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.

A WATERY WONDERLAND

Travelling south down the stunning Croatian coast we were delighted by the turquoise sea, the islands that keep this part of the Adriatic calm most of the time, the towering limestone crags and the pretty villages.  The (mostly) very good road surfaces made driving a pleasure but the Croatian drivers coming round bends on the wrong side of the road were very scary and one of them hit our wing mirror smashing the plastic housing but fortunately our “Mirror Guards” prevented the glass from breaking. The driver did not stop!

We spent a day walking up the gorge of the Paklenica National Park.  It is very popular with rock climbers having many bolted routes and the possibility of climbing new routes with permission.  The views were superb.

On the way we passed the remains of ancient villages and a water mill. 

The curiously shaped roof is called the helmet.  We followed the stream up as far as the mountain hut but the climb up to any of the surrounding peaks would have been long and arduous especially in such heat.

By complete contrast the Krka National Park is set in a deep gorge cut through a high rocky limestone plain.  As you approach it, it is invisible until the road starts descending steeply into the gorge.  We decided to go on a minibus tour organised by the site owner and as a result were able to see the best parts starting with the complex of lakes and islands at Skradinski Buk. 

The islands are connected by wooden walk-ways and the lakes separated from each other by waterfalls and rapids.

It is all incredibly beautiful.

In some of the restored buildings you can see a working watermill grinding flour, a forge and traditional crafts like spinning and weaving.

Our tour took us to more waterfalls…

…and the island monastery of Visovac.

 We were provided with an excellent lunch of traditional cold meats, cheese and bread washed down by a couple of glasses of local wine.

Finally we were able to visit the Orthodox monastery at Carigradska Draga. 

The frescoes on the walls were wonderful but not old…

…and we saw the catacombs where the first Christians worshipped and many were buried – their bones still lying on a stone shelf.

The whole area was fascinating including the many houses partially destroyed during the Balkan War and the new villages built to house survivors and refugees from Bosnia.

We were heading towards Dubrovnic and en route stopped at two more lovely little coastal towns, each with its well preserved old town.  In the first of them – Sibenik – there was a fountain with lots of colourful, live turtles swimming in the water and basking in the sun... 

...and in the peaceful old town, the Cathedral had a frieze of carved faces round the walls said to be sculptures of all those local people who didn’t contribute towards the cost of the building!

The second town –Trogir – was built on an island just off shore.  Once again we were camped right by the sea on a second island and just a short walk from the bridge over to the old town, now a very popular destination for tourists and sailors (this really is the sea and not a river)...

...and guarded on its seaward side by an old fort.

Like many of these coastal towns, Trogir was delightful but had few unusual or dramatic features.

CROATIA - HOT! HOT!! HOT!!!

The contrast between Croatia and Italy could hardly have been greater.  Everywhere we have travelled so far the roads have been excellent, the towns and countryside have been clean and well cared-for and the icing on the cake is that it has turned hot and sunny with day-time temperatures rising into the thirties!

We just drove straight across the neck of land belonging to Slovenia and into a large peninsular in the north of Croatia called Istria, stopping briefly at the small hill town of Bizet which was very peaceful but in need of a little TLC.  We spent our first night at Motovun, another hill town. 

The small site was half way up the hill and run by the hotel in the old castle at the top.  It was quite a hike up the old cobbled road…

…to reception – but worth it.  We were able to walk round the old walls and swim in the indoor pool at the hotel.  The views were splendid.

We turned west to get to the coast.  On the way we passed through the small town of Pazin where there is a very deep gorge which ends suddenly as the stream disappears into a hole in the ground.  We enjoyed the walk down into the gorge, round an interesting trail with boards pointing out the different flora and fauna and back up to the other side.  Reaching the top we found a zip wire right across the gorge to near the castle – we were not sure if we were glad or sorry it was not operating that day!

We reached the coast at Poreč with its unusual and interesting church – the Basilica of St Euphrasius where we had views over the town from the bell tower. 

The Basilica had some lovely mosaics and in the museum we were able to see archaeological finds from much of the Basilica’s past back to roman times.

Travelling south we came to Rovinj (the j is pronounced like the y in yes) where we camped right by the sea...

…and visited the old town next day.  Rovinj, like most of this part of Croatia, was once ruled by Venice and the winged lion – symbol of St Mark, Patron Saint of Venice, can still be seen on the gate into the old town.

Continuing south towards Pula we came across a re-constructed shepherd’s hut remarkably like the houses called trulli that we saw at Alberobello in Italy.  Perhaps the original settlers in Alberobello came from this area.

Pula’s only claim to fame – its huge Roman amphitheatre – sits somewhat incongruously between hotels and shops and overlooking the busy commercial port.

Nothing could have prepared us for the coast of the Kvarner Gulf south of the city of Rijeka!  The journey took much longer than our sat-nav said it would because we stopped in nearly every layby to look at the ever changing scene of seemingly barren off-shore islands and limestone cliffs.

In the bays and inlets were lovely, clean little towns with small harbours and delightful piazzas and the sea was as calm as as an English village pond.  Wherever we stopped we saw new wild flowers for Jane to photograph such as this Bladder Campion…

… and interesting wild-life like the Scarce Swallowtail Butterfly.  (Not as rare as its name would suggest!)

Senj had a castle high up on a headland and a pretty little Cathedral with an eclectic mix of old and modern decoration.

From the village of Jablanac…

…we walked round the coast to the idyllic Zavranica Cove…

… before reaching the Paklenica National Park.

ART, GONDOLAS AND MORE!

Arriving at Siena late morning we parked up and walked into the city where we spent the afternoon before heading out to a site a few kilometres away.  

The hill-top old town has narrow streets and very high buildings which John found a little oppressive.  In the centre is the large town “square” – Piazza dei Campo which is a sloping D shaped area with, along the straight side, the Town Hall – the 14 Century Palazzo Comunale with its 102 metre high bell tower. 

Normally a busy area surrounded by cafés the Piazza is the setting for “Il Palio” – an annual event dating from the Middle Ages.  Following a series of colourful pageants there is a wild horse race which lasts about a minute as ten of Siena’s 17 Contrade (town districts) compete.  The prize is a silk banner called the Palio.  On race days the cafés charge €300 - €400 for a seat on their terraces.

The Cathedral is another one made of black and white striped stone.  Inside there are unusual pictorial floor panels and a side room housing books that belonged to Pope Pius II and walls decorated with colourful frescoes by Bernardino Pinturicchio.

Our next stop was Florence with its famous Ponte Vecchio bridge, over the river Arno, lined with jewellers’ shops.

We stayed on a “Camper-stop” run by the local caravan club.  It was a short bus ride from the centre which we spent a couple of days exploring.  There are many interesting buildings including the spectacular Cathedral, Baptistery and Tower.

Florence is a city of art with a huge number of classical sculptures and paintings (many of people killing each other!) but, unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos in most of the museums.

It was the home of Michelangelo and we really wanted to see some of his sculptures as we had read about his life in “The Agony and the Ecstasy” by Irvine Stone. (It is an easy-to-read, entertaining and fascinating account of his life and work.)  We had already seen his beautiful “Pieta” in St Peter’s in Rome as well as the ceiling and end wall of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, which he painted but his best known sculpture is probably his statue of David. This was one of two copies on display in the town as the original is in a museum!

As well as beautiful art and sculpture we thought the local Police were worth a photo!

We fell in love with Venice!  

It is amazing – literally – a maze of canals and streets sometimes so narrow that two people could hardly stand side-by-side!  When high tides and strong winds combine to raise the sea level a few feet they put out walkways rather like large low tables and the ground floors for many houses and palaces are flooded!

We went to the Anglican Church on the Sunday morning and then just wandered, seeing the Grand Canal with the Rialto Bridge (another one covered in shops) …

… ate ice creams in St Mark’s Square with its palaces and Cathedral  …

In the Cathedral we were not allowed to take photographs of the walls and ceiling, completely covered in gold mosaics.  Because of the poor light the effect was rather oppressive but in the logia, a covered area outside the main doors, were some more fine examples of this decoration.

We  saw the covered Bridge of Sighs across which condemned offenders were taken to the new prison …

… and watched tourists enjoying gondola rides.

Venice depends entirely on its canals.  As well as gondolas, water buses, water taxis and numerous pleasure boats there were police boats, ambulances and goods boats ferrying everything from ready mixed cement to frozen food for the local shops. 

The refuse was also collected in floating “dustcarts”.

Venice brought us almost to the end of our visit to Italy.  We had been shocked by the dirt and squalor of the west coastal towns and countryside where everyone seemed to be miserable!  Sicily was somewhat better and we enjoyed its wildness and cheerful people.  As we moved north and through the mountains we saw delightful, clean villages and towns and stunning scenery. We have been almost overwhelmed by the wonderful art treasures and remains of ancient splendour but Venice was one city that we agreed that we would like to return to and spend more time exploring. 

So now it is across a little bit of Slovenia and into Croatia.