At 6 am in the morning all of the other tourists are still in bed. Plus, the movie set was dismantled so we could see more of Diocletian's Palace. -- Split, Croatia
At 6 am in the morning all of the other tourists are still in bed. Plus, the movie set was dismantled so we could see more of Diocletian's Palace. -- Split, Croatia
At 6 am in the morning all of the other tourists are still in bed. Plus, the movie set was dismantled so we could see more of Diocletian's Palace. -- Split, Croatia
The Krilo catamaran that was about to take us to Dubrovnik at 53 km/hr with stops on Brač Island, Korčula, Hvar and Mljet. Our bikes were folded and bagged and easily fit into the luggage storage area. I would estimate that the vessel was at 15 to 20% capacity at most. -- Split, Croatia
Just outside of the old walls is this little bay with a nearby restaurant where I ate in 2003. When I asked the waiter if we could enjoy a drink there he rudely said that it was a restaurant and we could have a drink outside on the deck or the patio. Excitement to be back... dashed in an instant. -- Dubrovnik, Croatia
Just outside of the old walls is this little bay with a nearby restaurant where I ate in 2003. When I asked the waiter if we could enjoy a drink there he rudely said that it was a restaurant and we could have a drink outside on the deck or the patio. Excitement to be back... dashed in an instant. -- Dubrovnik, Croatia
Just outside of the old walls is this little bay with a nearby restaurant where I ate in 2003. When I asked the waiter if we could enjoy a drink there he rudely said that it was a restaurant and we could have a drink outside on the deck or the patio. Excitement to be back... dashed in an instant. -- Dubrovnik, Croatia
One of the streets with restaurant after restaurant all of which offered mouth-watering items. Many showed us their menu, invited us in, and wished us well on our way. -- Dubrovnik, Croatia
All of the side streets had a monster of a staircase. Lesson to those who don't travel light - if you come here but choose accommodations up that hill, you will struggle. We saaw two such people struggling with gigantic suitcases. You have been warned. -- Dubrovnik, Croatia
WHAT better way to start another day in Croatia but to load up a touring bike and roll away into the sunrise? And what better way than downhill all the way to the harbour? And what better stop to make than at the cafe for a latte? None better.
It was a bit chilly, though, at about 10 C so I had on my cycling jersey, my thin fleece and my Gore-Tex cycling jacket and was still a bit cool. After our cafes we veered sideweays a bit to Diocletian's Palace, which we could actually see from the cafe. Where yesterday there were crowds of people and sections were walled off for some filming, this morning those walls were gone and there were NO other people in the palace. I didn't mind that a whole lot.
After a few photos we cycled the rest of the way down to the water's edge and over to Pier 10 where our Krilo catamaran was waiting though not yet boarding. Bikes were quickly folded and wrapped in their bags and were now 'luggage' (free) rather than 'bikes' (50 €) each. Just before they lowered the ramp for boarding there were about thirty people there and a few more came along before departure. It was easy to carry the bikes up the ramp and set them into the luggage storage area then pick a seat alongside the windows.
Departure was on schedule at exactly 8 am as the catamaran pulled away from the pier, turned 180 degrees and headed out of harbour eventually reaching a speed of 53 km/h. At times the seas rolled a bit so the ferry rocked side-to-side but nothing bad at all. At each port the ferry decelerated then very quickly sidled into the pier, was tied off, ramp dropped, guests off, guests on, then reverse everything before heading back out to sea. Very efficient. Stops were made to Brač, Hvar, Korčula, Mljet and finally Dubrovnik - arriving at 1230 pm on the nose.
Some people were a little pushy to get off of the ferry so we took our time, then carried our luggage out to the fence and quickly packed things onto the bike and rolled out to the street. Speaking of the street, it was really busy - so busy that we ended up riding a good part of the way on the sidewalk. There was climbing but it wasn't too steep and at one point I changed the GPS routing from bicycle to pedestrian - a change that led to an issue for Alex and me in Portugal last summer when we ended up dragging our bikes through soft sand for many kilometres.
The last hill we came to led us right to the gate of the Old City just outside of the fountain. A stop was first made over to the wall overlooking a small bay, then we walked our bikes down the ramp and into the Old CIty's main street. There were people all about but it was quite alright rolling our laden bikes carefully along. The gps led us right to the door of our apartment and the servers from the nearby restaurant pointed us to the exact door. We bizzed in then pleasant Maja came to escort us up after offering a storage room at the street level for our bikes so we wouldn't have to carry them up three flights of narrow steps.
A cute little apartment, it was perfectly located so before long we headed out to take a few pics and get some groceries at the supermaket located within the walls. The plan was to make a mushroom-pesto-cheese pasta, with some Croatian red wine, and... a Milka dessert, of course. What else would it be?
Our wanderings before and after supper had us exploring streets and sections all over the old centre and a few parts just outside. After supper the light was particularly beautiful so MA took some night photos. Eerie and sad were the memorial markers for some lost in the bombings of 1991-92 and the photos of the extent of the damage. On some buildings it was apparent where the old section of the building still existed but had portions of new limestone that was replaced after the terrible shelling done to the city.
Starting to cool off, we returned to our apartment where I had to journal and MA had to edit her photo extravaganza.
Today's ride: 15 km (9 miles) Total: 29 km (18 miles)
