Rome to Kuala Lumpur

We have spent most of the last few days travelling. Ferry from Split to Ancona in Italy where we just missed a train to Rome. We waited a few hours and then nearly missed the next train as we were on platform 2 and not platform 2 west!

We had a quiet afternoon in Rome, leaving the next morning for Kuala Lumpur. We are currently sitting in the airport terminal, waiting for our flight to Langkawi.

We are looking forward to a few quiet days on Langkawi to recover from our very hectic holiday schedule. Each of the last 7 nights we have spent in a different bed or in the case of last night, sitting in an airline seat.

Last Day in Croatia

Standing on the castle wall in Trogir

Having packed our bags and waited for the rain to clear, we still had the best part of the day as we could not board our ferry to Italy until 6.30 pm.

We headed off by bus to visit Trogir. We crossed the historic bridge into the old town and it was just as good as all the other stari grads! We did not even bother with a map but ambled through the streets and narrow laneways with their marble cobblestones. The squares were delightful and the souvenir shops had exactly the same things as all the other stari grads in Croatia.

The cathedral was especially interesting with the church being quite ornate with some unusual carvings of Adam and Eve wearing fig leaves and looking embarrassed. There was a separate baptistery with a hooded font surrounded by lots of carved cherubs - all boys. The Treasury had reliquaries of gold and silver, including arm bones encased in a golden arm studded with gems.

We climbed the bell tower that provided wonderful views over the city. It did however, have particularly steep and narrow stairs.

We had an enjoyable lunch in a restaurant near the harbour that provided great views and cover from the rain.

Our final visit was to the castle where we walked round the walls and looked at the views of the harbour and the town. Right next to the castle wall we had a view over the amusement park complete with trapeze trampolines. What a contrast between the old and the new!

Makarska Riviera

National Day in Croatia
The limestone mountains behind the harbour in Makaska.

We travelled from Mostar down to Makarska, located between Dubrovnik and Split. It has a stunning setting with a mountain range behind and a beautiful coastline and some of the best beaches we have seen in Croatia. (smaller pebbles)

We headed out to look around carrying our sunnies, hats and rain jackets and by the time we returned, we had used them all but this time, just a light shower.

We did not originally plan to visit here but are very glad we did. The place has a real holiday feel but without the significant cultural highlights, other than the nightly disco.

We now return to Split to reunite all our baggage and to prepare for our crossing to Italy.

Celebrating Croatian Style

Earlier, we posed the question as to how we should celebrate Anti Fascism Struggle Day and the National Day.

We asked lots of locals about the first holiday and most did not seem to know what it was for. Perhaps they could not explain the concept in English. Since the last public holiday we experienced, they have repealed the law requiring everything to close so on outward appearances, it was just another regular day.

The best answer we received on how to celebrate was “It is a day for eating and drinking.” Sounds like some holidays in Australia.

We were out of the country for the national day but there must have been some formalities because when we returned to Croatia, there were wreaths on several significant monuments. Like some holidays in Australia - wreaths, then eating and drinking.

We visited Trogir the following day and again saw wreaths commemorating those who had lost their lives in the fighting from 1991. Like all wars, many were very young.

Mostar

Our bus trip to Bosnia Herzegovina was an interesting journey. In fact, we visited twice. Driving from Dubrovnik along the coast was beautiful. Heading north, we entered the narrow coastal strip of Bosnia Herzegovina that cuts across Croatia to the Adriatic Sea. It only goes for a few km and we went through Croatian and Bosnian immigration and then Bosnian and Croatian immigration as we exited back into Croatia a short time later.

About 65 km from Dubrovnik, we turned east to Mostar and soon reached the border to repeat the passport formalities, our 2nd trip to Bosnia Herzegovina.

Mostar is a fascinating city but sad in some ways. It was badly damaged in the fighting and its famous bridge, built in 1556, was destroyed in 1993. It has now been restored in the same style. A poignant sign says “Remember 1993”. This small sign is the only indication that it has not been standing since 1556.

The town is truly beautiful with wonderful views over the picturesque Neretva River. There are more mosques than churches, a 16th century Turkish bath, a great bazaar and overall, a fabulous ambience.

While we were in the town, the heavens opened again. Our washing was out drying on the line as were our new rain jackets. We found a restaurant to shelter in for a late lunch. It had fabulous views of the bridge. It was a great time to take photos of the bridge as no-one was silly enough top be out walking. We sat for a long time over lunch and only got a little wet on the return trip to our accommodation.

Research Update

As we continued our research last night on our new economic indicator, we discovered a flaw in the ‘basket of commodities’.

It is based on the premise that the commodities are all equal. Now while some ice creams may be slightly better than others, we can tell you that if we apply the premise that all wines are equal, we have to say that some wines are more equal than others.

We should have followed our brother-in-law, Tony’s advice and spent more than one euro on a bottle.

If the image is blurred, it looked ok to us! Maybe you are just seeing double!

Motor to Kotor

Outside the walls of Kotor
Back to Dubrovnik

Off by early bus to Kotor in Montenegro. The weather looked threatening when we left Budva but over the mountain, the sun was shining. We were walking around Kotor by 9.15 am and enjoying the old town. Like all the other old towns (Stari Grads), it was the same but different!

We explored churches, the Maritime Museum and lots of old palaces (grand houses). The walls are amazing running up from the town to the top of the mountain, around the top and back down. We sat in a restaurant eating local food for lunch looking up over the buildings at this astonishing wall. What a feat of engineering!

The harbour was a contrast - lots of boats, many costing over $100 million.

It did rain when we were in the Maritime Museum and when we were on the bus back to Dubrovnik, but we stayed dry as we had new rain jackets by now. The others are back in Split!

The trip around the lake was glorious with wonderful views. Back in Herceg Novi, this time in dry weather, we discovered that it wasn’t much better than the 1st viewing in the rain.

The views over Dubrovnik, as we returned from our 2 days in Montenegro were superb.