Zagreb

Friday was our last full day in Europe and Zagreb. Our apartment being so close to it all was great and we headed out for the market- Dolac. This is a huge what we would call farmers market, but with tons of very cool stands. We spent a good few hours wandering and absorbing the sites- a great place and to think they have this market every day- what a great place if you are a local to buy all your produce, meat, dairy etc. We wandered to the edges of the market for a coffee- my last in Croatia (sniff) and then we were off for some more shopping. The main street- Ilica was tons of great stores and so we shopped and shopped- I needed to buy another suite case to bring all my extras home. We stopped at the Krac candy store and had the best ice creams ever (also our last Croatian ice cream- sniff!) and then went back and dropped it all off at the apartment.


Later we headed out to explore the lower town- we had done the upper town the night before. We walked and passed by so many amazing museums- really wish we had more time to see them all there were so many. We will have to come back to this city that is all there is to it!

We ended up back at the Strossmartre in the upper town. We walked around a bit and then ended up on the café-lined Tkalčićeva Street in the heart of Zagreb’s Upper Town. We found a great place to eat and had a huge meal that filled all the gaps. Strolling down this street after dinner was amazing- so many bars and restaurants, as well as great stores to shop in. Then it was back to the apartment and start packing- boo hoo.

Dolac entrance

Ilica Street

Delaney in her soccer attire 

Great looking buildings house the museums around town.

Art work

Traditional getup

the last supper

the last palačinka

Dolac market

Zagreb Bound

Thursday we had to leave this beautiful island of Hvar.  The ferry to Split only runs a few times a day so we had to be sure that we made the 11 am ferry.  We left at 9:15 to make the 17km trip to Stari Grad and the ferry.  We arrived and were in the second line up- should be no problem to get on this one- turns out the ferry was at 11:30 now (the schedules change like the wind here!)  Of course there was a coffee shop- so we sat back and relaxed for a bit and had a coffee.  At about 10:30 we saw a ferry arrive and went to the car- as I have mentioned the ferry loading is pretty lawless here so if you are not in your car you will lose your spot.  Lucky us we were in our car and the guys in front of us weren't - we had to drive around them, but not before the impatient people behind us thought they would go around both of us!  We made it on to the ferry with no problem- it was big one.  Went up and found a seat for our 2 hour ferry ride.  It felt like a short ride and soon Split was in view- we unloaded pretty quickly and were on the road to Zagreb. We made our way to the A1 and the main highway (thank goodness no more twisting, narrow roads!)  Making the 4 hour journey to Zagreb was pretty painless and fast.  We stopped once at one of the rest stops for lunch and then we were north bound.
Zagreb appeared and the directions we had actually took us to the right spot for check in at the apartment.  (There was certain amount of guessing as to what street we were on as a big city like Zagreb is no different to the small towns in that there are no street names- really??!)
Parking the car we carted our luggage the 2 blocks to the apartment and settled in- what a great place!  Camera on and we went to explore.  The location is great- we are 1 block away from the start of Zagreb's main square - Trg Bana Jelacica and from there the old town up on the hill.  We walked the little streets and saw some amazing sites- the St Mark's church- with it's incredible roof, the old gate to the city and the view from the top of Strossmayer - which appears to be the Monmatre of Zagreb, at the top of the funicular.
We stopped for a dinner at Pod Griokim Topom- a great traditional cuisine restaurant. Now Croatian service- firstly no matter if you are at a high end resaurant or not the service is awful- granted they don't get tips but the service is always the same; get seated give you a menu, come back take your order- drink and food at the same time; if you only order your drinks you may wait forever to get your food order in; when you get your drinks they disappear until the food arrives; once the food is served you are on your own- too bad if you need something else- the waiter is nowhere to be seen; then when you are done the plates will sit for a while and then they are cleared and you could sit up to an hour then- not with a dessert menu or anything just sit until you catch their eye and maybe get your bill!  It is strange and we heard that Croatia was at the bottom of all the European countries for service- not far off, which is so strange for a country where everyone is so friendly and willing to help and stop to chat!
Anyway- we then we strolled down to the square and home.  I like this city a lot!

Zagreb Cathedral

This clock stopped in an earthquake sometime in the 1700's

The tie was invented in Croatia- who knew!

Stone Gate

St Mark's Church

View from the top!

Main square

The apartment.

Pokojni Dol

Pokojni Dol Beach

We rented a paddle boat/slide for an hour-fun!

Waking up to a gorgeous Hvar morning we thought we would head into town for breakfast.  That was not a good idea- most restaurants have great food- breakfast was not so good.  But we ate up had a coffee, walked up the 110 steps and got ready for the beach.  We drove 10 minutes to the beach- getting to a road that we though lead to the beach we were not sure if it was a road or a pathway- we proceeded with extreme caution as there was a sheer drop off the side and only one car could get by at a time, with no pullouts.  Phew okay it was a road as it ended in a parking lot- once again scary roads!
The drive was worth it- the beach was gorgeous!  We scored a couple of lounge chairs at the waters edge and a beach umbrella- thank goodness I got an umbrella as I would have been burnt to a crisp otherwise.  The temp was in the mid 30's! The girls hit the water and Frank hit the rays- I hit my book.  The only thing that sucked was that an hour into our beach time my book ran out- that is what sucks about e-readers.  Oh well- it was great people watching. The girls came out for a breather- and an ice cream; the beach at the end of the road with a nothing else around, had a coffee shop and ice cream stand of course.  Back in the water I headed in with the girls and we played ball for about an hour- the water was unbelievably clear- at times it was like we were in a pool- and pretty warm too. 5 hours at the beach we figured it was time to head home.  We drove to our street only to be stopped by a policeman telling us we couldn't go down the street!!  Apparently some lady had died and there was a HUGE line up on the street waiting to pay their respects.  We had to park and try and make our way via the many steps to our apartment- made it.  We had no idea the apartment was across from the graveyard!  About an hour later we were able to get our car and we headed out for the night- we had decided to head up to fort before dinner.  This majestic fort looks out over the city from high up on the hill.  We drove up (previously we had thought we would walk up, but that would have taken about 90 minutes and we thought it might not be open.  What an incredible view- we explored this 14 century fort for about an hour - prison cells, museum and view - all pretty amazing.
Then we headed back in to town for dinner- we went to a restaurant called Park Hotel and had a wonderfully, delicious dinner.  What a great end to a lovely visit in Hvar.

View from the fort

Travel day

Tuesday morning early- 9ish - we left the gorgeous Dubrovnik behind!  Headed up the coastal D8 highway en route to Drvenik the ferry terminal to Sucuraj on the island of Hvar.  It took about 2 hours on the winding, single lane highway from Dubrovnik- once again the BMW's, Audis and Mercs of the world tailing you so close that it is scary and over taking on blind corners- a little much for the nerves.  Arriving at the ting ferry terminal it was quite busy- we lined up for the 11am ferry- when it was time to load- there were a couple of cars without people and so others were cutting in front of us- we missed the ferry by 4 cars- but I am sure than more than 4 cut in front of us!  There is really no order at the ferries, I have to say- you have to be quick or you will miss them!  The next ferry was at 11:45am- we were on this one for sure.  30 mins later we were on the island of Hvar.  It was a 77km drive to Hvar town- shouldn't be too bad?!  Oh my- this was a NARROW, twisting road that went high up into the mountains and then descended quickly, then up again and there was no shoulder at all- just sheer cliff!  Cars coming at you don't seem to notice the white line and cross over into your lane far to often.  Eventually an hour later we arrived- found the apartment and settled in.

The apartment is about 200 stairs above the city- nice view!  Walking down the stairs landed us on the Riva and the main strip. We strolled in to town and saw the amazing architecture, lots of vendors and unbelievably huge yachts- the rich and famous hang out here!  We walked all the way to the hotels which I had previously booked and then cancelled as it was $500 per night!! It is a stunning hotel- but too rich for my blood.  Then we walked into town and found a great spot up the stairs to the fort- for dinner.  We had an okay dinner- should have had fish!  There was a South African couple across from us and I chatted to them- apparently Croatia has become a hot spot for SA'ers to vacation- who knew?!

After dinner we enjoyed the town at night and then got home at about 9:30, we were pooped after our day of travel- white knuckling takes it out of one. To bed and a hot day ahead of us tomorrow- looking in the mid 30's!

the massive yachts at night!

Elephiti

Monday was an early wake up!  The bus was picking us up at the hotel up the street to take us to our boat for a day on the water!  We were up at 6:45 to catch the bus at 8:15- we were on schedule and at the harbour in minutes.  The boat is a replica of the ancient sailing boats of Dubrovnik- pretty neat.  The  Karaka set sail at 9am and we were off to our first island Koločep – It is the closest island to Dubrovnik, located 5 km from the Dubrovnik harbour at Gruž, with a population of 294 inhabitants. It has seven pre-Romanesque churches dating back to the times of the Croatian kings, from the 9th to the 11th century. What a quaint town- we were here for an hour- so we sat on the bay had a coffee and watched the boats float in and the huge yachts setting up for the day.  Then we were off and heading to Šipan – The farthest and largest island in terms of area (15.8 km²) and population of 436 inhabitants. It also has two towns ,Šipanska Luka and Suđurađ- which is where we sailed into for a little stop over- there are sand beaches here!  We took up a spot on the dock and enjoyed the sun and boat watching.  Back at the boat it was lunch time.  The decks were set up with a delicious lunch- salads, tuna, cheese, cold cuts, chicken, veggies- so much to eat and so good.  Before we knew it we were at the last island- Lopud – Second in size and best known for its sandy beaches, it is located between Šipan and Koločep islands. It's well developed in terms of tourism infrastructure, including the Lafodia hotel in the town of Lopud. (looks like a nice place to stay- maybe next time!)  We found a great sunny beach- I had to rent a beach umbrella and so we go two loungers and umbrella and sat back to enjoy.  The girls were in the water in a flash- I got to read and enjoy.  The water was so nice though couldn't resist and after a few hours of sun in I went.  So nice and inviting!  Before we knew it 3.5 hours had passed and we had to head back to the boat.  Back on board we were homeward bound- they served up some watermelon and we took an hour to get back.  We sailed into Dubrovnik at 6pm and back to our apartment.  We freshened up and headed into town for our last night here- too bad as this is a great town- could have used an extra day or 2.  We had a quick dinner on the go- still full from lunch, did some site seeing and some souvenir shopping and then back to pack up and bed.

The Karaka 

Morning coffee

lunch!

swimming time...

The wall

Saturday we had intended to wake up early and walk the ancient wall that surrounds Dubrovnik. We wanted to beat the heat and the crowds. The only thing we managed to do was beat the crowds- as there weren't any.  We got to the wall and it was already hot- but up we went! We had entered the North or Buza gate and climbed straight up to the first turret - what a view.  All before us were red clay roofs- apparently 2/3 of these were destroyed during the 1990's war.  So the majority of the roofs are bright and new.  We continued along the wall- with a little breeze to cool us- the view constantly changing.  We quickly came upon a fruit juice cafe (of course you would find such a thing in the ancient walls!) That was refreshing!  We continued on and eventually came to the seaward side- we thought this would be cooler- but the wall is higher here and so no breeze.  Eventually we were greeted with gorgeous ocean views.  It took us just under 2 hours to walk the wall- which Delaney reckons must be double the length of the Great Wall of China!!

We made our way back to the apartment and a late sandwich lunch.  Relaxing a bit and cooling down- it was beach time!
Floatie and goggles in hand we ran across the street outside (the apartment opens up straight onto the road and a blind corner!) and over to the beach. The girls played for about 2.5 hours in the water - I floated for about an hour out in the gorgeous water. Back to the apartment, wash all the salt off of our bodies and into town for dinner. I had read a few reviews at the apartment about a great little place called Lady Pipi.  Heading off into town we were in search of this taverna.  One always has to hope that you are heading in the right direction as there are no street or alley names when you need them.  We knew we had to enter and then go up the steep stairs to the alley closest to the wall- up we went, and up and up!  Sweating we arrived at the taverna to be greeted with a line up. Guess everyone had heard about how good it was.  We decided to wait as we had nowhere to be. After about an hour we were seated up on the terrace overlooking the city- wow.  Frank and I ordered the fish plate to share- they cooked all our food on the open grill on the terrace- it smelt so good and we were starving.  Our platter was huge- sea bass, tuna, squid, mussels and prawns!  Frank and I demolished it :)

outside apartment

getting ready to climb up high

and higher still!

Lady Pipi I presume?!!!

After this amazing dinner (it was worth the wait!) we rolled down the stairs and to the sight of Dubrovnik at night- we strolled the main street and Frank and the girls had their ice cream (I had NO room!) and then it was home to bed as we had an early morning the Monday.

my yatch in the front there!!!