Under the Boardwalk (Šipan Luka - Cavtat, Croatia)

Šipan is the name of the island and Luka is the port. It is a small island and Luka is pretty much a fishing village. It has a number of restaurants along the waterline that looked a very pleasant place to sit and while away the time. It was lovely to be away from the hustle and bustle of the main tourist areas, although we ended up having two other ships moored off ours.

This would make a nice escape from the Australian winter.

With such limited port capability, our ship was moored nose in with the bow only a couple of meters from a local's front window. A rather confronting sight no doubt first thing in the morning!

The church off in the distance.

We had a guided tour of the village which lasted around 45 minutes and covered a tad over 1 km. We walked through the village which appeared to have a population of cats that outstripped the number of people. They greeted us as we left the ship and were found lounging everywhere along the shoreline.

The welcome cat.

The tour weaved its way up to the church which provided views back over the bay. As we stood admiring the view the bells rang out for 7pm. We returned to the ship via a different way that required walking down a series of limestone steps. Apparently there are over 120 chapels and churches on the island. Back in the day each house had a chapel and the priest lived with the family. Not sure about that as a concept.

Outside an art studio.

There were a number of buildings that needed attention.

Basically the economy of the island centres around agriculture and fishing with some service work at the small number of tavernas. The island is renowned for having the most densely planted olive trees around the region.

The sunset from near the church.

Back on board, we had dinner and a music trivia night. We did not win. The questions were skewed to a slightly older demographic. The winning table left, heads high to the sounds of Queen's We are the Champions. Most unbecoming behaviour, dear reader. So the song title today is one of the answers we did not know. Under the Boardwalk by The Drifters, the original version was required not any covers.

The ship next door had a disco that didn't finish until after 11pm, although we were unaware of this until the morning when it was being discussed at breakfast.

A cave in the limestone cliffs.

We sailed at 9 am after breakfast and then moored the boat just after 10 am for a swim, probably our last off the back of the ship. It was another excellent spot, crystal clear water, sea grass, a few little fish and that was about it. We bobbed around and swam to and fro for half an hour. It was always interesting to see what drink with which the Captain would us back on board. Yesterday was Limoncello, today was Grappa. Pass. Not a fan. Best not to drink it near an open flame, dear reader.

After some reading and blogging on the back deck, it was lunch time. Already? I had a glass of bubbles to toast the valiant Warriors and avidly watched the score between the Sharks and the Roosters. Happily the Roosters were knocked out of the finals. Time to celebrate.

A lighthouse near Dubrovnik.

The early afternoon was spent cruising towards Dubrovnik, not that we are stopping there. Captain Neno, no, not Nemo, Neno, slowed the ship down so we could photograph the famous stone walls. It certainly is spectacular from the sea. The churches hold pride of place on the hill top within the fortress, of course, and a sizeable cross crowns the mountain behind the town where the cable car completes its climb.

The famous walled city.

We'll be back in a couple of days to explore the old town. The motor was cranked up again as we headed for Cavtat. We are here overnight because the government in Montenegro changed the rules and we are no longer allowed to dock in Kotor. We are completing that part of the journey tomorrow.

Cavtat.

Cavtat is another of the lesser ports, still populated by tourists, not as large as Split but not as small as Šipan Luka. The old town contains all the things you would expect, cafés along the waterline, a few market style stalls, restaurants and bars. Oh, and a couple of churches. I bet that surprised you.

We walked around the peninsula, about 2 kms. The shore is dotted with swimming spots, some that boast a bar. To hire an umbrella for the day was €5 and sun lounge was €9. Somewhat cheaper than the Golden Cape at Bol. On the other side of the peninsula, we watched a couple who were parasailing, get reeled in to the boat that had been towing them. They were landed on the boat. I always imagined they would be dropped in the water. This is new information. Excited. It's now on the list of things to do.

The other side of the peninsula.

The round trip brought us back near the ship at a small market. Nothing of any real interest. We then turned and walked to the other point before the sun beat us down and we returned to the safety and shade of the back deck of the Lady Eleganza. Once we had navigated the two British women posing at our gangway. No, dear reader, they were not a part of our cruise.

Did I mention that Cronulla Sharks beat the Eastern Suburbs Roosters in the knockout final today? Oh, sorry. Just checking.

There was not much more to report. It was a lazy day on board the ship, watching the passing parade on shore and the other ships attempting to dock alongside us.

We have a big day tomorrow so I'm not sure when the next post will appear.

Until then.

Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Rovinj - Pula)

We spent our first night on the Lady Eleganza. The ship itself is well equipped and the cabins are comfortable. Space is obviously at a premium, but there is a queen sized bed (with the weird European doona arrangement), a desk and chair and ensuite bathroom. We have three portholes or pill windows, one of which can open. However, instructions from Cruise Director Nora were not to open the window when at sea and also keep it closed when in port. I guess that means the window stays closed.

The MV Lady Eleganza

The cabins are on the lower two decks. The main deck has the dining room and bar, lounge and open deck at the stern. Above that there are two sun decks, the top one is completely open for the sun lovers and those unafraid of melanoma, and the other has a roof and protection from the sun and contains the spa or jacuzzi. Dinner is sometimes served here. Below the main deck at the stern is the access to the sea. The platform contains two ladders for easy access.

Breakfast is buffet style with cereals, pastries, bread, fresh fruit, bacon and tomatoes, you get the picture, with a separate menu on each table for the egg lovers. The only drawback, dear reader? Coffee. The coffee machine makes the most appalling coffee and the drip filter machine, well, I'm not ready to revisit the 70s unless it's for music.

The town square.

Our first organised shore excursion was a walk through the old town of Rovinj. The old town was initially an island and space for housing was so contested that the channel to the mainland was eventually filled in and Rovinj joined the mainland. We saw ample evidence of the old town wall and gates as we walked the narrow streets. The roadway is constructed from polished limestone blocks and the surface is invariably uneven and slippery when wet.

The first gate to the old town.

Our guide related a history of frequent conquests, from the Romans, through the Venetians, to the Ottomans and the Germans and each new stage has left its mark in both the physical appearance of the place and its customs and languages. The latest iteration is not as a result of a neighbouring conquest, but rather the invasion of AirBnB in which the old town dwellings have been given over to the demands of  tourism and the locals have vacated the antiquated apartments to take up modern residences further away. It might be romantic and quaint to climb rickety stairs to tiny spaces if you are only there for a couple of days but the appeal is not apparent for the modern permanent Rovinj population.   

Now an AirBnB. No lift.

We climbed the narrow winding road towards the church on top of the hill. The main street was lined with shops that were just beginning to set up for the day. There were many outlets selling chocolate and ice cream and a few cafés for the morning coffee and gossip session.

Narrow laneways.

We paused at one point to hear the story of a local man who has been been feeding stray cats for fifty years. As if on cue, he appeared and commenced dishing the most foul smelling concoction into bowls placed near a wall. Naturally, cats appeared from nowhere. The cats are required to keep the rats and mice in check. Allegedly. I've never seen a well fed cat chase anything except a patch of sunshine to rest in.

The cat man of Rovinj.

At the top of the hill was the Catholic church. Croatia is a very Catholic country. The effort required to reach the church would keep me happily in bed on Sunday mornings. The church of St Euphemia has a wooden statue that is covered in copper, adorning the bell tower. Unlike most statues, it is able to rotate in the wind and also acts as a weather predictor. When she faces the sea, the weather will be good, if she turns to the town, the wind is bringing rain and bad weather. Happily she was facing the water today.

St Euphemia is on top.

We went inside the church to see the tomb of the patron saint whose relics will be displayed later this month as part of her feast day celebrations. It was then time to wend our way back down to the main square to reboard the ship, ready for an 11 am departure. Lunch was served soon after we bid the picturesque Rovinj farewell, followed by our daily port talk to fill us in on the afternoon plans for our next stop, Pula.

The ceiling above the tomb.

Love locks and a cannon. Interesting juxtaposition.

We had a leisurely three hours of sailing before we docked in Pula. As we came into the port, the dominant feature was the shipbuilding yard and the rusting hull of a partially completed stock transport ship. Our guide for the afternoon was Nada and it turns out her husband has recently been laid off from the shipyard where previously over 1000 people had been employed. The current workforce is now set at 99, none of whom have the necessary knowledge or skills to actually build a ship - hence the rusting eyesore that now welcomes visitors to the port.

The Roman built arena dominates the foreshore of the town and was clearly visible from the ship and this was our first major stop on the tour. As we made our way there Nada provided a brief history of Pula. Much like Rovinj, there is a history of occupation and shifting borders. In fact, her grandfather was born in Austria, her father in Italy, she was born in Yugoslavia and her children in Croatia - all without ever leaving Pula.

The amphitheatre from the dock area.

The architecture reflected this and there were many examples of Austrian architecture sitting beside Italian and Roman contrasting with the dour building blocks of the socialist period.

Austrian architecture.

The arena, or colosseum as we might (incorrectly) call it, is in very good condition given it's 2000 year history. It is not as large or as grand as the one in Rome but it is one of the best preserved in the world. We walked the sand floor of the arena to tales of gladiators, male and female, and explanations of how the canvas roof worked. In its heyday it seated 23,000 screaming spectators. Today it is used for more peaceful pursuits, opera and music concerts.

The opera stage is to the left.

Underneath the stadium is chamber containing relics, amphora that were discovered in shipwrecks and also unearthed on land. There was also a wine press to produce wine for sale to the spectators. The other major exhibit was a Roman map that showed the distance between destinations, measured by travel time in horse and cart.

The wine press.

Back out into the sunshine, we walked the old town and stopped to observe old town gates and other reminders of the Roman days. Like Rovinj the roads were limestone blocks and some of the side streets were steep and slippery with polished limestone. I could imagine local kids sliding down the streets on wet days. 

Fun on a wet day.

In the middle of the old town shopping precinct sat a café with one table occupied by a seated statue of a man, seemingly enjoying a coffee. It turns out the celebrated author, James Joyce, lived in the building atop the café while he made ends meet teaching English. Apparently, he was not a fan of Pula, which is okay because we are not fans of his literary pursuits either.

The gate near Joyce's lodgings. They should have locked him out.

As far as the commerce of the town goes, there were the usual souvenir and ice cream shops as well as handcraft places and café. The Euro has only been the official currency of Croatia for three years and while its introduction was billed as a good thing for the economy, its people are not so convinced since inflation has skyrocketed by over 50% and wages have not followed suit.

We finished the tour at the City Hall, an Italian construction sitting beside the Temple of Jupiter. And that really sums up Pula, it is a town that represents it historical eras through the architecture.

The Temple of Jupiter.

City Hall.

We took our time walking back to the ship having exhausted pretty much what was on offer except sitting down for a coffee or glass of wine and we could do the latter back on board.

Dinner was served on the upstairs open air deck, a Croatian specialty, squid ink risotto with prawns. Entrée was tomato broth with celeriac and dessert, chocolate cake. You never go hungry on an APT cruise.

The shipbuilding yard is not so ugly at night.

The arena under lights.

Sunset from Pula.

The arena at dusk.

I honour of all the civilisations that dominated Croatia at varying times throughout history today's title, Everybody Wants to Rule the World is by Tears for Fears from 1985.

Until tomorrow.

Uptown Girl (Zagreb)

We were warned on arrival by Luca, one of the Art'otel workers, that Zagreb is the capital of Croatia but it is "not big like Canberra". In essence, dear reader, it is divided into the original old town areas of Lowertown and Uppertown and then there is new Zagreb, built after the 1960s. Luca maintained we could see it all in one day. Perhaps, but we don't like to rush. Yesterday, most of the day was spent on foot exploring our end of town, Lowertown. Today we are going all Billy Joel and visiting the Uppertown, or as he would say, Uptown Girl. That song was released in 1983, goodness, time flies.

Flowers everywhere

I'm still not comfortable with the breakfast culture here, but we purchased our pastries at Mlinar and then located a table at a nearby café and ordered our coffee. Again, the coffee was excellent. My pastry not so, half of it remained stuck to the bag. I blamed the sour-faced person who served us. She had one of those faces that made you think you were serving her. While we were enjoying breakfast, a very heavy rain shower swept across the area to the surprise and bemusement of the many locals seated around us.

Outside the Cathedral.

The Uppertown area is not as large as Lowertown and everything is significantly closer. Once the rain had stopped, we set out for Zagreb Cathedral. As you can see from the picture below dear reader, it was closed for renovation. Major renovation it would appear. The old town ramparts next to the Cathedral were also inaccessible. A pity, they looked quite interesting. Apparently many of the renovations are due to the earthquake from March 2020. It also explains the many buildings that have cracked and missing render.

The Cathedral under wraps.

From the Cathedral, we moved to the open air markets. In Ljubljana, they would be called covered markets because they used the same umbrellas to protect the stall holders from the elements. Again the produce looked a picture, fresh fruit and veggies as far as the eye could see. There was a stall of dried and candied fruit that was attracting every wasp and bee in the area.

The ramparts.

As we walked through the markets, I noticed a café that offered breakfast and brunch. Duly noted for tomorrow's breakfast. There was also the ubiquitous coffee and alcohol service next door. Like Slovenia they seem to start drinking early here.

The markets.

The map we scored at the Visitor Information Centre was not totally accurate in that it didn't show every street or even name them. The result was some educated guess work and a blending of information with Google maps.

A peasant woman at the markets.

We continued beyond the markets and came across, 'eat street'. It was the other side of the old wall that separated an already divided community. The street was lined with restaurants. Obviously this is the place where people come to eat. At this time of the morning there was very little open and those places that were, were serving alcohol of course. 

The dividing wall.

The street itself used to be a stream and was once lined with watermills. These are long gone but, in a link to the past, there are gas lamps in this area, around 200 of them, that are still hand lit every evening. We wandered down the quiet street; it would obviously come alive at night. We already had dinner reservations otherwise we would have returned here at night.

One of the gas lamps.

Next we crossed the "Bloody Bridge" which is no longer a bridge but a street. It was the site of many battles between the two opposing communities. The bridge is gone but it's name has remained. From there our map led us to a statue of St George and the slayed dragon. I'm tempted to read up on St George as I'd always associated him and his fictitious exploits with medieval England. However, it appears he is very popular in both Slovenia and Croatia. To Slovenia's credit, their St George actually battled a pretty scary looking winged dragon. The Croatian version slew a giant salamander - well that what the statue look like.

Ooh, a salamander. I mean dragon.

The old city gate.

Our path continued around the brave knight and his dead salamander to the a city stone gate that dates back to 760. It has become a place of pilgrimage for religious locals. In the alcove is a altar dedicated to Mary. There is a counter where you can buy a candle to light and place on the altar. The walls are lined with what look like funeral plaques, many commencing with the word "hvala", Croatian for thank you. That's pretty much the extent of my language knowledge so I have no idea what the rest of the inscriptions read.

The altar at the shrine.

In an attempt to find another point of interest, we discovered St Mark's. The surrounding streets were cut off, some by renovation work of nearby buildings. The roof of the church is covered in vivid glazed tiles depicting the Croatian coat of arms. Quite spectacular.

Impressive.

Given the street closures, we decided to head back towards the main square in search of some other attractions that were marked on the map and happened across the Museum of Broken Relationships. Our intention had been to visit in the afternoon, but since we were at the door, we went in.

The explanation for the museum.

The museum is small, maybe five rooms and the exhibits are generally small, but it is well worth visiting. Each exhibit is accompanied by an explanatory story mounted alongside. There are stories from many places, mostly Europe with a few from Asia and three or four from Australia. Read Melbourne. Now what does that say about Victorians? Every story, bar one perhaps, tells the story of a relationship breakup. Some involve the death of a relative or friend, but most are about romantic break ups.

One of the exhibits.

There were never look back stories, tales of still broken hearts, unrequited love and my favourite ones, the vindictive, cathartic revelations of destruction. There was a video tape of a second wedding and the children of the first marriage smashed, shot, drove over and set fire to the tape. I'm not sure they had moved on.

While we were in the museum, it turned 12pm and the earth moved. The Tower fires the cannon everyday at this time as it has done for centuries. It is extremely loud and frightening if you are in proximity and unprepared for the noise.

Around the corner was a viewing platform. We think it was near St Catherine's but aren't 100% certain. This provided limited views over Zagreb. It was then time for our regular rest and review so we adjourned to a café for a beer.

Locks are as common as funicular.

Our next target proved elusive and the street not so safe. It was narrow with little protection afforded to pedestrians and the cars sped along within centimetres of us. We turned and headed back down to where we had been and followed a set of stairs down to another street looking for the 'tunnel'.

The tunnel entrance.

The Gric tunnel is 350 metres in length and is a former air raid shelter. It is now used to link different parts of the city. It is also used as an exhibition space at times. We had looked for the tunnel earlier, unsuccessfully. and when we emerged at the other end we noted that we had walked straight past it. The entry appeared to a covered walkway into an ante area in front of a building. 

The tunnel.

The funicular and Tower that were next on our list were near to there so we returned to the tunnel and retrace our steps to the only side exit that remained open. This deposited us on the main street, close to the funicular and the Tower. The afternoon was wearing on and we had little to do tomorrow morning so we decided to head home. The funicular ride, the shortest in the world at 64 seconds, would be the highlight of tomorrow morning. Zagreb is the fourth city we have visited this trip and this will be our fourth funicular ride.

We stopped at the a bank on the way home to cash up before the Croatian coastal cruise commenced (I love a bit of alliteration). I tried one bank yesterday and they were going to charge me over €5 to withdraw money from the ATM. Today I tried a different bank who were also going to charge in excess of €5. $10AUD to make a withdrawal. Ridiculous. Especially if you're bank was then going to charge an overseas transaction fee. Fortunately my bank doesn't, but I'm checking Google for the cheapest rates. The remainder of the afternoon was spent blogging, processing photos and watching the Vuelta as unpredicted showers developed, happily endorsing our decision to head home early.

Coffee? No food.

Dinner that night was in the hotel at Yezi, a dim sum restaurant with a fine dining twist. The food was exquisite. Dim sum like I've never had before. It certainly was in contrast to our experience in Hong Kong. Who'd have thought we'd eat dim sum in Croatia? Once again the food was reasonably priced, dinner for two with a bottle of wine was under $200AUD. I'd eat there again.

Tomorrow we have the funicular to look forward to before a transit day to the Rovinj on the coast where we board our boat, the MV Lady Eleganza.

Until tomorrow.