So we arrived in Dubrovnik late Thursday night, after spending a day shopping in Athens. The most exciting part of this day were my new sandals which I had purchased the night before, which were custom made for my feet, and felt like walking on clouds after two days in my former new sandals which left 5 blisters and a bruise. So magical. Anyways, we arrived in Dubrovnik at around 8:30, and made it to our hotel by about 9:30. We were amazed by how beautiful it was. The old town is a beautifully walled city, at the bottom of the mountains, right on the sea. We were arriving just as the sun was setting over the city, and, just wow. Our hotel was a ways out of the old city, but right by the beach! Perfection!
On Friday we first took the bus into the Old Town, and took a look around before walking the city walls-- walking the 2km around the city, which had beautiful views, but with temperatures soaring into the high 30's was very very hot. Since we were so hot, we decided after lunch to head back to our hotel, and spend the rest of the day on the beach. We spent a lot of time swimming, in very deep, clear, and warm water. It was wonderful swimming.
That night we met with our tour group for the next two weeks of our trip. We got all checked in (apparently all the paperwork our tour guide had said Rocky was a girl, so there were a few bumps in the road trying to find him a room, but got sorted) then we had a welcome dinner were we met our tour mates. We then headed into the Old Town for a tour of the city, were we learned about the history of Dubrovnik, including that the main street had once been a canal separating two feuding communities, but after a Romeo and Juliet story of a boy and a girl from each side falling in love, the two communities set aside their differences, and filled in the canal, joining their two communities. We also learned about Dubrovnik's history in the Yugoslav wars, such as that it was under siege for an entire year, with no food or people being able to get in or out.
Saturday was a free day in Dubrovnik, and Rocky and I went on a kayaking tour. We kayaked 7.5 km, around Lokrum island and the city walls. This included paddling past a nude beach, and a stop in a cave with a beach, were we went snorkelling! Which was sooo cool! We then headed back to the hotel, thinking we would spend the afternoon swimming, only to accidentally fall asleep for 4 hours. When we woke up we did take a swim, eat some supper, then re-pack our suitcases.
This morning we headed out of Dubrovnik and into Bosnia and Herzegovina. Our first stop was in Mostar, where we saw a bridge that had been built several hundred years ago, but was bombed during the Yugoslav wars, and rebuilt again afterwards. We also saw locals jumping off the bridge, a very impressive feat as the bridge is very very high. We then ate lunch, and continued our journey into Sarajevo, where after settling into our hotel we headed into the old town here, learning about the history of the town, particularly about the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, and the Yugoslav wars. There is a large Turkish influence here as they occupied the area for hundreds of years, giving the town a very different feel from others we have visited. We ate dinner in a very old building, and the food was just amazing!
Tomorrow we head into Serbia. If we can get interent access, we'll be sure to update the blog as often as we can!
Later days,
Kathleen.
Sounds so amazing! And custom made sandals!!! :)
ReplyDelete