As we came out of the mountains we were in awe of the beautiful,Croatian coastline we were heading towards. After reading that it can cost up to 120 euros a day to park in Dubrovnik, BR found this place called Cavtat, which is a short ferry ride along the coast into Dubrovnik old town. Found our small apartment and finally made contact with the owner. Walked up about 80 steps but was rewarded with a wonderful view of the harbour from the windows..which made up for the walk up. At least we will get a lot of exercise everything we go up and down. Took care of some fundamentals, like washing....great to have a washing machine again and had a bit of a walk. The following day we were excited to go into Dubrovnik. Headed down to the ferry, purchased a ticket and boarded. It was a half hour ferry trip and was very nice looking at the coastline. We thought this might be nicer than the bus. As we got closer to Dubrovnik you could see the wall surrounding the old town and it was magical. Everyone we met said how great Dubrovnik is...but until you walk through those gates, you have no real idea. I could see why a lot of The Game of Thrones is filmed here...it has such a medieval feel. The main square or stradun as it is called, is a very long rectangle and wherever you look you see beautiful old buildings (though over time a lot has been rebuilt). We also saw thousands of people...clearly a stop on a lot of tour buses agenda. A little confronting as we had not had such large crowds the last wee while. (Large tours are really annoying as they prop right in front of everything and have their 15 minute talk and you can't see much. They monopolise all the key sites. Grrrrrr. We try to stay ahead of them). After I consumed a delicious ice cream we got tickets for the wall and walked around the whole of old town via the wall and battlements that encircle the town. The views were amazing, both into the old town and along the coastline and islands. Around every corner was another photo opportunity...and I took heaps.This took a good hour and a half and was up and down hundreds and hundreds of steps. I must say...I do think a lot of those medieval people must have been quite fit. Among the churches we saw, St Blaise stood out as did the cathedral. The most majestic site I thought was Lovrijenac Fortress. It is built upon a 37 meter high sheer rock overlooking the sea. It looked rugged, old and majestic perched on this cliff. Stopped for lunch in one of the 100s of quaint looking cafes and then continued. Looked at the Onofrio Fountain, Pile Gate, Sponza Palace, the bell tower, and the oldest pharmacy in the world, inside the Franciscan Monastery. I loved Drubrovnik...it was everything you picture when you romanticise about old Europe. Ferry home and seafood for dinner near the water.
The following day,we explored Cavtat. Walked around the peninsula and looked at the rocky outcrops,people swimming and as it was getting hot, returned to our apartment, grabbed the swimmers and headed back for a swim. Found a rocky outcrop (there are no beaches Aussie style...everything is rocky or very fine pebbles...you need to wear thongs etc) that we could negotiate and took the plunge. The water was cold, but when you were in it was glorious. Sat on a rock reading and BR was quoting prose from Treasure Island he was reading because he found it so amazing. Perfect.....relaxed for a few hours and headed home...for more seafood.
Light rain set in on day three so we took the opportunity to plan where we would go next as we had nothing hooked for the following night. Read a few blogs and stumbled onto a place called Trogir, further up past the Spilt...which is where we wanted to visit next. Booked another apartment and we now had another home for the next 3 nights.
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