Trip to Croatia (p. 2)
The hotel desk explained facts about the ferry system I hadn’t been able to learn from the guidebooks or the web. The ferry system is organized by main city. So the ferries from Dubrovnik go out and back to Dubrovnik. The ferries from Split go out and back to Split. There are a very few scheduled runs between islands connected to different cities. It was our plan to go from Dubrovnik-related islands to Split-related islands on our way north and the hotel clerk gave us that schedule. We would have only one night on a Dubrovnik-related island before catching the only ferry over to the Split-related islands.
We rode the tandem back to the walled city and beyond – up the steep hill to the main road (got a flat at the top, right near a roadside café with umbrellas to provide shade in which to fix the flat – otherwise there would have been no shade. The sun is unrelenting and the temperature over 100 degrees for sure.) I was spooked by the narrow road and fast traffic.
Our destination is Cavtat, a beach/small harbor town south of Dubrovnik and it proved to be beautiful. The road and a bike/pedestrian path hug the coast and its several bays and peninsulas. I left my purse at a restaurant – passport and all – and returned to find it safe. We rode the tandem back to the main road and then took a bus back to Dubrovnik to avoid riding that busy road.
We had planned to walk the wall of the walled city but learned to my great disappointment that the wall closes at 7pm. So we walked extensively in the city in and outside the wall. Despite the number of tourists and restaurants, we encountered lots of residents making music outside their front doors and saw wash hanging on clothes lines and soccer goals and balls waiting for the kids to return. We encountered water polo set up in the Adriatic (buoys and lane makers identified the perimeter). We ate at Kamenice (excellent mussels and risotto) and walked home again.
I feel I have returned to Oakland – the vegetation is so much the same: lavender, lantana, fig trees, century plants, ice plants (wonder if they are invasive here like in Oakland), pitosporum, agapanthus, bougainvillea, oleander, palm trees here and there, cypress, and a lemon tree that might even be a Meyer lemon. One expects to see hummingbirds but I haven’t been lucky yet.
June 25, 2008
Up on time this day and had breakfast in the hotel (cereal, tea, omelet, peaches). I went to the desk to see if we could buy ferry tickets there and learned to our dismay that the ferry was 8:30 not 9:30. What a rush to pack up and scoot to the ferry terminal – blessedly just down the hill from the hotel. Bought tickets to Korčula Island (we needed to know the length of our tandem and trailer for some reason) and rushed to the entry. CLOSED! But the workers opened it for us. WHEW.
The ferry ride was four hours and included a stop at the island of Mljet. We had wanted to explore Millet with its national park but the ferry schedule did not allow that. Mljet is rocky slopes and dense pine forests. Arriving in Korčula , we were impressed by the gleaming white stone and red tile roofs. Korčula Town is also a walled city, smaller than Dubrovnik for sure and therefore easier to see in one overview. The built wall rises straight up from the water on three sides but isn’t as high nor does the walled town cover as much acreage as Dubrovnik’s. There are four towers around the thumb-shaped peninsula. The streets of walled Korčula are laid out in a herring-bone pattern to control the effect of the wind on the homes within the wall. The scenery beyond the walled town was steep hills, more white stone-red roofs – and pine trees interspersed with buildings.
Korčula demonstrates the historic struggle between the Republic of Dubrovnik (1358-1808) and Venice (1238ff). Despite its proximity to Dubrovnik it was under Venetian rule several different times. The town includes Gothic and Renaissance churches and piazzas reflecting the Venetian influence.
We went to the tourist office and asked for a sobe (Zimmer/room) for the night. We stated our requirements (private bath, double bed, and place for our bike and we inquired about air conditioning). The young people in the tourist office speak English but older residents have less of it. German seems to help. If we could speak Italian, that would be ideal. The worker made a phone call, spoke for a moment and then said, “Wait. A man in a Pepsi cap will come.” We followed our host home where he has a tourist sobe attached to his home. It was beautiful!
Our view was of the waterway between Korčula Island and the mainland with an old church next door. Sunset and morning there were beautiful. Two very clean rooms with a ceiling fan greeted us. The breeze was fine when the sun went down despite the intense heat of the day. We learned the system of a small water tank above the shower – you turn it on 20 minutes before your shower and turn it off afterwards.
We rode back to town the long route and met a bike tour guide who suggested two routes to us for later today and tomorrow. That was a lucky event! We ate midday lunch in town – had hoped to buy cheese and bread but the Konzum was closed for some reason. So we ate in a restaurant in the old town. My pasta and shrimp was excellent. Saw kids maybe 8-11 years of age playing soccer in the town square – excellent skills!
We rode up a long, steep hill in the heat in the direction of Pupnat ska Luka. We saw gorgeous cliffs and a bay below with people swimming, rocky hillsides, water in the distance but the road turned unpaved and we decided we had missed the turn and went back to town.
After showering we went back to the old town and found the Germany Turkey UEFA Cup soccer game. The crowd included both Germans and Turks and we saw Turkey score to tie and then Germany score and hold. Later in the old town we saw boys kicking a soccer ball across the narrow alley outside what was likely their home.
Korčula Island has a large number of retirees who come here for the climate and to rent sobe to tourists as auxiliary income. The island has a mellow feel. We went to bed almost too tired to make plans for the morrow.
