Month July 2012
The revised plan looks like it’s a good one. We arrived in Ljubljana this morning and spent the day walking around the old town (like you do). The old town itself with it’s castle, churches and government buildings is rather unremarkable as compared to other east European capitals. A bit more colorful than the almost exclusively sand colored old towns of Croatia but not really special.
What is special as compared with the Croatian old towns is the lack of tourists. Most of the people on the streets seem to be locals going for a coffee and with that comes … Read the rest
We knew pretty early on that we could not move through Serbia due Yini needing a visa, so yesterday we took a bus to Montenegro to try to circumnavigate that problem. Unfortunately visa free entry did not equal hassle free entry. Yini got rejected at the boarder because we did not send a fax to tell them she was coming. So with a distressed girlfriend and in sweltering heat we started walking the few kilometers across the borderlands back towards the Croatian boarder.
As luck would have it, waving my thumb at passing cars paid off, and we managed to … Read the rest
I can say right from the get-go that Dubrovnik is both wonderful and horrible at the same time. Don’t get me wrong, the place is lovely, anyone with even the slightest interest in old architecture, castles, churches and the like ( I believe that covers some 80 percent of the human race) will love the city. What is less nice is the multitude of people visiting the city during the summer, there are people simply everywhere and you can never get some peace and quiet. I guess it’s better to be here in May or September. Now that that’s sorted … Read the rest
Yesterday was wholly dedicated to moving from one place to another. The original plan was to leave Vis in the morning and head for the island of Korcula and from there move on to Dubrovnik. Unfortunately this is only possible over the course of several days, with careful planning. With less careful planning it can take up to one week. However, we were set on going to Korcula so we headed back to Split with the ferry, waited there for a few hours then headed out again to Vela Luka on Korcula. By the time we got there it was … Read the rest
Today was an amazing day; we visited many places, saw many things and had lots of fun. We started off by renting a scooter from a friendly little place nearby our accommodation. We rode off to find some brunch but alas there was none to be had on the road we took. We did however find a sight well worth exploring. A small path led us past an abandoned house up on the cliffs overlooking the sea. There we found a set of stairs leading down into a small bunker with some slits for rifles.
To my left, green mountains with bare Rocky cliffs, a blue sky up above and a slope down towards azure blue sea. In front of me a thin band of asphalt bending of to the right. I slow down and savor the moment of being on a motorized two wheeler once again, my girlfriend behind me and the wind on my face. Then I lean into the curve and twist my right hand, the scooter shoots forward and zooms through the bend while a fizzy feeling of speed bubbles up within me.… Read the rest
I walk down the utterly dark tunnel, my flashlight the only source of illumination. The tunnel is long and narrow and vaulted overhead. The white paint on the walls has deteriorated over the years and a bunch of rusty metal clamps are all that remains of the previous lighting system. As I come closer to the end I can sense a faint glow somewhere, when I reach it, it turns out to be a crossroads. I go to the left because it’s shorter and there is light in that direction. It leads to a small open space within a low … Read the rest
After a pleasant ferry trip across azure waters and past lush islands, we arrived on Vis in the small town with the same name.
We walked around randomly for a while until a man who did not speak English offered us a room. I admit I was suspicious at first but it turned out to be alright. Dumping our things we headed down to a nearby slipway into the water so I could finally go for a swim. It felt wonderful.
With evening approaching we did a bit … Read the rest
Compared to the mild temperatures and overcast skies of the last two days, today is absolutely blazing hot. We haven’t really done much today except buy some boat tickets and stroll around basking in the sun. At the moment I am sitting on the ferry to Vis, a small island off the coast, waiting for the boat to leave harbor.
So, let me recap some of the things we did yesterday that I didn’t have time to write about in my previous post. The bus from Zagreb took about five hours including a short lunch break and brought us from … Read the rest
There is something about islands, or rather something about the intersection of land and water that is so personified by islands, that captures the human eye. Post cards from all over the world are full of that special magic that is a beach, a harbour or a cliff leading down to the ocean. And here I am on a ferry from the Croatian mainland sailing towards a far away island, moving leisurely through an archipelago with large islands off to both sides. The perfect moment then to snap that post card picture, or so one would think. In fact, due … Read the rest