Day 80 The Long Road Home!

Saturday 09/06/2018 Apartments Cirjak 411 Sveti Petar na moru, Sveti Petar, 23207, Croatia

We leave Croatia today and we arrive in Croatia today... confused well so are we...... we left our Rooms in Dubrovnik and headed north towards a little place on the coast about 140ks from Split.... called a Sveti Petra! Not far from Bio Grad one way and Zadar the other way!

The road was unreal, very long 2 lane Hwy that just seemed to go for ever. Shame we dint have this running up the coast of Australia would be unreal travel to Cairns if this went the whole way....

The countryside was still very mountainous but not like Montenegro’s rugged formations... kind of smoother, however there are a lot of valleys and in all the valleys there is either olive groves or vegetables and fruit being cultivated... then beside the hwys are little brightly coloured market stalls... so wanted to stop and look, but we are on a mission when we get in the car, so no stopping.....so I just click away trying to capture the look from afar rather than up close... we actually headed up lady Ston and pulled of the Hwy which isn’t easy to do, just to see how far back it was, and yes only 12k so we headed back... so glad we did what a little gem of a place this turned out to be, unreal...so much to take in, again for an hour. A quick drive around, then a cuppa before a quick walk to explore... I will admit that it does feel like being on a guided Tour, I think John should be a tour guide no mucking around with him, you get there you look fast you go... I know we have big distances to cover but by golly it’s a quick take in and move on, a taste of the world tour all over again some days.,. But he does stop and he is very patient while I take my pictures, so I can begrudge him when we have a time schedule to keep too... if I was the driver it would probably be midnight from all the stops on the way before we get to our destination.... so to be fair he keeps me honest maybe some days too honest....

Ston is an unreal town with this huge 5.5k wall up and around the mountains around it...see below for history on Ston!

Once the tour director realised our time was up in the car parking centre, another paid for one we dashed back to the car and off.... the Hwy continues to be unreal, 2 lanes and smooth as.... when we entered the Hwy we had to collect a ticket from the ticket box so we knew somewhere along the way we would have to pay... fortunately we managed to have lunch 🍴 along the Hwy going off without a tollway, but by the time we hit the Sign for Zadar that was where the bite occurred, around $20 for about 200ks so I guess not too bad... and the roads are unbelievable!

After we turned off to say I was disappointed was and understatement, it was Rocky yes, but appeared so lifeless and uninteresting, the little villages we passed through getting here were lifeless and very dull... and by the time we got here it was very disappointing on the surface of things! I stupidly had in mind the quaint village we had found the other day for lunch near Dubrovnik...Why I do this for the life of me I don’t know... because it is never as you imagine... However give me an hour to settle in and I start to see the good points instead if the negative... the apartment is lovely, no it doesn’t have aircon in the bedroom, first one that didn’t... no it doesn’t have tongs, a microwave or a toaster, but it’s very new has a great view, well stocked kitchen and we get to have a whole apartment block to ourselves at this point for 2 weeks bonus... so once I settle in unpack and see the good points, I am able settle in. Before we actually went into the apartment we had to get some bits and pieces for dinner and the next few days... we had scene where our apartment was, so we headed to Zadar to find a supermarket... we found a big one on the outskirts of Zadar which looks like it is a pretty big city, from where we came in it looked as disappointing as the village we are in... but later when we had time to get ourselves settled and looked at the info our landlord had placed in the apartment, Zadar and the area has a lot to offer... so all is not what it seems on the surface once you dig it has little surprises everywhere.....well we hope so after reading all the info...

We got our supplies pork and salad tonight...

Once all is said and done appearances aren’t all they seem... you need to look further.... before dinner John wanted to check out some geocache spots across from our apartment along the inlet... so off we go and this is when I finally wound down and relaxed enough to see this us actually a very peaceful tranquil spot... and just across the road you could see them setting up a little beachside cafe fir the summer period... so hopefully it will be up,and going before we leave... the season has everything to do with the happenings... and we must be patient for the happenings to happen...

A real axing dinner a good sunset 🌅 what more could you ask for!

The Walls of Ston are a series of defensive stone walls, originally more than 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) long, that surrounded and protected the city of Ston, in Dalmatia, part of the Republic of Ragusa, in what is now southern Croatia. Their construction was begun in 1358. Despite being well protected by massive city walls, the Republic of Ragusa used Pelješac to build another line of defence.At its narrowest point, just before it joins the mainland, a wall was built from Ston to Mali Ston. Throughout the era of the Republic, the walls were maintained and renovated once they meant to protect the precious salt pans that contributed to Dubrovnik's wealth, which are still being worked today. Demolition work began on the walls following the fall of the Republic. Later the Austrian authorities took materials away from the wall to build schools and community buildings, and also for a triumphal arch on the occasion of the visit by the Austrian Emperor in 1884. The wall around Mali Ston was demolished with the excuse that it was damaging the health of the people. The demolition was halted after World War II. The wall, today 5.5 kilometres long, links Ston to Mali Ston, and is in the shape of an irregular pentangle. It was completed in the 15th century, along with its 40 towers (20 of which have survived) and 5 fortresses. Within, three streets were laid from north to south and three others from east to west. Thus, fifteen equal blocks were formed with 10 houses in each. Residential buildings around the edges. The Gothic Republic Chancellery and the Bishop's Palace are outstanding among the public buildings. The main streets are 6 m wide (except the southern street which is 8 m wide) and the side streets are two m wide. The town was entered by two city gates: the Field Gate (Poljska vrata) has a Latin inscription and dates from 1506. The centres of the system are the fortress Veliki kaštio in Ston, Koruna in Mali Ston and the fortress on Podzvizd hill (224 m). Noted artist who work on the walls project are Michelozzo, Bernardino Gatti of Parma and Giorgio da Sebenico (Juraj Dalmatinac). The city plan of Dubrovnik was used as a model for Ston, but since Ston was built on prepared terrain, that model was more closely followed than Dubrovnik itself. In terms of infrastructure like water mains and sewers built in 1581, Ston was remarkably unique in Europe.Weiterlesen