Postcards from Croatia - Girls On Tour 2013

Transcription

1 Postcards from Croatia - Girls On Tour 2013 Sunday 2nd June We arrived safely in Zagreb after 29 hours of travelling. Great hotel, lovely tour manager and excellent bus and driver. We enjoyed a lovely dinner at the hotel now it's off to bed for a good night sleep and then, let the games begin!!! Monday 3rd June Greetings from Zagreb. We had a wonderful first day of touring visiting all the highlights of both the Upper Town and the Lower Town. This lovely young lady in traditional costume is selling postcards and the licitar, a traditional, colourfully decorated biscuit made of a gingerbread type mixture and it is given as a symbol of love and affection for special occasions. Merle, Gillian and I went up high on top of one of the buildings called Zagreb Eye where we got spectacular views over the city. Tuesday 4th June Dobro jutro (Good morning) from Slovenia!! We left Zagreb this morning and crossed the border into Slovenia making our way to the beautiful Bled. The countryside in Slovenia is like a postcard with its luscious green fields and thick forests. After checking in to our hotel, which is only about a 5 minute walk from the lake, we wandered down to one of the local restaurants and enjoyed a traditional lunch of Goulash soup and Kransky sausage before enjoying a wonderful boat ride on Lake Bled on a traditional Pletna. It is a hand propelled gondola and the Pletna boat captains who all live in the village of Mlino are all

2 members of one of the 22 families that the empress Maria Theresa rights to, to operate the boats on the lake. We were taken out to the island in the middle of the lake where we were able to visit the church which contains the 'bell of wishes' which we all got a chance to ring. Later in the day some of us walked up to Bled Castle which sits 130mtrs above the lake and from which you get spectacular views of the lake and the town. Such a beautiful piece of paradise... Wednesday 5th June Hard to believe that it is only day 4 of this amazing tour. We started today, a beautiful sunny day, by driving through the Bohinj Valley towards Slovenia's largest natural lake, Lake Bohinj. We took the cable car up Mt Vogel to a height of

3 1,535m for the most spectacular views over the lake, valleys and the Julian Alps. Next we drove to the Savica waterfall and climbed up to the top to see the 78m thunderous wall of water which was definitely worth the effort to make the climb. A boat ride on Lake Bohinj finished off a wonderful day of touring before our drive back to Bled via the Upper Bohinj Valley. The afternoon was spent visiting Bled Castle or taking the little tourist train around the lake before enjoying a great night tonight celebrating one of the Girl's birthday with dinner, drinks and of course cake. Friday 7th June A beautiful blue sky day today for day 6 of our 'Treasures of the Balkans' tour. We set off this morning for the historical city of Pula on the tip of the Istria Peninsula. First up we visited the well-preserved Pula Arena which was built between 27BC and 67AD. It is one of the six largest Roman arenas surviving in the world along with the ones in Arles and Nimes in France, Verona and Rome in Italy and El Djem in Tunisia. It is the only one that has all four side towers remaining and all three types of Roman architectural orders, Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. From the arena we did a walking tour down past the Triumphal Arch of Sergi and into the old town square where the Temple of Augustus has been overlooking the square for over 2,000 years.

4 Saturday 8th June What a spectacular day today as we visited Plitvice Lakes National Park (pronounced Plitvitzer). Covering almost 300 square kms it is the largest of Croatia's eight national parks. With it's beautiful blue lakes and spectacular waterfalls it truly is a 'must see' when visiting Croatia. On our way to the lakes we passed by the town of Gospic which suffered heavily during the war of independence and many homes and buildings still stand abandoned or with the damage incurred as living monuments to the conflict.

5 Sunday 9th June We started day 8 with a sightseeing tour around the seaside city of Zadar. The main street of the old town, which remains from Roman times is about 1km long and is a lively place full of shops, cafes, banks and bars. The beautiful bell tower is about half way down the street and on a Sunday the bells ring out continuously. It s not hard to spot the locals as they are unfazed by the booming of the church bells. Along the foreshore there is a Sea Organ, the only one of its kind in the world. As the sea goes in and out it makes music using tubes below where the girls are standing. The architect has won awards and is well reknown and how he did it remains a well-kept secret so it can t be copies. We are now on the Dalmatian Coast and today saw our first Dalmatian dog having a wander with his master through the main street. We had a lovely picnic down by the water after picking up some of the local produce from the green market. Our next stop was the beautiful coastal town of Sibenik (pronounced Shibinik) with its beautifully preserved town square with the Knights Castle and private homes with green shutters giving it a character all its own.

6 Monday 10th June Another amazing day today for day 9 of our Treasures of the Balkans tour. We left Sibenik this morning and headed to the spectacular Krka National Park. Covering an area of 109km2 this national park is rich in flora and fauna boasting over 860 plant species and subspecies being recorded to date. There are also Roman ruins within the park and ruins of medieval Croatian fortresses dating to the 14th century. After a lovely lunch in a quaint Dalmatian village it was on to the beautiful seaside city of Trogir. Sadly it was time to say farewell to our lovely tour manager Tamara and say hello to Ivana who will be with us now until the end of the tour. Tuesday 11th June Day 10 of our trip was a nice easy day starting with a walking tour from our hotel into the Old Town of Trogir. We wandered through the narrow cobbled streets as Ivana told us about the architecture and history of the city and how over the 2,000 years of its history it has been occupied by the Romans, the Byzantines, the Hungarians, the Venetians and Napoleon. We had lots of free time today to wander and explore the town, do some shopping, taste the food and in the evening enjoyed a wonderful cooking class at Villa PaPe which was a hoot! Since 1997 the historic town has been protected by UNESCO as a unique and well preserved historic-romanic-island town. Wednesday 12th June We were sad to say goodbye to Trogir but it was time to move on to our next destination today on day 11 which was the beautiful Dalmatian city of Split first of all and then on to our home for tonight, Omis (pronounced Omish). In Split we did a walking tour with under the guidance of the lovely Ivana, visiting the UNESCO Heritage Listed, Diocletian s Palace and the Temple of Jupiter both dating

7 back to the turn of the 4th century. Built by the Roman Emperor Diocletian in preparation for his retirement, the palace was abandoned by the Romans and since the 7th century has been occupied by residents making their homes and businesses inside the palace basement and inside the walls. We enjoyed some free time here to explore the city and the colourful green markets and some of us climbed up the St Dominus Bell Tower for magnificent views over the city. Our hotel in Omis is in the centre of town about 50 metres from the Old Town and just wonderful to wander around and get lost in the little streets. We enjoyed a lovely meal at the hotel tonight with a few drinks and lots of laughs. Tomorrow (Thursday) we travel into Bosnia. Thursday 13th June Hard to believe that it is day 12 of our wonderful trip and later today we will arrive in our final city, Dubrovnik where we will spend the next 7 nights. We left Omis early this morning and made our way along the spectacular Dalmatian Coast towards the town of Metković on the border of Croatia before crossing into Bosnia and Herzegovina. We visited the beautiful UNESCO Heritage city of Mostar with its famous Stari Most (Old Bridge), pebbled streets and old bazaar. Mostar was under siege for 18 months during 1992 and 1993 and many monuments, cathedrals, mosques, monasteries, homes and businesses were destroyed during this dark period. On our way to Dubrovnik we visited the fortified town of Pocitelj (pronounced Pot-chet-ay) which dates back to the Middle Ages. Friday 14th June A beautiful blue sky day today for our first full day in Dubrovnik. We set off early for our sightseeing tour of the Old Town with our Tour Manager Ivana and our local guide Matilda starting outside the city walls and making our way down into the main street, Stradun, before visiting the Cathedral and the Franciscan Monastery. The Old Town is completely surrounded by beautifully preserved ramparts and fortresses and is another UNESCO World Cultural Heritage listed town. We lined up for the cable car (along with the hordes from the cruise ships)

8 and rose high above the sea for the best views of the Old Town. After a wonderful lunch in the high streets at Konoba Kapetan it was time to explore this ancient town. Saturday 15th June A nice easy day today starting off with a boat ride to the island of Mljet (pronounced Meyet) to explore the Mljet National Park with its pristine lakes and historic monuments. We enjoyed a boat ride on the big lake to visit the Benedictine Monastery followed by a long lunch on the island before a leisurely boat ride back to Dubrovnik. A very relaxing day today but sadly at the end of the day we had to say farewell to our lovely Tour Manager, Ivana. Sunday 16th June Today we left Dubrovnik and headed for the border between Croatia and Montenegro and made our way towards the beautiful city of Kotor in Montenegro. None of us had any idea what to expect there so were pleasantly surprised to see the beautiful UNESCO World Heritage city of Kotor with its imposing town walls and beautifully preserved ramparts and city walls going right up to the top of the hill behind the Old Town. Our local guide, Milea (Meelia) was a delightful young man who was very proud of his country and very knowledgeable. On our way to Kotor we made a quick stop to visit a young Aussie expat who has, along with another Aussie, opened a bar in Porto Montenegro called The Clubhouse. If you re looking for a cold drink, hot coffee and a friendly smile, call in and say Hi to Harry and the team at the new marina, Porto Montenegro. From here we travelled on to Budva which is a busy

9 walled city that has beaches on either side of its entrance and is quite different to the other old towns we have seen so far. Tonight we enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the Old Town complete with music being played while we enjoyed the ambience before heading home after a wonderful day out for day 15 of our tour. Monday 17th June Today was our first full free day of the tour. Some of us were up early and off to explore while others took the opportunity for a late start and a lay in. I met some of the girls in the Old Town and we caught the ferry over to the Island of Lokrum where we climbed up to Fort Royal Castle for a great view of Dubrovnik. The mercury was rising today and it showed us that we definitely wouldn t want to be here in July in summer. When we got back to the Old Town we met up with most of the other ladies and walked the ancient city walls covering 1,940 metres in length which took us 2 hours. It was magnificent and for me one of the highlights and is a must do when visiting Dubrovnik. Some of the other ladies took a dip in the Adriatic and some enjoyed the surrounds of the hotel. All in all we had a wonderful day and finished it off by returning to the same restaurant that we went to last night, Moskar, as we enjoyed it so much the first time. Tuesday 18th June An early start today to try and beat the crowds and the heat. We travelled by bus first of all to the city of Ston a major fort whose Great Wall covers a length of 5km. The village is famous for its production of salt and the Ston walls are the second longest defensive walls in the world, second only to the Great Wall of China. The second part of our day was a boat ride over to the beautiful island of Korčula the home of our driver Tommy and the place that is considered to be the birthplace of Marco Polo. We did a walking tour of the island with Lucija (or Lucy in English) who told us all about her beautiful island. It was a real treat to meet Tommy s wife and baby at the port when it was time to leave. Our next stop was a wine tasting at one of the local wineries in the region of the Peljesac Peninsula

10 before heading back to the hotel for a nice night around the bar and entertainment area of the hotel. If was time to say goodbye to our wonderful driver Tommy this afternoon when we got back to the hotel. He is a very good driver who has made us feel safe the whole way through. He has been us from day one so we were very sad to say goodbye. Wednesday 19th June Well it just keeps getting better. Today was our last touring day of this wonderful tour of Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro and we finished the tour with a beautiful cruise around the Elaphiti Islands on a private boat. We were treated like rock stars with wine, local brandy, snacks and a delicious lunch on board. Our skipper, Kiro and his first mate made us feel very welcome and it was a wonderful way to finish off a magnificent tour. We were thrilled to have the lovely Matilda with us again as our local guide as we visited the islands of Koločep, Šipan and Lopud. She has wonderful childhood memories from these islands and some of her family still live on Kolocěp Island. Some of the girls took the opportunity to swim in the Adriatic as today was an extremely hot day. A farewell dinner in the Old Town and then last drinks at the hotel with our delightful barman Ivo. Thank you to everyone who has followed us on this wonderful adventure and thank you to all my ladies for being such a great group of Girls On Tour!!!