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  • TravelerVienna & Croatia
    Day 33

    Dubrovnik Walls Part I

    December 27, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    O.M.G.

    Pretty sure this has become my most favourite town EVER! We walked the wall today and had perfect weather with clear blue skies. It is the most number of photos we have taken in one day on our entire trip so far! And with good reason, the views were spectacular and got better with every turn. As a result this post will be spread over about 2-3 because I cannot choose my favourite 20 photos for one day.

    We had the wall to ourselves for most of the time we were there and I cannot imagine what it would be like in summer when you would be sharing it with hundreds of others. Today is a day where I think it is 100% worth not being able to swim because the water is cold and most of the restaurants are closed because the trade-off is that we are experiencing something like the Dubrovnik walls without hoards of people.

    We took a couple of hours walking the 1940m of wall. There were some quite steep stairs in sections. We were able to get views of various places we had already visited during the previous several days.

    We spied a great looking setting for a restaurant which we later visited for lunch, met up with a cat we are sure was my lap warmer a few days before at Buza Bar, found a unique basketball court which is the result of a 700 year old wall gets in the way of your rectangular court requirements, found someone who had 28 pairs of white underwear hanging on their line and possibly the same number of white singlets to match, could peer into lots of backyards where the wall was part of their backyard (imagine!), and found a really spectacular vege patch with a load of citrus trees and grape vines with a great view. We also enjoyed bit of cat spotting including one white cat asleep in the most precarious spot you could imagine.

    Many of the rooftops were destroyed by shelling during the Yugoslav Wars in 1991, and during the walk you could clearly see the difference between the original and new terracotta tiles. The walk also brought you up close to the various church bells.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna & Croatia
    1
    Day 32

    Boxing Day

    December 26, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Quiet one today in that we literally did not step outside our door, except for Kate whose turn it was to take the rubbish out 🙂

    We accomplished completion of the painful butterfly jigsaw minus two missing pieces and I have donated the puzzle to the accommodation place.

    And bought tickets to walk the wall tomorrow - can't wait!

    Other notable events included me saying "is that a plane taking off over the top of us" just as we started to then hear lots of honking in the street below, so we hurried outside to see a great many Santas on motorcycles going down the street.

    We have also seen a few times now where a little break in the cloud makes a spotlight of sun on the water, and I managed to get a photo this time.

    Finn worked on his university enrolment for next year for the Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/Master of Engineering which UQ hasn't seemed to make easy. So now that he has set up a spreadsheet he is writing some code to do his proposed program plan taking into account prerequisites and corequesites.

    Ari, the apartment owner dropped by this afternoon to see if we needed anything, so we chatted to him for a bit and then got some new paper towel and loo rolls. There is a person in the apartment complex who plays the piano for hours a day. On the first day some of those hours included a lot of scales and arpeggios, but since then it has been piece after piece of classical music. Ari asked if it was bothering us (no!) because he has had some guests leave bad reviews of his accommodation as a result of the piano playing. He said she is one of the most notable pianists in Croatia... No way to verify this of course, but we have free live music so why would we complain?

    And I haven't yet posted about the original artwork in our apartment. Seven pieces by a Dubrovnik artist named Josip Škerlj. I think in our conversation we have deduced he is Ari's brother. Most of the pieces in our apartment are depictions of life around Dubrovnik with the walls featuring heavily.

    https://hr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josip_Škerlj    Read more

  • TravelerVienna & Croatia
    Day 31

    Christmas Day

    December 25, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Sretan Božić!

    Casual day for us today as no presents, no big breakfast, casual doing of jigsaw, a glass of bubbles and then we toddled into town to find a restaurant.

    There was not much open but we found one (all you need) and you could tell it was full of tourists. So we had a pleasant lunch, then went back down into the main square for dessert which are called prickle here but went by the name fritule in northern Croatia. Like a dense doughnut ball and AMAZING. Now I feel sad we haven't been eating them sooner. We washed that down with a mulled gin.

    On the way home we bumped into a Croatian we knew! Robert was out walking his dog.

    Back home, more jigsaw puzzling continued and we had beef massaman curry for dinner. Craig also spent an inordinate amount of time finishing off sewing his jeans back together.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna & Croatia
    Day 30

    Christmas Eve

    December 24, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    This morning we did a steep descent hike up to the mountain and fort which look down over Dubrovnik. At the end of each of the 14 switchbacks on the track was a plaque for the Stations of the Cross, which was a very convenient way of knowing how far we had left to go!

    Unfortunately a bit of cloud cover came in over the horizon out to sea during our climb, but the views were great anyway.

    Christmas Eve is a big deal, and there was a cacophony of sound reaching us as we hoked. We could hear music coming from a concert in the old town, canons being intermittently fired, with one round having 20 shots fired, intermingled with church bells. We could also see loads of people in the main square.

    On our descent we headed into the main square, but since we were in our walking gear and all the locals looked dressed as though they were attending the fanciest wedding they'd ever been invited to, we felt very out of place and as Craig put it "like we turned up at a party we hadn't been invited to". The square was packed, so we grabbed some food from the bakery and headed towards home.

    We have cracked open the butterfly jigsaw and the edge is almost impossible. As we were doing that we had a knock at the door and Robert, the son of Ari the owner dropped by with a plate of various homemade cakes his mother had made. Robbie, who is only 19 and just started uni 3 months ago, was up for a chat and stayed for ages. I think I forgot to mention that Ari had dropped in the night before with two bottles of wine for us too.

    To get to the start of the track up to the lookout we had to walk along the edge of a road which is the main highway going south through Dubrovnik. We moved to the other side of the guard rail favouring falling down the hill over being run over by a car. Unfortunately this caused Craig to snag his jeans on the guardrail and rip a 30cm hole down the side seam. So he spent several hours tonight starting sewing them back together, necessary because he only has two pairs of jeans with him.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna & Croatia
    Day 30

    Queen Sensation

    December 24, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    I saw a poster on a wall today for a concert which was on this evening from 9.00-11.00pm in Stradum which is the main square in the old town, as part of Winterfest, with a band called Queen Sensation.

    At 8.45pm I asked the husband if he was going, we put on our boots and coats and walked the 1.3km back in to watch the show. The setting was pretty spectacular.

    I googled the band when I got home. They are Croatian and formed in 2007 and are now one of the most popular Queen tribute bands in Europe.

    As we were leaving we had to go out the main gate of the wall, which was behind the stage, so now I can kinda say we've been back stage at a Queen concert.

    Fun night out!    Read more

  • TravelerVienna & Croatia
    11
    Day 29

    Christmas preparations

    December 23, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    This morning consisted of meal planning for the next three days of shops being closed, and gathering of the items which are cookable in the apartment kitchen with supplied appliances. In the space of about one hour, we are ready for Christmas!

    Craig did a 10km round trip walk to the far side of town search of Sim cards.

    Once he was back, we set off for a pizza lunch on the way back into the old town at a pizzeria I had found on Google which had excellent reviews. We ended up in their only remaining inside table in our own little stone cave. We had originally asked for an outside table up on their terrace, but we thought the cave was better when he eventually came back and said they would be willing to clean the outdoor furniture for us. Google reviews were correct!

    After lunch, the kids did a bit of strolling with us and found some more cats, including a very friendly one which jumped on their laps when they stopped to pat them.

    A bit further on we went through a doorway which went through the actual wall to a balcony on the outside of the wall. We decided we'd stop for a drink at the makeshift bar there, the kids ditched us, so we stayed there to watch the sunset. The friendly cat then reappeared and jumped up on to Craig and then my lap and contentedly sat there keeping my legs warm whilst we had a beer. Quite welcomed as the breeze cooled right down as soon as the sun went down.

    I have also started a new jigsaw puzzle, so have a few days to finish a 1,000 piece puzzle in the shape of a butterfly.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna & Croatia
    1
    Day 28

    Brac to Dubrovnik

    December 22, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    We woke up super early (like 5.00am early) in order to get down to the ferry by 6.45 for a 7.45am ferry. Turns out we arrived in time for the 6.30am ferry with minutes to spare, which made the ferryman a little bit grumpy at us.

    Still, it was smooth sailing as the sun rose. The drive was quite spectacular both inland between the mountain range and then along the coastline as we approached Dubrovnik.

    As a result of the early start and lack of timely communication from the apartment owner, parking was a painful issue (tip: if you live in Dubrovnik, ditch the idea of a car). Once we managed to secure one though, we headed into the old town for lunch.

    After we checked in, Craig and I walked back into the old town to get some steps up, just as the sun was setting. The Christmas markets were coming to life and there are a lot more tourists here than anywhere else we have seen in Croatia so far. We bought our first ever mulled gin and it was delicious!

    Whilst we were in the main square some musicians in a parade of three wise men, Jesus, Mary and Joseph and some angels walked down the main street. We asked "gin guy" if it was a traditional Croatian Christmas carol as lots of people were singing along. He reckons he had never heard it in his life 🙂

    The guy at the stall told us about 85% of restaurants closed down for the season in early November through to about April. But the good news is that the rest stay open for tourists, which means we should be able to get a restaurant for lunch on Christmas day.

    There are a L.O.T. of steps in Dubrovnik. And a lot of beautiful streets. Can't wait to explore!    Read more

  • TravelerVienna & Croatia
    Day 27

    Sutivan & mixed grill BBQ

    December 21, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Edit from yesterday: we had obviously had too much to drink because when I got out of bed this morning, the parents had found the space where our jigsaw puzzle piece went, so puzzle had the right number of pieces, we were just blind (either literally or figuratively, hard to say🤭).

    We all took a short road trip east to a village called Sutivan today which seemed a lot more "Italian" to me than other villages so far. It had a lovely palm tree lined boulevard, and a lot of very old but charming buildings. We had a coffee looking out over the marina whilst local school kids were having some sort of PE lesson doing races in pairs along the length of the marina.

    We decided we'd use our BBQ grill again, so Craig and I stopped at the supermarket for supplies whilst the kids came home with Glen and Jeff to get the BBQ charcoal going.

    I also stocked up on a new jigsaw for Dubrovnik since we have lots of public holidays and... well it is my tradition to do jigsaws at Christmas.

    Back home, we got some roasted potatoes in the oven and meats such as pork rolled up things, rib things, and two different types of sausages going on the BBQ (including Craig racing off into the village to buy more briquettes). Salad on the table and we were feasting on the deck, with beautiful views.

    And right on cue, just as we finished eating our spectacular meal, Finn spied a pod of dolphins jumping out of the water, a magical way to end our meal. We didn't get photos, so we've borrowed a line from "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and decided to "enjoy the moment without the camera getting in the way" (code for it is too hard to capture a picture at the right time they jump).

    An early night tonight because we have to wake up significantly earlier than our usual 8.30-9.00am to be down at the ferry by 6.45am. Off to Dubrovnik tomorrow!    Read more

  • TravelerVienna & Croatia
    Day 26

    Hiking to Supetar

    December 20, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    All members of the Ingram Junior family did a 17km round trip hike to Supetar today as a means of getting a bit of exercise and this resulted in a 20,000+ step day. Still short of a Camino 20-25km day, so will see how we pull up tomorrow. Kate went to bed before 8pm.

    This was Finn's first walk into any of the villages which is a bit weird given we've been here for 6 days.

    We pretty much followed the coast line heading west. Passed lots of olive farms, and got to see up close the phenomena where the owners have made little retaining walls of rocks all over their property.

    In Supetar there was only one restaurant open, so decision making was easy on what to do for lunch!

    I had read that Lidl-brand Cornetto icecreams had won a taste test as being better, so since we needed to walk past a giant Lidl on the walk home, we bought some for dessert. Inconclusive results since Kate and I had pistachio flavour and it was not pleasant. We may need to submit ourselves for further testing 😄

    The kids saw a Dalmatian dog today, so our first sighting of a Dalmatian in Dalmatia! Makes it more authentic 😁

    This afternoon we also completed the impossible puzzle, and there was a spare piece which means some poor bugger out there in the world is spending the better part of a week doing a 2,000 piece puzzle and will be one piece short.    Read more

  • TravelerVienna & Croatia
    1
    3
    Day 25

    Lazy day

    December 19, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    A lazy day of doing not much at home, other than the impossible puzzle and lots of Christmas movies. Pretty sure we've exhausted the entire Netflix range of Christmas movies now!

    Craig and Jeff did some fishing. Craig grilled some fish in the BBQ for lunch. Those sentences are totally unrelated. 🙂

    Craig went for a walk to get his 10,000 steps and came across a crop of myrtle berries.

    Hot tip if you get a chance, try Milka Choco and Biscuit Chocolate bar!    Read more

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