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  • Ceri Chaplin

Croatia

A 9-day adventure by Ceri Read more
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  • Trip start
    October 12, 2023
    Ceri ChaplinCroatiaTraveler

    Off to Croatia

    October 12, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Leaving home at the end of the working day to head to Gatwick for our flight to Dubrovnik on Friday morning.

    We arrived at the Hilton at the airport and had a couple of drinks before bed!

  • Ceri ChaplinCroatiaTraveler
    View of old town Dubrovnik flying in to the airport along the cost
    Our entrance to old town DubrovnikOur hotel roomThe ceiling of our roomMain streetOld town DubrovnikHomemade cherry spirit

    London to Dubrovnik

    October 13, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    An early start to get ready for the short walk to the airport for our 9am flight. We checked in quickly and headed to the lounge for a drink and breakfast. The flight was called on time and we boarded as expected. However the weather seemed to be causing problems and so it was almost 40 minutes later that e pushed back, by which time the rain was pouring down!

    We eventually departed and had an uneventful flight landing in Dubrovnik just after 1pm.

    We picked up our bags and caught a bus to the city centre which took about 30 minutes. It was a short ish walk from the bus stop to our hotel where we were able to check in. Or accommodation in Dubrovnik is a B&B - Andio - https://g.co/kgs/VPRiVD. The entrance is through a fragrance shop, just off the main street, and then up a couple of flights of stairs. We have a four poster bed and the room is overlooking the alley.

    After a quick change, for me, into shorts we headed out for a beer in the main street then decided to tackle the city walls. After recovering from the cost of 35 euros each to walk the walls (compared to Chester and York which is free) we started the walk!

    The walls have loads of steps, both up and down, but has some amazing views of the coast and the old town itself. We had a quick beer in the way, overlooking the bay and fort and then continued around the walls, passing a number of lively bars below with people diving into the water!

    The walk took us about 90 minutes and we arrived back at our hotel with just 10 minutes spare before a food tour that we'd booked.

    We met the group leader, Tea, and two other people who were doing the tour. Tea was a slightly bonkers 70 year old who told us some of the history of Dubrovnik as we walked around.

    We stopped at three places and had a number of different courses, including a platter of meats, pasta, anchovies and bruschetta served with plenty of local wine. The final stop was down by the harbour where we had ice cream!

    After leaving the tour we had a final glass of wine in a bar hollowed out of the rock before heading back to the room for an early night at a long day!    Read more

  • Ceri ChaplinCroatiaTraveler

    Dubrovnik

    October 14, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    I will curly and decided to head out for a run at about 8:30 a.m.. half an hour later. Having done 5K I got back to the room and then we got ready to head out for breakfast.

    First we stopped at a bar just outside the hotel but they only did drinks so we had a quick coffee before finding another restaurant for food. As it turned out, it was the same restaurant that we eaten in last night as part of the food tour. We both had a coffee, orange juice and the hangover breakfast which included a couple of eggs, sausage, chips and some salad.

    Nextby walked through the Pile gate how to get to the fort that sits just outside the city walls. Reclined the steps to the forts and took some photos of old Dubrovnik beforeheading back and around the city walls to find the bottom of the cable car.

    Report tickets and headed up the cable car to the top of the hill with some amazing views of Dubrovnik and our first beer of the day.

    Next we texting more photos before catching the cable car back down to the old town and in through the North gate back to our hotel. Quick change in gathering a stuff. We stopped in the bar outside the hotel for a drink before. I realised that the boat tour that we'd booked for the afternoon wasn't a walking distance away. Rather we needed to get a taxi to the port.    Read more

  • Ceri ChaplinCroatiaTraveler
    111

    Dubrovnik 2 - boat trip

    October 14, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Having realised that the departure point for the tour wasn't just a short walk away I found an Uber which dropped us off to the place on our ticket?

    Unfortunately, this didn't seem to be the place that we were supposed to catch the boat and we walked through a building site, found a marina which wasn't the right place and then back along a further part of the building site before we were picked up by the boat, having spoken to the tour operator to arrange a pickup.

    The boat hugged the coast before heading out to an island where we first stopped at the blue cave. Here's where I realised my first mistake, the caves that we were to see required swimming... So only one of us was going to be seeing them!

    I swam under a very low rock into a large cave where when you looking back, the whole of the cave glowed a blue colour.

    Next stop was the green caves, a trio of caves is different sizes.... These were less impressive but I swam into each of them and with the face mask provided, could see hundreds of small fish!

    Fortunately by now the boat driver had given us some beers. The final stop was an inlet with a beach and some restaurants and so once we were moored up, we had a couple of drinks and a snack overlooking the bay.

    The trip back to Dubrovnik took about 20 minutes and we caught a taxi back to the old town.

    Having showered, we headed out for dinner at a lovely restaurant overlooking the bay before walking back and having a couple of night caps at the bar next to our accommodation.    Read more

  • Ceri ChaplinCroatiaTraveler
    11

    Dubrovnik to Split

    October 15, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    After another morning run around the old town we both headed to a local coffee for breakfast

    After that we went back to the hotel, packed up and then walked to the bus stop (up!), to catch the airport shuttle back to the airport where we were going to pick up our hire car.

    We collected the hire car and started the 150 odd mile drive to Split. We decided to take the slow road and travelled along the coast. The scenery was beautiful and about 3 hours in we stopped at a town called Markarsa wth a port and sea view, for a pizza.

    We drove on the final 90 minutes to Split and the sky grew darker with a massive rain storm just before we arrived.

    We met the hotel owner and parked the car before the short walk to the hotel. After checking in and selecting our breakfast choices we walked into the old post of Split where Diocletian's palace is. The evening was spent taking in the scenery and having a few drinks. Just about to head back to the hotel for an early night here was another torrential rain storm so we thought better of it and had one more drink to let the rain pass by!    Read more

  • Ceri ChaplinCroatiaTraveler
    11

    Split

    October 16, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    A third run in as many days to start the day...running around the harbour area and seafront. The temperature was a bit cooler than previous days and so made for a more comfortable run.

    Back in the room, after a shower we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed out to be at the start point of our bike tour for 10am, starting in front of the old theatre. I'd taken the precaution of hiring electric bikes and was glad that I did as the route that the guide took us on was pretty hilly.

    After having the bike adjusted and practicing with the electric motor, we moved off and the guide took us pretty much into a wooded area to the west of the city called Telegrin park. The bikes had large padded seats and you sat in a more recumbent position! The north of the park was quite cool, with a wind blowing across the bay but the nouth of the park was much warmer and in the sun!

    We had a number of stops where the guide told us information about Split, the park and Croatia. Each time we moved off we went higher and higher until we eventually reached the summit of the park, 178m above the town below. After photos and some time admiring the views, we dropped down the hill for a view over the town and a drinks stop. Our final stretch of the journey was through the streets of the old town and along the harbour to a view point overlooking both the town and the sea. We finished the tour just after 2pm and walked back in to the town for a drink and snack. The rest of the afternoon we spent exploring Diocletian's palace (the old town) and the rest of the older area, including the cathedral. We returned to our hotel at about 5pm for a shower before heading out for food.

    We wandered into the old town and had after a couple of drinks found a restaurant. The food was good but we were pretty annoyed that they would not serve tap water! After food we headed back to the hotel.    Read more

  • Ceri ChaplinCroatiaTraveler
    111111

    Split to Hvar

    October 17, 2023 in Croatia

    Early alarm call this morning at 6am to get ready for breakfast and then to be able to arrive on time for the ferry from Split to Hvar.

    The morning was chilli and after breakfast we checked out, retrieved our car and drove the short distance to the ferry port. We waited in the line for the ferry and were boarded just before the scheduled departure time of 8.30am.

    The ferry was a mix of freight locals and tourists and we headed out into the channel not long after 8:30 past 3 cruise ships which were docked in Split for the day.

    The journey to Hvar took just under 2 hours and we were soon docking in the port. We decided that as it was only 10:30 and away before we could check in we would go to see the main town. We arrived there and spent some time exploring before grabbing some food and then walking up the steep hill to the citadel which sits above the town itself.

    By now it was almost 2:00 p.m. and so we returned to our car and drove the 30 minutes to the hotel that we are staying in for the next couple of nights.

    The hotel is a resort which was probably built in the communist era but has mostly been upgraded. It sits on a lovely inlet and amongst pine trees.

    We checked in and had a few drinks in the bar, a short walk and then back to the room for a shower before tea.

    Honestly, tea was disappointing. It was a bit of a canteen although to be fair, for her price we're paying I don't expect that you could be too harsh. After tea, a night cap and then back to the room.    Read more

  • Ceri ChaplinCroatiaTraveler
    Suddenly I'm the car whisperer!111

    Vrboska

    October 18, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    We woke up to the sun shining behind the curtain and I decided to head out for a run. Once I was back and showered we headed to the restaurant for breakfast which was another buffet affair.

    We arranged a wine tasting visit with our receptionist and walked the 25 minutes into Vrboska for 11.30 ish. The bar overlooked the waterside but was generally pretty quiet. After a coffee we moved on to the wine tasting and tried 3 different wines served alongside a lovely platter made up of mostly local ingredients!

    We sipped on the wine and nibbled at the food for well over an hour. The owner told us that it was their last day of the season!

    We wandered back along the coast to the resort where we then spent the afternoon playing cards and yahtzee! The sun disappeared and it got chillier and more overcast but we stuck it out!

    After returning to the room for a shower we went back to the dining area for some tea before eventually heading back to the room.    Read more

  • Ceri ChaplinCroatiaTraveler
    A tight squeezeThe photo doesn't quite slow how choppy it wasAt the hotel bar

    Hvar to Cavtat

    October 19, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ 🌬 21 °C

    We woke to a very different view from our hotel room... It was very windy and had been raining. I decided I'd still attempt a run and was surprised when I got outside to find that it was still quite warm, and very humid.

    When I returned from my run we headed for breakfast and then checked out. We drove about 20 minutes to a small fishing village called Jelsa and stopped for a quick coffee before continuing our journey all the way along the island of Have to Sucuraj, where we were catching a ferry back to the mainland.

    The roads in y the island were well maintained but quite narrow and instead of hedges either side, there was often a drip of a few feet into the field below; the drive to Sucuraj took about an hour and we joined the queue for the ferry. The sea looked a little bit rough but after cramming on far more vehicles than I thought might be possible we still departed on time.

    The crossing was a little bit choppy and it was very windy but we arrived on the mainland without incident and began the drive back to Dubrovnik which took about 2 hours.

    Our hotel for the evening was a further 20km from Dubrovnik and just a 15 minute drive to the airport. The fishing town of Cavtat is pretty and had a cluster of hotels. By the time we arrived it was after 4pm and so after check in we went for a few drinks and some cards at the hotels bar, overlooking the water... Fortunately the bar was covered and so we were not affected by the odd light rain and watched as the light faded.

    We had a quick shower then wandered in to the town and selected a restaurant from the navy that were offering food. The food was lovely and by the time we had finished it was gone 10pm so it was time to return to our hotel for bed!    Read more

  • Ceri ChaplinCroatiaTraveler

    Dubrovnik to home🙁

    October 20, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    After breakfast we checked out and had a walk around the headland before returning back into the town for a coffee (at least I had a coffee but Ed had a beer as he wasn't driving).

    We had one final walk for getting in the car and driving the 10 minutes to the airport. We checked in and then spent the time in the lounge waiting for our flight.

    The flight was uneventful and we landed back at Gatwick to get a train home. The first train was fine although very slow but the second terminated at Swindon due to flooding. After waiting around on the station for about an hour with nobody seeming to know what was going on and all trains displayed were cancelled, another train did turn up and thankfully took us to Stroud.    Read more

    Trip end
    October 20, 2023
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