South Croatia: Split, Dubrovnik et Ston

From Sunday 31 October 2022 to Wednesday 03 November 2022

Split

This morning marks the end of our road-trip in Croatia, we return the rental car to the agency. But it is not the end of our stay in Croatia for all that, we still have some wonders to discover, of which the city in which we are currently, Split. We will stay there two days and two nights.

After having deposited our things in our rent, we go to a street food which proposes very good Cepavici, the typical burger of Balkans. We taste the whole in front of the sea. And we see exactly the same cruise ship, that we saw in Zadar. Obviously, that spoils a little the landscape, but we are nevertheless lucky: imagine one moment the number of liners that there is in full summer period?

We go then to one of the parks of the city which, situated on a hill, allows us to have a panoramic view on Split. The weather is very nice, very warm for the season, this walk is a treat. On our way back to the old town (where we are expected for a free visit of the Diocletian‘s palace), we stop on the beach to admire the sunset. It is Sunday, the locals are out, we see young people having a drink on the beach, retired people walking their dog, parents playing with their child, couples rollerblading and cycling, single people sitting at the water's edge reading a book, and people swimming quietly.

When we arrived at our meeting point for our guided tour, we received an email: the tour was cancelled due to the lack of participants. It's really a pity, it's so much easier to get into the history of a city when a specialist tells it to us. And it's not by chance that the cities I preferred so far are those where I could put in parallel the monuments with the context that accompanies it. For Split, it's a bit different, because even without knowing all the historical context, it's a very easy city to love (at least the old town). The buildings are absolutely majestic, and you never stop being surprised. We have fun, we walk in the alleys. Victor looks for the best points of view for his photos, while pestering when somebody dares to put himself in his field of view. The dance club in visit in the old city does not make him the easy task, nor the woman in yellow down jacket who stops in front of every person to propose them a guided tour of the city. And yes, Split is obviously very touristy and once again, we are lucky to visit outside the peak season.

The next day, we stay in Split, but we change our accommodation. I'm glad, because I couldn't take a shower yesterday, because of a problem with the water heater in our rental.

Today, we want to take some time to settle down and organize the rest of our trip, that is, our imminent arrival in Bosnia. And we also want to go to bed early, because tomorrow we leave very early for Dubrovnik.

Finally, the day of rest, turns into a day of visit. We have seen the monuments at night, we would still like to see them by day. Moreover, we did not take the time to explore the surroundings of the old city. It's November 1st, many stores are closed, which is perfect for us, because it means few people in the streets.

We have dinner in a café that offers burgers (for Victor) and salads (for me). Since the beginning of our world tour, I am in need of vegetables. That's why I'm in a hurry to arrive in Bosnia, I know that their typical food is much more vegetable oriented (it's a vegetarian friendly country). The food is good, unfortunately, we are bothered by the smell of cigarette smoke from people a few meters away from us. In Croatia, as in Slovenia and Bosnia, we will discover it a few days later, it is allowed to smoke in cafés and restaurants.

On the way back to our accommodation, we find a restaurant specialized in pancakes (what they call pancakes, they are crepes, as they are called in France). It is something here: we have already seen several restaurants of this type. Then we choose a pancake (because we are not very hungry anymore), that we shall share back in our accommodation. And fortunately that we did not take more, considering the size of the portions. In spite of all our efforts, we will not succeed in finishing. Maybe for the breakfast tomorrow morning?

Dubrovnik

And well, not for the breakfast either, because when we get up at 4 am, to take the bus at 5 am, the stomach still asleep, does not absolutely want to be stuffed with chocolate pancakes.

We arrive at Dubrovnik around 9 am and we wait wisely in a coffee that it is 11 am, to take an Uber and to join the lodging which we rented for two nights. When we look at the price of the Uber, that seems to us quite respectable (36 kuna, that is to say approximately 5 euros). When we receive the details of the trip, a few hours later by email, we discover that we were finally charged 56 kuna (about 7 euros). The driver added penalties of waiting (the time that we cross the road to join him apparently), and preferred to make a long detour rather than to turn back. Not easy to realize all that, when we’re not from the area!

The accommodation we have is great: the view from the balcony on the sea and the old town of Dubrovnik below is splendid! I am delighted to sleep here for two nights.

We drop our bags, eat a quick snack, and then set out to conquer the imperial fort, perched on the 1362-meter-high Mount Sdr. There are two ways to go there: either you take the cable car, which allows you to get there in 15 minutes and costs 230 kunas per person (about 33 euros), or you take your little legs, which allows you to get there in 30 minutes (according to the locals, because I have more the impression that it was 50 minutes), and which costs at least 300 kunas per person.

Of course, we went up on foot. On our way, Jesus on his way of the cross accompanies us (engravings illustrating the stages of the way of the cross of Christ are regularly positioned along the way). And like Jesus, I feel like I am carrying my own cross (and it weighs a ton today). This climb seemed endless. I feel like a slug with elephant legs. I am literally living one of those nightmares, where you see the goal to be reached without ever really getting there. The lack of sleep (we slept 4 hours), added to the heat and a too light lunch explain, I think, my state at that moment. I have never been so delighted to reach a summit! The view from there is obviously very pretty, but remains less impressive than some views that we could have during our ascent.

What is really impressive is the Imperial fort (Tvrotava Imperial). Its construction began in 1806 by French troops, when Napoleon considered it useful to set up a defense system, non-existent until then, while he was fighting against the Russians and Montenegrins. When Napoleon fell, Dubrovnik belonged to the Austrians, who had the fort enlarged. Finally, this defense system will have a strong strategic interest for the Croats, when they will fight for their independence against Yugoslavia from 1991 to 1995.

We go down again then towards the old city, to go directly to the port. We would like to be able to go on the island of Lokrum which faces Dubrovnik. Its small creeks make it magnificent and would be perfect for a small bath. Unfortunately, we see the shuttle boat which does not sail at this period of the year.

We go then on the beach of the city (which is not a beach strictly speaking, but rather a set of footbridges arranged and leaned to the ramparts). We stay some minutes to observe the sun which goes down to the horizon.

To finish our day, we walk in the streets of the city. We see the stairs of the famous "walk of shame" of Cersei in Game of Thrones. Honestly, I recognize them only thanks to the tourist signs at the bottom of the steps. Dubrovnik, as well as Split for that matter, are very well known for the filming locations of the series. I would have to watch the series again in detail to identify them. But while strolling in the old city, one understands very well the choice of this place of shooting. It is true that one has the feeling to make a jump back in time.

Tonight, Victor is cooking at the apartment. It's basic, because we don't have all the necessary ingredients, but very good!

Ston

For this last day in Croatia, we wanted to make one of the most amazing monuments of the country: the biggest wall of Europe and the second best preserved wall in the world.

We thus take the bus to go to Ston. What we had absolutely not foreseen, it is that the bus deposits us in more than two kilometers of the city in question, in edge of road. No choice, to reach the wall, we have to go through the two kilometers on foot, on a departmental road (without sidewalk) with on the side of the road thorns (which remain planted in my pants) and heavy trucks which pass at full speed beside us. The only thing which reassures us, it is that we see already the wall of far, very impressive, what means, on the one hand, that we are in the good direction and, on the other hand, that it is really worth to continue. We arrive at Mali Ston (which means "small Ston") more than one hour after our arrival by bus. And as it is already late (more than 13 hours) and that the wall closes at 15 hours, we prefer to begin our visit at once. The wall connects Mali Ston to Ston, so we will stop for lunch in Ston, which is perfect since it is also the starting point of our return bus.

While it was 7 km long when it was built, the wall is now 5.5 km long and its purpose was to protect the peninsula from possible invaders. The more we go up and the more we have the impression to dominate all the peninsula. It is imposing! It is at this moment that the wind rises, and that the drops begin to fall, slowly at the beginning then more and more strong. We put on our rain gear, which we know will be very useful for the next few days. And indeed, it is only the beginning of the storm. Sometimes, we are obliged to stop a moment to let pass a gust of wind, before taking again our road. No wonder that at the bottom of the wall, we find hats, sunglasses or umbrellas. The stairs become slippery, it is not very reassuring.

So to congratulate ourselves for our effort of the day (and to be safe), we stop in a restaurant for lunch.

We spend the rest of our afternoon in a café, waiting for 6pm, the time of departure of our bus to Dubrovnik. It is the occasion for Victor to taste the Rakija, the national alcohol of the Balkans.

The wind outside remains impressive: we experience the famous Bura, a north-east wind, very present in the Adriatic basin, especially in winter.

We are happy to return quietly to our apartment, where we see the agitated sea knocking against the ramparts of the old city of Dubrovnik.

Dovidenja the Croatia, tomorrow, we leave to explore Bosnia!