We spent our last night in Dalmatia in at the Hotel Ostrea in Mali Ston after returning from Miljet.
On Saturday morning we hiked over the fortified wall built in the 14th century on orders from the Republic of Dalmatia to defend against the Turks and the ???.
As we descended into Ston, we had an excellent view of the salt fields.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Back to Dubrovnik
We spent our last afternoon in Dubrovnik, running a few errands and taking in a few more sights.
We rode the team up the mountain above Old Town and visited the Homeland War Museum. The 1991-95 war against the invading Serbs is still very fresh in Croatian hearts and minds, and Croats are justifiably proud of the men and women who defended their homeland. The destruction in and around Dubrovnik was significant, especially in November and December 1992. Most of the war damage has been repaired.
We visited the Ethnographic Museum which houses exhibits of indigenous artifacts from the area.
After lunch at Sesame in Dubrovnik just outside the Old Town, Ursula and Ziva drove us along the coast to the airport. On the way we stopped in ??? at a Cafe, where among other things, Art and I made sandwiches for our flight to Zagreb later in the evening.
On the hour flight from Dubrovnik to Zagreb we saw a continuous sunset.
We rode the team up the mountain above Old Town and visited the Homeland War Museum. The 1991-95 war against the invading Serbs is still very fresh in Croatian hearts and minds, and Croats are justifiably proud of the men and women who defended their homeland. The destruction in and around Dubrovnik was significant, especially in November and December 1992. Most of the war damage has been repaired.
We visited the Ethnographic Museum which houses exhibits of indigenous artifacts from the area.
After lunch at Sesame in Dubrovnik just outside the Old Town, Ursula and Ziva drove us along the coast to the airport. On the way we stopped in ??? at a Cafe, where among other things, Art and I made sandwiches for our flight to Zagreb later in the evening.
On the hour flight from Dubrovnik to Zagreb we saw a continuous sunset.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Kayaking on Miljet
On Friday, we reluctantly left Orebic for Pomena on the island of the Miljet National Park. After a short drive to Trstenil, we took a local boat which carries water to the island hotel to supplement the island sources for a relaxing trip to the island with beautiful views of the coast.
The park is beautiful with shaded paths for hiking and biking and two salt water lakes connected by a small channel. We kayaked on Veliko Jezeroe around the 12th century Benedictine monastery on the small island of Sv Marija and briefly through the channel to Malo Jezero.
Ursula prepared our last picnic with bread and avocado, cheese, grapes and slivered apple mixed with horseradish, which is traditionally served at Easter. It was delicious.
After the boat back to the mainland, we drive to Mali Ston for the last night of our trip with Freewheeling. Our hotel - Ostrea - is filled with antiques and paintings and is a nice contrast from the modern hotel in Orebic. We have a corner room with windows on two sides which provides a cooling breeze
After six days of being in the sun, we are both fully baked even after using lots of sunscreen.
The park is beautiful with shaded paths for hiking and biking and two salt water lakes connected by a small channel. We kayaked on Veliko Jezeroe around the 12th century Benedictine monastery on the small island of Sv Marija and briefly through the channel to Malo Jezero.
Ursula prepared our last picnic with bread and avocado, cheese, grapes and slivered apple mixed with horseradish, which is traditionally served at Easter. It was delicious.
After the boat back to the mainland, we drive to Mali Ston for the last night of our trip with Freewheeling. Our hotel - Ostrea - is filled with antiques and paintings and is a nice contrast from the modern hotel in Orebic. We have a corner room with windows on two sides which provides a cooling breeze
After six days of being in the sun, we are both fully baked even after using lots of sunscreen.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Game 2
We watched the Croatia vs Italy Euro Cup game last night in a bar near the hotel. Oribic was not nearly as rowdy during the game as Korcula.
Croatia tied Italy 1-1, and while we were eating dinner after the game we there was a noisy parade. Unfortunately no pictures.
Croatia tied Italy 1-1, and while we were eating dinner after the game we there was a noisy parade. Unfortunately no pictures.
Wildflower Tour near Orebic
We really lucked out visiting in June when all the wild flowers we're still blooming. In another week or two they will all be gone, victims of hot weather.
We missed the broom blooming, most of it already gone to seed. Last week the hills were a sea of golden flowers.
We missed the broom blooming, most of it already gone to seed. Last week the hills were a sea of golden flowers.
Old Cars
Before the breakup of Yugoslavia, people drove Zastava cars. Now everyone drives foreign cars, but you can still see the occasional Zastava.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Observations on Croatia
Croatia is a wonderful diverse country with a beautiful sea coast and majestic mountains. Everyone we have met has been warm, friendly and helpful.
As you get away from the coast, there are large sections that are sparsely populated.
Every village has a caffe - a place to sit and chat and have tea or coffee. The "to go" concept has not yet caught on.
Gardeners are either over achieves or benign neglectors. I did not see much in between.
Peanut butter is not eaten much and is hard to find. We found a small jar in a natural food store in Dubrovnik but nothing in Orebic.
They take soccer quite seriously. There are lots of Euro cup games right now and they are on the TVs in all the bars and many of the restaurants.
All of the Motorcycles have mufflers that are very quiet.
The ancient and the new are side by side. Sometimes the ancient buildings have be restored and modernized sometimes it is a ruin but adjacent to a new building. Sometimes the new is build on an ancient foundation.
Almost all of the towns we have visited or driven past have an "old" section that is quite beautiful. All of the old sections had ruins and areas where families lived.
As with most resort areas, property on the coast is being purchased for vacation homes. In a country that depends on tourism, the downside is these homes are not lived in much and when they are, the owners are not spending much locally.
Croatian wines are delicious.
Croatian olive oil is delicious.
Croatian roads are well maintained and their highway system is excellent except where a small section of Bosnia separates Croatia into two sections.
Most of the restaurants in a town have about the same menu. It is almost like they all went to the "what tourists like to eat" conference. For a vegetarian, it is grilled vegetables. The vegetarian pizza has corn on it. The good news is gelato shops are about as frequent as Starbucks in the US.
Toilets have small flush and large flush options. The bathrooms in the more recently built hotels all had floor drains.
Many Croatians smoke. Smoking is allowed in outdoor restaurants. It is like the US 20 years ago.
When you enter a town, there is a sign to announce it. When you leave town , the sign shows the town name with a diagonal line though it. Ursula explained that on entering a town the speed limit drops and on leaving the town the speed limit increases, so the signs are very helpful.
There were interesting power-saving devices: an escalator that only moves when people are on it and only for going up; hotel rooms where the lights can only be on if you insert a key in a slot just inside the door ... when the key is removed the lights go off.
It is possible to make mistakes that make in the US: it diesel in a gasoline engine; go to the international terminal including through passport control when we were actually on a domestic flight (we had to have the stamps on our passports canceled and were escorted to the correct terminal when we left Dubrovnik).
As you get away from the coast, there are large sections that are sparsely populated.
Every village has a caffe - a place to sit and chat and have tea or coffee. The "to go" concept has not yet caught on.
Gardeners are either over achieves or benign neglectors. I did not see much in between.
Peanut butter is not eaten much and is hard to find. We found a small jar in a natural food store in Dubrovnik but nothing in Orebic.
They take soccer quite seriously. There are lots of Euro cup games right now and they are on the TVs in all the bars and many of the restaurants.
All of the Motorcycles have mufflers that are very quiet.
The ancient and the new are side by side. Sometimes the ancient buildings have be restored and modernized sometimes it is a ruin but adjacent to a new building. Sometimes the new is build on an ancient foundation.
Almost all of the towns we have visited or driven past have an "old" section that is quite beautiful. All of the old sections had ruins and areas where families lived.
As with most resort areas, property on the coast is being purchased for vacation homes. In a country that depends on tourism, the downside is these homes are not lived in much and when they are, the owners are not spending much locally.
Croatian wines are delicious.
Croatian olive oil is delicious.
Croatian roads are well maintained and their highway system is excellent except where a small section of Bosnia separates Croatia into two sections.
Most of the restaurants in a town have about the same menu. It is almost like they all went to the "what tourists like to eat" conference. For a vegetarian, it is grilled vegetables. The vegetarian pizza has corn on it. The good news is gelato shops are about as frequent as Starbucks in the US.
Toilets have small flush and large flush options. The bathrooms in the more recently built hotels all had floor drains.
Many Croatians smoke. Smoking is allowed in outdoor restaurants. It is like the US 20 years ago.
When you enter a town, there is a sign to announce it. When you leave town , the sign shows the town name with a diagonal line though it. Ursula explained that on entering a town the speed limit drops and on leaving the town the speed limit increases, so the signs are very helpful.
There were interesting power-saving devices: an escalator that only moves when people are on it and only for going up; hotel rooms where the lights can only be on if you insert a key in a slot just inside the door ... when the key is removed the lights go off.
It is possible to make mistakes that make in the US: it diesel in a gasoline engine; go to the international terminal including through passport control when we were actually on a domestic flight (we had to have the stamps on our passports canceled and were escorted to the correct terminal when we left Dubrovnik).
Hiking up Sv. Ilija
We just got back from a hike to the top of Sv. Ilija, the mountain (961 meters) that overlooks Orebic. Ursula and Ziva got us off to an early start to avoid hiking in the hottest part of the day - breakfast at 6:30 and on our way up the mountain by 7:30.
The trail was steep and rocky but we had panoramic views of the Adriatic Sea and the coastlines of the peninsula and of Korcula, where we hiked and cycled over the last few days. The views just kept getting better throughout the hike - the sea on one side and the mountain on the other. We hiked through forest and over open glacial till. We continue to be grateful that we are here in June, the wild flowers and herbs, especially the sage and rosemary, are in full fragrant bloom.
When we reached the top, we could see the Adriatic on both sides of the peninsula. We felt like we were on top of the world.
On the way down we had a picnic of pesto pasta with sun dried tomatoes, olives and shaved Parmesan, plus fruit and nuts in a shady grove.
Now we need to get ready for the next next big game in the Euro Cup tonight - Croatia vs Italy.
The trail was steep and rocky but we had panoramic views of the Adriatic Sea and the coastlines of the peninsula and of Korcula, where we hiked and cycled over the last few days. The views just kept getting better throughout the hike - the sea on one side and the mountain on the other. We hiked through forest and over open glacial till. We continue to be grateful that we are here in June, the wild flowers and herbs, especially the sage and rosemary, are in full fragrant bloom.
When we reached the top, we could see the Adriatic on both sides of the peninsula. We felt like we were on top of the world.
On the way down we had a picnic of pesto pasta with sun dried tomatoes, olives and shaved Parmesan, plus fruit and nuts in a shady grove.
Now we need to get ready for the next next big game in the Euro Cup tonight - Croatia vs Italy.
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