I had already had the harsh realisation during this trip that winter wasnt always the best time to travel for many reasons...but that had been reinforced once again with my third stop on the coast in Eastern Europe and having to cope with wind and rain and almost everything being shut!!
So as I said at the end of my Montenegro post, it was raining on the day I arrived in Dubrovnik, and HEAVILY!! But the trip along the coast was beautiful, not to mention stormy...definitely the highlight of doing the coast of these countries, even in winter.
I had booked a guest house to stay in and the owners very kindly offered to pick me up from the bus station which was very helpful considering the weather!! But also for any of those of you who know Dubrovnik, it is very spread out and VERY hilly so I would have had quite a trek getting there with all my stuff.
The owners were an elderly couple and their son who lived elsewhere in Dubrovnik with his wife but helped with the running of it all mostly in summer. So it was the elderly husband who picked me up in his little Peugot and showed me everything at the guest house and to my room...and then a couple of hours later, the wife arrived at the door of my room with a plate of home-cooked croatian cheese and spinach pastry!! YUM!!
...it was still warm from the oven!!
I spent one day walking to the Old Town and wandering around, "doing" the sights haha. I followed the path set out in "my bible", the Lonely Planet, and most things were closed or being restored, like the church!!
But in my wanderings I found a path leading down to some rocks which they must have problems with nudists using....
And instead of nudists gracing this rocky outcrop at this time of year, I found a couple braving the wild seas and doing a spot of fishing...
For my second day I took a long walk around the wintery coast, which was great for appreciating the environment and flora even more...it is very beautiful!!
One evening of course I HAD to go out for dinner and try some of the local delicacies...
Fish brodetto with polenta...amazingly fresh fish of course, it was very nice!!
And "Dubrovnik creme caramel" for dessert....the only difference I could find from a normal creme caramel was that it tasted more citrusy.
And then leaving the restaurant which was in the Old Town, there was hardly anyone around and it had been raining outside, so the streets were all shiny!!
Then it was back on the bus again, to head further up the coast to Split...once again, the lovely man at the guest house dropped me off at the bus station too.
Split I also experienced mostly in a shroud of rain...well actually it was more on and off in Split and more calm there for some reason.
A bit like in Dubrovnik, there wasnt much to do in Split, and what was in the guide book...the palace mainly and some other bits...were mostly closed!!
Once again, I did a lot of wandering around the wet streets and went for a few walks up to the park on a hill above the city where there is a great view of the bay and further around, of the coast...
I also had the chance to be "in-charge" of a hostel for a night in Split!! Haha
The hostel I stayed at was very nice and comfortable and easy to find. The nice woman running the place also gave me a full run down with the map of where everything was in town and what there was to do, which was very helpful and meant I didnt have to ask many questions later...however later in the evening when I had returned from dinner and she was exasperated as the only other two people who were booked into the hostel for the night hadnt showed, and she had called them to see where they were and they said they had found other accomodation as they couldnt find the hostel, she came into my room and said "Ok, so I am off home now. There is another person booked to arrive tomorrow but they wont be here until 1pm, so I will be back around then...ok, goodnight!!". And she left!! Haha...So I was staying in this apartment of a hostel all by myself, banging and crashing around as loudly as I liked!!
Oh, and before I go...something I saw at the market, that I have seen before but made me think of something which my parents always used to say to us when we were little and asked "Whats for dinner?"...
"PIGS TROTTERS!!"
Ci vediamo
Jo xox
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