Blogs from Dalmatia, Croatia, Europe - page 108

When looking at most holiday brochures I cynically assume that they’ve had the photoshop face lift. The sea has been made that bit more sparking blue, the ugly building site has been conveniently erased and the gravel beach has suddenly become Barbados. However, I’m pleased to say that Dubrovnik certainly doesn’t need such cosmetic enhancements. We arrived to a perfect sunny day that was more June than October. The coast line reveled many pretty villages of white washed buildings with terracotta tiled roofs. Dubrovnik itself has a fairy tale quality with fortress walls that encircle the town and harbor like protective arms. Colorful fishing boats bob in the bay and cobbled streets twist and turn with lazy cats asleep in every door way. But such a picture perfect paradise hasn’t gone unnoticed by the tourist hoards. ... read more

FINALLY we found sand, though you would be pressed to call it a beach since we had to risk getting wet on a cold and windy day just to touch the sand, though now we have touched it, and i did my beach dance. The weather has taken a turn for the worst and though it is not raining today it was yesterday and it is overcast, and on the otherside of the island it is very windy. We will be back ther tomorrow to catch a ferry to dubrovnik. We met these two people in a resturaunt who are from san francisco and are going to be on the same ferry as us on the way to italy. They were having a traditional croation dish that you have to order hours in advance because they ... read more

Since Cadaques in Spain, our journey has turned to the east, and towards the distant city of Istanbul... Before leaving Spain we went to the bizarre and fascinating Dali Museum in Figures, designed by the man himself. It was replete with sexual imagery, clever visual tricks (a room with a sofa and fireplace becomes a glamorous woman's head) and giant sureal statues. Even the building was mental, lined with giant eggs. Cool. We drove back into Spain and the town of Carcassone. The town has a fascinating history. The Romans built a huge wall here in the 3rd century AD which is still standing. It has had another enormous wall with towers added in the centuries since by first the Cathars and then the kingdom of France. The town on the hill is therefore surrounded by ... read more

At the national park a lady came up to us and was trying to ask us something but had bad english, Sarah hears her mumble something and Sarah asks her if she is Croatian, she is not she is french; Sarah sasy "Je suis parle francais" or something of the sort and they start chatting away, she was happy to get to use her french. From the national park we went to Zadar. We spent most of our time in Zadar walking around old town which is pretty awesome, its and old fortress and we walked up a big tower in the middle and had a great view (though had spagetti legs afterwards). Everywhere here has roman ruins and towers and sailboats. At every city on the coast we have been I have seen optis and ... read more

Sunday October 7th An early rise today saw us ready to leave by 7.30am. We had only been ready for a couple of minutes when Peter called out and we proceeded to pack our luggage into his car. We made a stop at a bakery before arriving at the ferry terminal. Rags was surprised at the size of these car ferries even though we had seen a couple on our way past on the bus over the last week. Although our ticket said to be there at 8.00am it was typically almost 8.30am before the gates opened and we were able to board. However, it did promptly leave Dubrovnic at 9.00am. There were plenty of seats and we found a comfy one in the bar area. Here we spread out and passed the time reading our ... read more