DUBROVNIK

Travelling to Dubrovnik presented us with a bit of a problem.  The direct route would take us through about 9km of Bosnia – a country not covered by our motor insurance!  We decided that the risk was not worth it even for such a short distance.  The alternative was to catch a ferry over to Pelješac (pronounced Pel-ye-shats) a long thin peninsular attached to the mainland at its southern end.  It only cost about £35 each way and we were very glad we decided to do it.  

The crossing was hazy but the views still lovely and the mountainous peninsular was worth seeing.  We travelled up and down a good but winding road through a great wine producing area, past little coastal villages, crossing from side to side of the mountains.

At the southern end is Ston – once an important fortified town.  In fact the fortifications crossed the peninsular, no doubt defending it from the encroaching armies of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. 

Ston’s other claims to fame are its oyster and mussel farms and the salt pans where mineral-rich sea salt is still produced.

Dubrovnik is amazing (I’m running out of descriptive words for this wonderful country!)  Built on a hillside, its ancient walled centre occupies a small headland sticking out into the Adriatic.

Its massive walls have survived many attacks – most recently in 1991-5 when, during the Balkan War it was seen as a powerful symbol of Croatian independence and was heavily bombed and shelled.  The siege lasted nearly seven months and although many buildings were badly damaged, most by fire, the walls were never breached and the city was liberated by the Croatian Army.

 Now, after having rebuilt the roofs, refurbished internally and carried out little more than cosmetic surgery on the outside it it very difficult to see signs of the terrible damage which is recorded, along with details of the men who died defending the city, in a small, low-key memorial room off the main square.

The old monuments were sand-bagged and survived including Onofrio’s Large Fountain of 1444 in which visitors were required to wash themselves before being admitted to the city.

Like many of the towns we have seen, Dubrovnik has lovely churches and fine palaces but none of them are spectacular.  The main street, rebuilt after the devastating earthquake of 1667, with its outwardly unadorned town houses (now mostly containing tourist shops, ice-cream parlours and restaurants) still display a civic commitment to purity and order.  There are no garish shop fronts anywhere in the city and all window frames and doors are painted the same shade of green!

On the return journey up the Pelješac peninsular we had another night right by the sea before catching the ferry back to the mainland and stopping, for the last time by the sea, at Omiš.   Omiš, at the seaward end of a deep gorge, was a bit too touristy for us but very popular with climbers, most of the routes starting from the main car-park in the town!  We drove up the gorge which was very pretty with lots of wild flowers, but not as spectacular as we had hoped.  We turned north on a very good main road along which we passed some strange ancient tomb-stones…

…and a ship!

We wondered if a captain was so much in love with his ship that he had his retirement home built to look like it.