Dubrovnik, Croatia

Dubrovnik is ridiculously beautiful, endowed with a crazy number of steps, tourists, steps, cats, steps, bars, steps, gelato shops and steps.

It's also another city with evidence of its war wounds. In 1991, during the Homeland War, more than 600 shells hit the Old Town in a single day, causing massive damage and loss of life. While much has been rebuilt, there are still many signs of the recovery, and the city is determined not to forget.

We did some more swimming, bobbing in the sea off the rocks; climbed the city walls and ate more gelato; had a drink in the 'secret' bar halfway down the cliffs under the walls; swam and snorkelled on a half day boat trip to the 'Blue Cave'. There's a definite theme coming through here...

View of Dubrovnik from the cable car

View from our balcony

The 'secret' bar

Dubrovnik doesn't forget

Old tiles on a new roof, with many new
roofs in the background

Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Only one night in Mostar, detouring between Split and Dubrovnik. It's a beautiful town that suffered badly during the Bosnian War in the early 90s. There's still evidence of the conflict - buildings still show signs of bombing, bullet cartridges can be found in the market, turned into tourist gizmos. There are small cemeteries everywhere. The famous 16th century Mostar bridge was destroyed, and then rebuilt after the war.

The bridge is central to the Old Town. We crossed it to the markets and the mosque, watched young men dive 20m from it into the icy cold Neretva river, and sat under it watching jet boats fling under the arches. The Neretva is apparently the coldest river in Europe at about 7 degrees, and Lou and I can vouch for that. She lasted two minutes to my one :) and we both took a while to thaw (almost literally) after our swim. 

View from our hotel

You can just barely see the cross
on the mountain 

Split, Croatia

The multiple personalities of Split!  Diocletian's Palace wrapping its magnificent 4th century walls around an Old Town full of B&Bs, restaurants, gelato shops, rubber duck shops (who knew?), with the occasional gladiator thrown in. 

On the harbour it's party time, with 20-and 30-somethings from everywhere heading off on week-long cruises of the Adriatic. We've never seen so many gorgeous young things posing for selfies 😀

And we're getting more expert at squeezing all that luggage in too, by the way. 

Clambering on ruins

Harbour front

Cats everywhere!

Senj & Plitvice Lakes, Croatia

Lost as usual finding our accommodation in Senj, having negotiated roadworks and a completely bewildered GPS.

We finally found the place, hidden behind a heavy door and staircase leading up into a very cute and eclectic courtyard, and more stairs to our two apartments. We'd still be looking without the help of the locals.

Senj was our base for a big day's roadtrip to the Plitvice Lakes. We'd heard how beautiful they are, but I don't think anyone can prepare you for those colours and the quantity of water pouring, gushing, trickling, misting. A stunning day, topped off by a late lunch at a rural roadside restaurant where Louise and Col outdid themselves with a light lunch of 9 cevapi (beef sausages) each (they did get some help!); and a visit to a bear refuge tucked into the back streets of a small village.

There were three bears currently in residence (the obvious references to Goldilocks have all been made 😀): one with a limp whose mother was killed by a car when he was a cub; another separated from his mum too early and now the grumpy boss of the three; and another who became too famous and used to humans for her own good. 

We tried swimming in Senj itself but we were a bit spoilt by Rovinj, and sunbathing on the concrete didn't have quite the same appeal. We did visit the 16th century fortress that stands sentinel above the town, giving us a glimpse into Croatian history and a spectacular view of the surrounding area. There was a howling gale, called the Bora, the day we were there, so we could imagine how mastering the Bora would give the people of Senj a massive sea advantage over those 'sneaky' Turks and Venetians.

Rovinj, Croatia

We made it to our little apartment in Old Town Rovinj after an early start from Cessalto and a long day of travel, dropping the car at Trieste then catching the bus through Slovenia into Croatia, with only small misadventures along the way.

Louise and Paul followed on our heels after an even longer day, starting in Rome and incorporating a plane, train, bus and golf cart before finally getting to their accommodation a laneway away.

So we spent three lovely days clambering off the rocks directly into the sea, which was buoyant and flat and so turquoise and clear we could still see the bottom, metres below. We hired bikes, walked up and down all those hilly cobblestoned streets, ate copious amounts of gelato, and sampled cocktails and local beer overlooking the harbour. We did a sunset cruise in a somewhat rustic small boat, and saw lots of 'delphins'. We did a roadtrip to a national park, and Louise and I did some more swimming. 

Picked up our little car on our final day, ready to head south, and discovered how creatively we could fit 4 people, 3 backpacks, 2 suitcases and an assortment of handbags, esky bags, cameras and a well-travelled bag of grapes into a Suzuki. 

One of our swimming spots

Delphin watching

Me being a unicorn

Ferrara, Italy

If we were going to choose somewhere to live in Italy, I think it would be Ferrara. A lovely Old Town, lots of life and buzz, and (relatively) easy to get around, with everyone on bikes and on foot. At a cafe one morning, two women drew in on their bikes for their morning coffee, professionally dressed in tailored blazers, pearls and bright red heels. We went for a bike ride around the city walls, but weren't so well dressed ;>

Spent a couple of hours at the moated Este Castle in the centre of town, climbing the stairs from the dungeons to the towers and lovely citrus-filled terrace (Garden of Oranges) with views of the city. 

Dinner at a restaurant recommended by our host was instructive. We didn't have a reservation and were clearly tourists, so our menus were slapped on the table with not a lot of interest. We'd done some research about local specialities though - a kind of butternut pumpkin ravioli, and a pie made of a macaroni and beef ragu filling in a sweet shortcrust pastry - and were suddenly the waiter's best friends.

On to Cessalto after this for a quick stop to get the car back early in Trieste.