Croatia 2010 - page 3

Cavtat, Croatia

September 2010

Now where we? Ah yes, atop Dubrovnik city walls. Given its history of surviving invaders, it was interesting to look through some of the turrets' apertures to see the line of sight that they offered.

Now here's a place that I'd like to dine at. No idea how to get there, though.

Some of the "windows" offered postcard-style shots.

Others offered me the chance to shout or whistle to Lynne without her realising exactly where I was. (This wasn't deliberate - I was genuinely trying to get her to pose for a shot.)

After a while of trying and failing to locate me, she got bored and wandered off. Wait! Story of my life. (It's not.)

We were running out of time as the sun headed down (the city walls shut at 6pm).

We were prepared to defend ourselves if things got tasty. In the background, you can see the nearby island, which itself was one of the boat tour options from Dubrovnik. Can't remember the same right now, though.

Schoey posed stylistically with bump, which was actually a bit of mickey taking, since we happened to be going round the walls at the same time as a couple for whom every photo shot was some pose or other.

I presume that this sign showed "The City Walls" in numerous different languages, but I wasn't about to verify. Note that the walls close at 6pm - we escaped at about 6.25pm as they were starting to give people the hurry up.

The other reason for coming over was to see Dubrovnik at night time. This was my imitation of one of the many photos of Dubrovnik for sale. A bit of sepia and hey presto.

We had settled down for an expensive beer (or coffee) or two as the light diminished and Dubrovnik became a different place in the evening. After trying out a "5D" museum (not sure exactly what all the five dimensions were meant to be, but it told the history of Dubrovnik via the medium of a video laser and hologram show), we finally managed to get a street-side table at an enticing looking café. The waiter was very knowledgeable and full of charm, even persuading me to down a couple (mine and Lynne's) shots of something like Grappa (could have been Grappa, being particularly Grappa-like). Whilst we dined, we were entertained by a piano player sat in the window, to whom we occasionally nodded appreciatively (which was reciprocated).

A work colleague had warned me about this next scene, whereby numerous people attempt to stand on a sloping stone sticking out from the wall. Seemingly no-one can manage to stay on there, until (no doubt) one of the locals accepts money for a bet and then finds it easy. We didn't hang around long enough to see the denouement of this.

This picture on the wall demonstrated the damage that been done to the city during the siege of Dubrovnik in 1991 and 1992 as part of the Croatian war of independence.

As we headed for a road taxi home, we noticed that the city walls were stunningly lit from the outside.

The next day, it was beginning to get cloudy and windy. Boo weather. This meant for a choppier sea, into which no-one dared venture (wisely).

We explored Cavtat a little more, circling round a large outcrop of rock to see what was on the other side. Answer: more boats, hills and clouds.

Oh and weirdly shaped trees.

And small cats in baskets. (Actually, this was near the supermarket, but you weren't to know that.)

After all that excitement, we headed back to the hotel. After a while, it became apparent that there was a storm brewing, which interacted beautifully with the sunset. Over to the right, you could see where the rain was really lashing down. That was roughly in the direction of Dubrovnik, and we were glad we chose the previous day to go there.

The clouds got increasingly angry, and then lightning flashed repeatedly and regularly. Our balcony provided an exhilarating view of this, although we couldn't actually see the forks of lightning, just the flashes.

Having already been to the hotel's steak house twice, and not liking the look of the "international" buffet selection in the main restaurant, we decided to commission the hotel taxi to take us down into Cavtat, into the breach. All was fairly calm when we first sat outside the restaurant (but under shelter). And then the heavens opened. It swiftly became an exercise in damage limitation for the waiters, as the rain lashed down and liberally bounced off the floor (and the nearby chairs and tables). One of the waiters rescued a nearby umbrella to enable traversing to the other outdoor seating.

Mostly, the waiters took the weather in good humour, and I was wide-eyed with awe at the power of nature (the lightning continued to flash as the heavens rumbled), which Lynne interpreted as slight madness. It's hard to really get across how heavy the rain was with a photo, but you can see the ground awash with water.

Still, it was worth popping down for a classically served fillet steak and some lovely chipped potatoes.

The next day (Monday, I think we are up to - the 20th anyway) we tried a glass-bottomed boat tour. But more on that another time. And that time will be spread on to a fourth page.