holidays 2012 - day 03: laundry, rooftops, city walls

we wake early after a good night's sleep and head to dubrovnik after a quick breakfast. once again we leave the car outside the centre and walk down the dozens of stairs.

we climb the steps up the city wall shortly after the ticket booth has opened, so it's still rather quiet. i'm grateful it's not all blue sky and merciless sun, but hazy and cloudy for most of our long walk around the old town.

heinz & i on the city walls


built between the 13th and 16th centuries - and certainly built to last - the city walls are dubrovnik's main claim to fame. all in all, they're over 2 km long and up to 25 m high - quite impressive. of course they offer great views of the old town they encircle and have protected for so long.

stari grad, framed


i'm intrigued by the glimpses of people's lives in this rather public place: laundry hung out to dry, open windows, pillows left to air, chairs in narrow backyards, little pots of herbs on mini balconies, residents having a smoke out the window.

backstreet balcony


there are also plenty of cats in more or less unusual places, some making for rather picturesque or funny scenes.

doorway with black cat


there are schools, sports grounds tucked away between walls, not even big enough for regular games of football.

sports ground with a difference


there are rooftops reminding me of venice, pockmarked and looking out of place with big, white satellite dishes. there are odd chimneys and broken roof tiles. somewhere below a band is playing jazzy music. the sea glitters, and kayakers on a day trip disappear behind lokrum island.

we make our way around rather slowly, joined by more and more visitors to this spectacular place, and overtaken by most. afterwards, the sun's out for good, and we enjoy some palačinki (pancakes) with ice cream in a narrow side street, just off stradun. more sightseeing in the old town follows,

detail, church


but we long for the beach and a nice long swim. lovely, lovely water! at night, we have delicious barbecued chicken, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, and bread right in front of our tent, jealously watched by the campground cats and dogs.

photos of day 03

holidays 2012 - day 02: dubrovnik-bound

excellent sleep on the mattress, and we're up early (holidays, after all, are not for slackers!) to drive down to dubrovnik. there's still the highway till some place below split. i fall asleep very quickly and wake up somewhere in the middle of nowhere (and just in case you are wondering, no, it is heinz driving at the time, not me). off the highway, it's winding roads across the hinterland, at first dry and rocky, then a fertile plain opens up before us: the neretva delta, a paradise of orchards, fields, canals.

fertile lands


we stop at a fruit stand and sample just about everything there is, including honey-coated almonds and delicious peaches. a feast for our taste buds! with the shopping done, we move on to the magistrala, the coastal road - infinitely more beautiful than what you get to see along the highway. we enter bosnia & hercegovina around 01:30 pm. we stop in neum for petrol and a couple of pictures, leave BiH about 15 km down the road, and are back in croatia. very scenic road along the coast: cliffs, little villages built into rock, and always the deep blue sea. we drive past dubrovnik, stop for a few photos of the old town just south of the city.

first glimpses of the gorgeous city by the sea: dubrovnik


we find a campground ("laguna") in a small place called plat. with the tent set up and after a bite to eat, we are off down many stone steps to the beach in a small bay. nice swim! we decide to go into dubrovnik for dinner, where it's a walk down many steps to stari grad (the old town), pizza, and then a stroll along stradun in the heart of stari grad. strange to think i've been here before, many years ago, when things were very different in this part of the world. also intriguing to think how many pairs of feet / shoes have worn the cobbles so smooth.

stradun, looking liquid


it's a gorgeous, warm evening, i take photos of the old town, and on the way back to the campsite, also of dubrovnik, all lit up, from a distance.

the lights of stari grad, dubrovnik

photos of day 02