dubrovnik for quite some time, not least because it looks pretty impressive in Game of Thrones (King's Landing, for those of you that watch it). The day was another hot one and we only had an afternoon, so decided to leave the walls on this occasion (we'd already decided we will be returning to spend a few days staying in Dubrovnik, before hiring a car and driving to Sarajevo). The town is a real stunner, albeit mainly just for the tourists and as a home for some of the countries most important cultural buildings and works these days. We spent some time in the museum, where amongst the amazing artifacts you can see where a mortar shell came through the wall. They have placed a sheet of glass over it, as ... read more

We stepped out of our apartment much refreshed the next day and just had time to get breakfast in a cafe and walk around the town for an hour or so. On account of the hike up the Jerzeski Peak the day before and the ridiculous heat at 9 am, we decided to leave the 1350 or so steps of the Kotor walls and fortress for a return trip (we'd also seen the state of the people that had just come back down!!). The town is considered the best preserved Medieval city in Europe and is full of old world charm. It's a bit bigger than Trogir and overall feels more spacious. Although we liked Trogir, we definitely preferred Kotor Old Town and the whole area in general. On the way in the day before we ... read more

Time to leave not only Trogir, but also Croatia. Yuri and his family had been great hosts, so if you are thinking of going to Trogir and want to be in the thick of it, head for Trogir Stars Apartments. The highway had barely any traffic on it. There were many tunnels cut through the landscape on the way. We saw how the roads are in really good nick (better than our local UK ones) and driving was a pleasure. I had come up with the bright idea of 'popping' to Mostar on the way through Bosnia Herzegovina. NatNat, as the satnav is now affectionately called, decided to take us along the A1/E65 and to the old border crossing at Veliki. It was a happy accident, as we would never have seen half of the beautiful ... read more

Escaping the madness of teeny Trogir and all the people, we collected the car and drove out along the coastal road. We drove through Seget Donji, Seget Vranjica and Poljica, finally stopping at Marina having spotted the castle tower and the pretty harbour. The first restaurant we came to was right by the water, with fish swimming right up in the clear, shallow water. In the usual Croatian fashion it took quite a while to be served our food, but we were more than happy to wait and just admire the view. After lunch we found a bar to 'park' Simon in and I left him to nurse both his pint and his still sore legs in the shade. Not having had a chance to snorkel for at least six years I practically skipped into the ... read more

Got up and Simon opened his pressies from the folks back home. After a heartfelt goodbye from the lovely Irena, complete with a bottle of plum grappe, we headed off in the general direction of the coastal road. The route took us up into the mountains and we came across a hamlet (Bunic) that appeared to be completely deserted. None of the buildings had any glass in the windows, the church had no roof and there wasn't a single sign of life. I hopped out of the car, trusty Nikon in hand and prepared to take some shots of the somewhat beautifully decaying architecture. No sooner had I put my finger on the button than a pack of baying wolves came running round the corner. Okay, okay. I confess, it was actually pack of rather moth-eaten ... read more