Day 9
9 June 2012
Weather: See Day 8
T-shirt count: 1
Cat count: 3
I awoke to an empty room. There wasn’t a cat in sight then I
remember the party last night. The dentists were living it up on the pool deck
and my walls were vibrating.
And I’m not *that* close to the pool.
Earplugs. Don’t leave home without them.
Luckily, mine are here and not at home with my hearing aids.
I put out my luggage at 7 am and go down to find the cats on
the pool deck and sure enough, they all got sloshed last night. I could barely
make out the pool deck below the carpet of fur.
Boy, are they going to love going back over that twisting,
turning narrow road with its thousand foot drops outside the windows.
I think I’ll rent them their own bus for the rest of the
tour. Last thing we need are cats up in overhead getting motion sickness.
As we leave, one of the guys on the tour gets up to make an
announcement to remind us that if you’re going to go out on your balcony to
enjoy the view, don’t close the patio door behind you.
Yup. The patio doors in the Amfora lock themselves.
The Aussie couple had done just that and luckily the guy
making the announcement just happened to be out on his balcony. He had to call
security to get them back into their room.
Well, the Aussie woman got up and said that she had an
announcement too. She said that if you’re going to dive in the pool, make sure
your swimming trunks are tied securely because the man had walked out of the
pool not realizing what happened and gave some older women a thrill and some
little girls an education. A treasure that should remain hidden, the Aussie
woman said.
They called a truce. They’re one for one.
Gasper said he’d call ahead to get us rooms without
balconies but he wouldn’t touch the other one.
As we drove away from Hvar, Gasper gave us our Croatian
language lesson. The words are all familiar, but there’s one I remember from my
days in Bosnia – nema problema!
No translation necessary.
At the bottom of the list were some tongue twisters in
Croatian. We didn’t attempt to repeat those. He said one is hard to translate
but essentially says “on top of the mountain, trees are moving.”
No translation necessary.
We are heading for the town of Sucuraj at the southern tip
of the island. From there, it’s only 35 minutes on the ferry to the mainland.
But first, we have to take the same curvy Road of Death and it’s especially
busy this morning. Again, Gasper recommended that we stayed seated.
No argument there. This morning, we’re not running into one
car. We’re running into four and five at a time and there isn't an inch to spare.
Some drivers can see the big
white bus coming for a long way off and pull into the first wide shoulder
section and wait for us to get there.
I’m sitting in the back seat watching for the cat’s bus.
They should be along soon. I thought I heard the driver say something about
them wanting to stop at Jo’s place to chat with her 15 cats.
We get through the curvy roads with our wits intact and the
road is a little straighter for the rest of the way. We arrive at the ferry at
10 am just as it is pulling out.
Nema problema, Gasper says. That wasn’t the one we were
going to take. He wanted the 11:15 ferry so that we could have free time in the
little town.
Which reminds me. Gasper has been great with the free time.
I’ve been on tours where I’ve had so little free time, I was having a hard time
just getting a fridge magnet. No problem here. There seems to be enough free
time and at the right places. He said the At Leisure would give us more free
time and it seems to mean not only full days free at places like Hvar, but more
time at stops to do shopping, exploring etc. Very nice.
We take a walk around the little harbour – a five minute
walk.
I actually find a t-shirt and ask for a large. She doesn’t have one and
offers me a medium. The store owner says it will fit and sure enough, it did.
I didn’t think I was doing *that* much walking on this tour.
I sit with some of the others at an outdoor café and they
have bitter lemon drinks. I tried a taste. Ohhhh…bitter lemon is right.
I settled for a Coke.
At 11, we walk back to the ferry dock and the cat’s bus pulls
in. I take a quick count.
Still only 315.
I think. I mean, have you ever tried to count three hundred
cats?
Not unlike trying to herd cats.
The ferry shows up and off loads in minutes. It’s not a
large one. Maybe 20 cars fit on it and just a small section of deck to sit on.
The views are wonderful.
I know the town called Gradac where I stayed on the
coast in 1994 is just down the coast from here.
The ferry pulls in and we’re off. I’m sitting in the back
seat to see if I can replicate the photo I have of the coast as we pass Gradac.
The views out the back are pretty good.
I can see the cat’s bus aiming for the dogs on the side of
the road.
Gonna have to have a long talk with them.
As we pass through Gradac, I’m snapping every picture I can
and I am able to match the photos I have with me. I think I managed it.
I could see part of the town too where I think we shot the
photo at the start of this tale.
After we pass through this area, Gasper says he has another
hidden treasure for us.
Promises, promises, the Aussies sing out.
Well, this one isn’t so hidden. It’s a series of green lakes
inland from the Adriatic, but the lakes are lower in elevation than the sea.
They have that wonderful green colour.
Next to the lookout is a couple of fruit
stands and Gasper recommends we try the dry dates and the carob. He buys enough
for everyone and they’re delicious. You can just get the faintest hint of
chocolate flavour from the carob. He said the seeds inside are always the same
size and weight and were once used as a measure for gold because they were
standard.
As we leave the lakes, we enter the Ploce region. I was
never there before, but know there were Canadians posted here. I believe it was
the port used to receive and send a lot of our gear. The area is a huge valley
with cultivated fields for as far as you can see.
We get a photo stop here.
Not far from here we will enter Bosnia and Herzegovina. The
country’s only sea access is a short section of land that separates the
Dubrovnik area from the rest of Croatia. But Croatia is trying to build a link
– a bridge across to a peninsula which would apparently affect the ability of
Bosnia to move goods through the area. They’re not happy about it, but
apparently, Croatia has run out of money to finish it. I’m guessing that if
they want to join the EU, they can’t be doing something like this that would
impede the trade routes of another country.
The border crossing is like a toll booth. The officer
usually asks who is aboard and Gasper will say Americans. I asked if we could
get our passports stamped and he said if he asked, they might take everyone off
the bus and it might take time. Despite this, he came to the back of the bus
and asked for my passport and said he would try. Very cool.
He runs into the building and comes back. No luck. They said
we were just transiting, so no stamps can be issued.
At least now he knows what to tell others in the future when
they ask.
A few kilometres up the road we pull into a restaurant for a
quick lunch. For the first time in 18 years, I’ve set foot in Bosnia.
All I need now is a fridge magnet.
Below the restaurant is a souvenir shop and I go in thinking
I might actually be able to get a Bosnia fridge magnet, but all the souvenirs
are for Dubrovnik. LOL
Yet, I do manage to get one for the town we’re in called
Neum. I can use Kuna here but Bosnia used to use the Deutschmark (like we did
in 93/94) but when Germany moved to the Euro, Bosnia simply adopted its own
currency called the Bosnian Mark.
I ask Gasper about the lack of Bosnia souvenirs and he said
that even though we’re in Bosnia, the people feel more connection to Croatia.
I go up to the restaurant and take a look at the pastries
since I don’t want a sit down meal. And I recognize one of the pastries from
some of the meals the locals used to serve us in Visoko. It’s meat or cheese
inside a pastry that is formed in a circle something like a cinnamon bun, but
actually, it looks more like dog poop.
That’s the nickname it got 18 years ago,
but they never had a problem running out of it at dinnertime. They were
popular.
They’re called pita or berck. I order one and take it cold
with a Coke. It’s exactly as I remember it.
I take some pics after I finish and try another ice cream. I
got Milka chocolate and white chocolate combo.
Not bad.
I don’t see the cat’s bus. I’m guessing the border guards
are not convinced they only want to transit.
We leave at 2:15 and it’s a short hour drive to Dubrovnik.
We pass the town of Stone where Oyster farming is a major industry. The town
has one claim to fame. It has the second longest city wall in the world. It’s
across the water from the highway.
We pull into our hotel at 3:30 and have two and a half hours
to relax before the evening’s optional. I ask Gasper if he wants to try my Visa
card again and this time it works.
That saves me from getting over 3000 Kuna for him. LOL
This hotel is a little confusing too, but not as bad as the
Amfora. The room numbers are not a problem. Just finding the elevator is fun.
And my room is just above the entrance, but I have to walk halfway to the Old
Town to get to the elevator/stairs then have to walk back.
Which makes me wonder…where’s my emergency exit?
The room is huge.
There must be six feet from the foot of
the bed to the desk. The bathroom has a full bath, bidet, shampoo and stuff, a
safe, slippers, flat screen, a wonderful balcony and wired internet. It’s
supposed to have wifi, but my netbook can’t pick it up.
We have 2 hours until the optional at 6. Guess what I do?
<tap><tap><tap>
Actually, I didn’t expect to spend so long at it, but I
looked at the time and it’s suddenly 5:30.
Scramble time. I look out the window and see the cat’s bus
has arrived but someone told them there were cats in the Old Town. You think
I’ll see them before Tuesday?
Just as well. The hotel is full. Completely full. One couple
was upset though because they don’t have a balcony. We kinda look at each other
and wonder why, then one person clues in. The husband is a smoker. And he
smokes a lot. I’ve never seen a smoker on tour who smoked while we’re walking
with the TD. They always wait till they get back to the bus to have a smoke off
to the side, but this gentleman smokes among the tour group so that you can get
a puff of smoke in the face easily. He doesn’t even linger at the back.
So, no one had any sympathy for him. Me catsup, u catsup.
Or something like that.
We board the bus and take a short drive back to the bay
where the Tudjman bridge is. As we approach our boat for the night’s optional,
Gasper points to a ferry and says that one is special. During the war, when
Dubrovnik was being shelled by the Montenegrans, that was the only ferry that
operated, bringing in supplies to the city. So, it has a special place in the
hearts of the people here.
We hop off the bus and get aboard a small boat that will
take us to our restaurant. It comfortably seats the 24 who came on the optional
and if you don’t mind salt on the lens of your camera, you can go up front. The
waves are really funny here. I’m used to riding into a single wave so that
you’re going up the wave and down. These waves go in whichever direction
pleases them.
Kinda like the cats.
For that reason, the boat rolls in funny directions. It was
fun. I stayed standing and walked around, using people’s shoulders to hold me
up, but most stayed in their seats. It’s a comfortable ride in the seats.
Then we see the walls of the city and the sun is peeking out
from the clouds on the horizon. Gorgeous. The city isn’t as large as one would
think.
I see the café on the rocks as someone mentioned in another post.
And I
see 315 furry things sunny themselves on the rocks. We pass by a private yacht.
No, ship. It’s too big to be a yacht and too small to be a cruise ship. It’s
called the Indian Empress and likely is the home of some Saudi prince or
something.
We pass the old city and cross to the other side of the bay
(Cavtat, I believe it’s called) and we risk getting off the boat. That’s fun
too cause the waves keep the boat moving up and down but they have an ingenious
little ramp with wheels on it and two handsome young Croatians are on either side
to hold you as you step off.
The one thing you have to watch out for is the little ramp
moves. If you step off while the boat is up and stand there, then as the boat
goes down, the ramp would run into your feet. So step off and walk away several
feet.
We are taken along a short shoreline path that has the
Adriatic just below you. This is something you’d never be able to do in
Newfoundland. Some of the hotels just up from the old city had their loungers
down on the rocks within a few feet of the waves crashing against the rocks.
In Newfoundland, the North Atlantic would eaten those
loungers – and anyone on them – for lunch. But I imagine the smaller Adriatic
can’t generate waves – and rogue waves – large enough to creep farther up the
rocks unexpectedly.
The restaurant is on the beach facing the old city and the
Indian Empress in the distance.
Do I see cats going aboard???? Hey, wait one gosh darn
second!!!
I go up to the restaurant patio and take a seat out of the
sun. I had brought along a jacket but it’s not cold. T-shirts and shorts are
perfect. We get served champagne as we get there and there’s no apparent limit
on the wine. (Which seems to be the pattern for the optionals). I get a Fanta
at the bar and go up to see the chef cooking the fish.
It’s a hot job to be leaning over that grill when it’s so
hot outside. (It got up to 28 today and was a pleasant 28…the heat has yet to
be oppressive).
I had chosen vegetarian because the selection was sea food
or mixed meat. I thought the mixed meat meant it would be three types combined
and if one was lamb, I’d not want to eat anything simmered in the same pot (I
really hate lamb). But the guy at my table got a pork chop, chicken breast and
a beef sausage.
I got a plate of lettuce.
I had thought it was supposed to be some sort of lettuce
steak, but the other woman who had the vegetarian choice said she heard
vegetable stack.
I think it qualifies as a stack. It did have a cheese among
it that might have been feta or goat’s cheese. It was pretty good. Then one of
the other women came around with the extra sausages they had given her and I
said “set them right here.”
So, I had sausage sandwiches in the really fresh white
bread. Turns out we confused the meals. The vegetable steak is at the Highlight
dinner. It explains why every time he asked what we wanted to order ahead of
time, he got a different answer.
The seafood turned out to be a mixed plate of octopus and
other little critters. (One woman who is allergic to prawns started to have a
reaction and I just happen to have my anti-histamine in my back pack. She
wasn’t sure if there were prawns or if she has an allergy to octopus too, but
she took the pill just in case.)
My suggestion from her experience is that unless you’re 100%
sure of what the seafood is, go for the meat selection. Some say it was a mixed
seafood selection.
The food comes slowly but there’s no rush. The boat doesn’t
get back till after 10 pm and dessert is served at 9:50, so it was a pretty
relaxing evening.
I’d recommend the optional if for no other reason than to
see Dubrovnik from the sea and the great ride to the restaurant. Those that had
the meat and seafood liked their meals. The skinny little cat hanging around
liked anything you put down for him.
The boat arrived at 10:15 and we boarded. It was a little
more rocky, but the handsome guys on either end of the little ramp just waited
till the rocking subsided and would get 10 or more aboard before it rocked
again. With the guys holding on to you, there’s no danger of falling. Since it
was a little more rocky, Gasper and a tour mate also waited inside and held on
until you got your footing and sat down.
The ride to the old city is only ten minutes. We are dropped
off inside the harbour of the old city (another reason for the optional) and
get to walk up to Pile Gate through the Saturday night crowd and cats. Nice
chance for some photos.
When we exit the gate, there are taxis there and bus #6
stops there. The bus will take you right back to the hotel (get tickets at the
hotel is easiest) so you have two choices if you go to the old city on your
own.
Our bus is waiting nearby and it’s a ten minute ride back to
the hotel. I turn on the tv back in the room and there’s a great movie on.
Yeah. The one night I’m ready to crash, it has a great movie
on.
I get to watch some of it. I have to clean up the water in
the bathroom as it appears the cats were in the room earlier and decided to
check out the bidet.
