Croatia 2010 - page 1

Cavtat, Croatia

September 2010

After a fairly draining summer at work (for a number of reasons), we felt that we had deserved a break away. Given our new circumstances (i.e. expecting a little one), this was likely to be the last holiday enjoyed by just the two of us for a long time, and probably the last trip abroad for a couple of years (at least, says Lynne). It became apparent, talking to people before we went, that Croatia was becoming increasingly popular as a holiday destination (it has had its share of political troubles in the recent past).

We (i.e. Lynne) had chosen the relatively small harbour town of Cavtat (pronounced "tsavtat") for our destination, which turned out to be a fine choice. We flew direct from Manchester to Dubrovnik Airport (which was much closer to Cavtat than the old town of Dubrovnik) on Sunday 12th, and the taxi was a short journey to Hotel Croatia.

This was the view from our 9th floor window. Not bad, eh.

Although we didn't know it at the time, the built-up area on the land to the right in the distance was actually the old town of Dubrovnik. More on that later. In fact, there would be no shortage of lovely views. Here, for example, is what we could see while waiting for the lift down to the hotel lobby (which, almost in the style of the inspired comedy film Being John Malkovich, was effectively on floor 4 and a half). The immediate body of water is Cavtat harbour, with the ever present yachts in anchorage.

And here is the view from the outdoor part of the hotel's main restaurant (where we joined the buffet breakfast scrum each morning).

The first night, we had ventured down only as far as the hotel's Steak House, but on the second night we tried one of Cavtat's restaurants. Lynne's reputation as a messy eater clearly preceded her. In actual fact, she has ordered scampi in a tomato and garlic sauce and the act of dismembering said sea creatures was rife with splash possibilities.

Here is the dismembering in action. You wouldn't catch me having any of that - I went for chicken and potatoes, oh yes.

Tuesday, and it was time to take one of the regular boat taxis across the water to Dubrovnik's old town, more or less a 40 minute journey. This is the view back to the hotel, with one of the hotel "beaches" (there was no sand) to the right.

There are better shots of the city walls of Dubrovnik from later in the holiday, so I will come back to it. We generally meandered around on our first visit there, before finding an exhibition of war-time photos. It was a sobering and sombre reminder of more difficult and traumatic times.

We'd wandered a fairly obscure route first time round, but we eventually found the main street, Stradun. Predictably, it was thronged with people.

After a big pizza lunch, we were beginning to flag somewhat, mirrored in the body language of two local cats (of which there were generally quite a few).

We decided to head back to Cavtat, but caught a view of these four scantily clad gentlemen, possibly debating whether to go into the cold water. Go on, lads.

Hang on just one minute - who is this cool customer?

I'll leave it on that note for now. I'll try to do more frequent updates in future.

And here's one now! The view from the hotel as the sun set was pretty splendid.

As is compulsory on trips abroad - pointing out the funnily-named produce in the local supermarket. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Cockta.

On the Thursday, I decided that I would hire a bike and go for a ride. I had noticed some bike trails on a large map and was interested in exploring the surrounding area given that I was not able to locate my driving licence before leaving home. There were some arresting climbs to get out of Cavtat, and with no proper trail signposts and sketchy instructions, it was a while before I got far out of town. When I did, I had a good view of the airport across the valley.

I got to one of the first designated landmarks on the trail description, St Martin's Church. Look, no clouds!

From the church, I looked down for the splendid view, and noticed a football pitch handily placed. Even god plays football.

It was a lovely day (perhaps too lovely - it was blummin' hot once riding), and one ripe to brimming with photo opportunities.

Going through the journey description, it said that I went past a gallery. This appeared to be it. Hmmm, not open today, it seems.

That'll do for now - it's a Friday night after all (here not there). On the other side of the road was the view of what was shaping up to be a splendid looking house in the sticks.

After heading down into the valley, the look back up to the mountains was breathtaking. In the foreground, you can see rows of something being grown (not sure what - maybe olives).

I then came to a crossroads. I had arrived from the right of the picture and turned left. I didn't know what the sign 5t meant - perhaps speed? What wasn't apparent from the instructions was the climb I then had. It weaved back and forth and wasn't nice.

Here is the shot back down to the crossroads having finished the ascent. It looks so far away!

At the top of the climb was the village of Cilipi, with the Saint Nicholas Church currently being renovated. You can just about see the workmen in the bottom left of the picture.

And here was the beast I tamed, a smooth, seemingly brand new hybrid (it's the black and blue one). After about 2 or 3 hours (not particularly pushing it), and having covered something like 25km in the hot sun, I handed the bike back and headed back to the hotel. I had got my biking urge out of my system.

And with that, probably time for a new page.