In Croatia

19 June

Today we have taken it easy with a late start a lovely bus ride through modern Dubrovnik - we are staying in the outer suburbs. It was a really quick ride into the old city and a gentle walk around the city walls.  The old city has been extensively rebuilt after the devastation of the civil war.We walked around most of the wall - looking at the old city and out over the sea and sheer cliffs into which it was built - all amazing - most amazing is how the old city has been faithfully rebuilt after what was truly an attempt to annihilate it - along with the intent to crush what was dear to the Croatians in the attack by the Serbs in 1991.

We wandered back to our lovely apartment   - visited the local supermarket en route - we drooled over the local produce and made our choices - supported by people who spoke good English - this is amazing and we find it everywhere we go in Croatia and Dalmatia. So we had had lunch and took stock - and headed to the highest point above the city - known as the Panorama. This meant a car trip up seriously winding., narrow roads where the drop was perpendicular to the sea below. Stephen manged to move off the road in a timely manner when  traffic came in the opposite direction- not always cars - buses also use the route! When we arrived the view over the city and surrounding islands gave us  great geological perspective - as well as huge WOW factors in the arena of beauty.

We hopped back into our car -it is so good to have the independence of our own transport - and all power to Stephen who is rarely rattled by invigilating in foreign countries with their own whys of doing things. We could not do and see what we have without his ability to calmly navigate us through all these sites - oh yes! and thanks to the lady who lives in our GPS - she is often annoying - sometimes wrong but always gets us to our destination n the end!

Right - that was the end of our day - we wandered down the road to a local restaurant for a nice meal and the back to sleep in Apartment Silva.

20 June

We had chats with our offspring today , met Albert the resident turtle who comes out in the morning
just outside our apartment to warm up - he rotated himself like a rotisserie chicken at regular intervals.

Having enjoyed meeting Albert we then headed up to Ston - on an isthmus at the base of the Peljesac Peninsula. The wall are amazing being 5km long - the longest in Europe and built for Dalmatian defensive positions. Before sighting Ston we had a wee walk through the medieval site of Mali Ston - a small walled town that predated Ston - all very old but with people still in residence

Thereafter we traveled up the peninsula - gazing at huge mountains sparsely clad in vegetation on one side and at sheer drops to glorious blue sea on the other - often giving way to tiny coves wherein small villages nestled - all built with white stone walls an red terracotta tiled rooves.

When we saw a sign to Trstenik - in the Orebich district - we made a snap decision to turn left and find out what lay below! A good decision as it turned out as it is a lovely sleepy village nestled along the coast - we had lunch in one of the local cafes - I ate scampi for the first time! By my last  scampi I had worked out how to extract the flesh and avoid the cuts to fingers! Stephen had mussels cooked in an exotic sauce. We had wee chuckles because - as we should have known - the mussels came in a goodly sized shell - but each mussel was the size  a little larger than my thumb nail - But! There were lots of them,!!

We then found a little corner of the pebbled lined beach - mostly empty - changed into togs and leapt into the water (crystal clear) - we were kindly alerted by a couple from Prague with impeccable English that there we sea urchins lurking in the stones we were wandering over that would love to sting us - OK _ I retreated to the pebbly area near the shore and splashed about - Stephen manfully defied sea urchins and swam out a way!  After that we sat in the sun on the shore and then drove back to Ston - stopping to buy wine at a family vineyard en route. Ar Stone we paid more attention to the huge walls and to the salt pans that line the harbour - thence venturing into the town of Ston to order oysters - we were told that they were very special - like viagra! In fact Ferdinand of Austria had a permanent order from Ston to ensure he could eat 100 a day! OK! They were nice and fresh but small and in a  flat shell - quite unlike the big juicy oysters we are served up in NZ. However the entire peninsula is lined with mussel and oyster farms so everything is very fresh.

So it was back to Dubrovnik - we are snacking here to night so a quick trip to the supermarket was needed - yum! lovely fresh produce and a discovery every day.