Tučepi

Up early and the first guests to the breakfast bar. The coffee was terrible, and most of the spread was palatable 😕... Without further adieu, we set out heading northward, along the coastal route this time. There was a fair bit more traffic, and a lot of speed zone changes as we passed coastal towns and various intersections. Sadly, not a lot of pull outs to take photos, but we did get a great view of the old walled city of Dubrovnik and the harbour.

Skirting the edge of the city, and avoiding most of the daily congestion, we circled back up to the main bridge crossing the long narrow inlet just north of Dubrovnik. Continuing along the coast, we eventually made our way to Slano for a break and a good cup of coffee. Pulling in about 10am, we noticed a fair bit of activity as we looked for parking. We watched a procession head towards the Church. Apparently the Croats celebrate Saints, today was Jeronim, Jerko.

The shade and refreshing breeze near the water paired well with the delicious coffees. Before long we were back on the road, and headed towards the peninsula again. Above Zanton Doli was a tiny goat road which required going quite slow, but afforded a great view point! We passed the Ston, a neat fortress town, and then over the two kilometre bridge linking the Croatian coast; Bosnia-Herzgovenia has a narrow section of coastline for a port access to the Adriatic. Unfortunately, the signage wasn't too obvious, and we missed the pullout for a photo opportunity of the crossing... 📸😭

As we made our way over the mountain, we noticed a fruit stand to stop at. The display was impressive, but the fellow spoke very little English, maybe purposefully? We gathered a few items: mandarin oranges, dried figs, and pomegranate. The price seemed steep, but didn't want the hassle of negotiating. We soon realized that there were many, many more stands further along the road for miles after. The flat basin we passed through was definitely quite productive with various orchards and other agricultural production. Before long we were back to another slow and windy coastal road. Temperatures were in the late 20s and a bit on the warm side while wearing riding gear.

We arrived near our hotel, The Heritage Hotel Kaštelet. The key word is "near". There were no signs, so we pulled into the neighboring resort. She kindly called someone on the phone, and I waited. And waited. Finally a friendly lady arrived and said it was around the corner where we already had been. She walked ahead so we could meet her on our bikes at the parking location. As it turns out, the only access to the main entry of the historic hotel is the pedestrian oceanside walkway 😅. This was a first; needing to be escorted to the front desk of a hotel. The rooms were very nice.

An ocean swim was next at the smooth pebble beach! The water was calm and a very large swimming area cordoned off from boats. We wandered the beach front walk to the find a restaurant to enjoy dinner at. Sunset was spectacular over the ocean. The one we ended up selecting was serving its final night of the summer season. This was an entertaining process as many of the menu items were unavailable, such as all steaks... The beverages were cold, food hot and the service wonderful!Read more