Okay, time to wrap this puppy up!
We left Rome Sunday morning. This was a good call because there was NO traffic because everyone is in church. Otherwise driving in Rome would be scary! We drove south towards Naples (passing but not stopping at Monte Cassino of WWII fame) and then driving east toward Bari. Just before Bari was a town called Andria, which is home to a UNESCO site. So off we went to Castel del Monte, this neat octagonal castle that was the hunting lodge of Frederick II. It wasn't a long visit, but it's a pretty area, a neat castle, not expensive, and a great place to visit on this route. It's not worth a separate visit to Italy or a 4 hour drive from Rome, but it IS worth it if you are in the area. We enjoyed it more than we thought we would. The pictures don't do it justice.
Then it was on to Bari to catch the ferry to Dubrovnik. We had read horror stories online about getting squared away for the ferry, so we allowed lots of time. However, it was easy in a car--not so much if you arrive in Bari by train. We had no problems and enjoyed hanging around the ferry terminal. Cars and people from all over the world waiting to take ferries to other places in Italy as well as Croatia, Albania, and Montenegro were shopping, eating, and just hanging out. Cool atmosphere. Bari itself is a rough and ready port town. Hard-scrabble for sure! We did go to a grocery store to get some food but otherwise didn't see much of Bari. I don't feel we missed too much.
We boarded the ferry, where we had a room, and enjoyed a snack before setting sail at 10 pm. We looked at the night skyline of Bari (there were even some fireworks for something or other in town), did some stargazing, then hit the sack. At 6 we got up, had a quick breakfast, then watched the coastline of Croatia approach. After docking (7 am) we headed to our hotel. As it was too early to check in we just left the car and headed into old town Dubrovnik. Walking along the old city wall is a must, and we did that first before it got (too) hot. Then we wandered through the town, looked at the plazas and churches, and had lunch. The old town isn't that big, but it is beautiful. We sprung for a boat ride (at 11 Euros each could we go wrong?) on a glass bottom boat that took us around the old city a bit, then went over to the base of the city walls and went for a quick swim. There is nothing like swimming in the warm, clear (VERY CLEAR) Adriatic Sea just below the stone walls of an old city. They even had a fresh water shower built into the walls of the city so you could rinse off. After soaking in some rays we caught a bus back to our hotel (which was basically a nice room, bathroom, and balcony in someone's home--they all seem to be that way), checked in, and showered. Then we walked back down to the old city for dinner. We got back up to our hotel in time to catch the last rays from our balcony.
Waiting area for the ferry--buy a bunch of junk, check in, or eat greasy food. Those were the options. We found the back way to the water and looked at boats. It involved going through the truck parking lot, which to our mind was far more interesting than the car lot. Below are the cars beginning to line up by destination.
Bari by night--on board the ferry!
Walking the walls of old city Dubrovnik.
From the walls of the old city.
See the umbrellas? We stopped for cold juice at this cafe on the cliffside just outside the old city walls.
This guy had parrots and for a fee you could have them join you for a photo. The red one got a bit fresh and climbed up on my head, which he wasn't supposed to do. Fun--I had a parrot on my head in Dubrovnik!
The old city. On the far right is the area where we went swimming, but people were swimming around most of the city.
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Entrance to the harbor. See the walkway on the left side? That led to where people were swimming.
Notice the glassy stones? They have been worn super smooth by years of feet and are tremendously reflective and shiny. Very cool! This is the main drag through old town Dubrovnik. Oh, and there are no cars, scooters, etc. in the old city. We liked that!
Our hotel was up the hill a bit, but an easy walk down and an easy bus ride up from the old city. This was the view from our balcony.
The next morning we headed out to drive up the Dalmatian coast. The section of Croatia in which Dubrovnik lies is actually cut off from Croatia proper by a tiny strip of Bosnia Herzegovina. We drove through this little section (maybe 20 km?), stopping briefly for a photo of the amazing coastline (actually for a READ poster for my classroom). The border was funny--there was a stern looking lady and they seemed to be checking papers, so I pulled out the passports. Gus held them out to her, and she just smiled, waved, and said "okay." Never even took them in hand. Guess it's not all that hard to enter Bosnia! The plan was to drive to Split, which is supposed to be an awesome town on the coast. However, as the drive was slower than we had originally thought and we had heard great things about House Izvor in Plitvicka, we decided to skip it. So after several hours in the car--first along the beautiful coastline, then moving ever further inland into the mountains--we wound up at our overnight lodging, a lovely house and cabin set well back from the main road.
We arrived early, settled in, and because we were early, got the cabin. Awesome! We just laid around in the sunshine and read. For the first time the whole trip it wasn't hot--I even got out long pants! We met the owner, Tomaslav, who showed us the trail to the spring in the woods where he kept his sodas and such cool and his trout alive until dinner time. He cooked up a great steak for us on the grill that night, complete with a potato-and-spinach side dish that we loved, stuffed mushrooms, and funny commentary. In fact, the place was lovely, but the best part of House Izbor is its owner, who speaks multiple languages, is always on the go, and built the whole thing (house, cabin, benches, table, outdoor grill) himself. For dessert he brought out a pastry, and when we asked what it was, we were told that he didn't know. He said he was up at 3 in the morning, so he just baked this thing. Well, it was delicious! What a way to spend an evening. We can't recommend this place highly enough. There were others there--a French family and couples from Italy, France, and one other place (didn't catch where). Tomaslav had bikes available, but we ended up not using them as we just enjoyed sitting and reading.
Neum, Bosnia Herzegovina
Croatian countryside
Choosing something to drink from the spring with the trout swimming around.
House and cabin from the spring
Yes, this house, cabin, outdoor cooking area, etc. were all built by hand by Tomaslav.
Tomaslav cooks fresh-caught trout.
We hit the sack early in the cute cabin, then enjoyed a nice breakfast on its porch before checking out and heading just a bit further north to the actual Plitvice Lakes, another UNESCO site. This series of lakes is created by some neat geological activity, and the lakes cascade into one another with lovely waterfalls. The famous Karl May movie Schatz am Silbersee (a German western with the famous Winnetou) was filmed there. We rode in a unimog (Gus liked that) up to the top, walked down the boardwalks looking at waterfalls, dragonflies, fish, and even caves. If you ever get a chance, go to this place. We even took a boat across one of the lakes, and it was great, easy hiking.
These steps were so weird--steep, but offset in this weird way. The ones below were more normal.
The unimog
After leaving the park and grabbing a bite, we drove back to Zolling. This involved driving the remaining country highway to the town of Karlovac, then a winding road across the border to Novo Mesto, Slovenia, and then onto the highway. Five minutes into Slovenia we were pulled over by this lovely young police woman. Turns out you are required to drive with your lights on in Slovenia, so she kindly informed us and sent us on our way. Now, I do have to say this. Croatia was amazing. Beautiful, clean, friendly . . . we highly recommend it. Slovenia, however, is Europe's big secret. It had the stunning mountain scenery, the laid back attitude, and many of the same stores as Austria. It was as clean as Germany. But it still has wild places and is not heavily populated. Go to Croatia, but for sure go to Slovenia! Then it was on to Villach, Austria, up to Salzburg, and then home to Zolling. We got in around 10pm.
Overall a great vacation!
Entering Slovenia
This was the view from the highway near Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.
Next up--getting you caught up on the process of moving out of an apartment in Germany (and it IS a process) as well as our visit in Glückstadt and our trip back to the US.
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