June 29 - July 4 - Croatia and Bosnia

June 29 - Opatija and Plitvice
We walked down the hill from our hotel in Motovun and road the local bus to our real bus and left for our next destination. On the way we stopped in Opatija to see where the rich people from the Habsburg Empire spent their vacation. Opatija is a beach town with dozens of elegant old baroque, neoclassical and art nouveau villas which have been turned into hotels with appealing names - the more exotic, the more popular. Ann and I spent our time searching for a place to eat and finally settled on a restaurant on a terrace overlooking the sea. We both had salads which were OK. The restaurant was affiliated with others in Croatia with Hemingway in their titles.

Our next stop was in Senj. This was a bus driver required stop. Drivers by law must have a rest after two hours. Senj is known for its pirate. He is an ice cream vendor who turns his cost per scoop sign to a more expensive one when he sees tourists coming. We didn't spend much time there. 

We went a little farther to a gas station/rest area to wait for one of our tour members who had to visit an opthomologist for a potential eye problem. He caught up to us there after we all had some refshments.

Continuing on, we arrived at our next hotel in Plitvice National Park. Before dinner, we had a potluck happy hour where everyone brought snacks or drinks to share. Our contribution was salted peanuts. Dinner was in the hotel's dining room. Our entree was chicken breast with a cream sauce and rice.

June 30 - Plitvice National Park and Split

We loaded our luggage onto the bus this morning and then walked down the hill to a tram which took us into the depths of the park. Then we began a nature walk through the forest along streams and lakes past refreshing waterfalls. It was refreshing to walk in the shade and to stretch our legs. Halfway through the walk, we got onto a boat and motored across a small lake. On the opposite shore, there were several restaurants and snack shops. We bypassed them and continued our stroll through the park. It was getting much hotter and more crowded as we went onward. Most of the crowd was going in the opposite direction from us. By design, we were heading for the main entrance.

Ann and I made a detour to visit the park's main waterfall. Inadvertently, Ann decided to leave her iPhone frustrations behind somewhere along the trail. No problems, though. We were able to lock the phone via the Internet.

After climbing up the switchbacks to get out of the park, we bought some forgettable sandwiches to tie us over until we could get some real food.

We arrived in Split during late afternoon. Our hotel was located just outside of the old part of town. After cleaning up, our group marched into old town for dinner at Sperun Restaurant. We were seated inside in a room that was just large enough to fit our group. It had an Old World ambiance with the exception of being air conditioned. This was absolutely necessary because of the high heat. We had grilled fish which was simply prepared with olive oilq, tomatoes and no other seasoning. It was accompanied with very fresh zucchini - a very well-prepared meal.

After dinner we strolled along the Riva. This is a very wide pedestrian walkway along the harbor. There are dozens of outdoor cafes along the Riva and every one of them was filled with hundreds of people drinking, snacking and smoking. When Ann and I broke away from our group, we took an indirect route through the old town back to our hotel. We wandered through very narrow streets past dozens of tourist shops. Occasionally we came upon small piazzas which were surrounded by more restaurants filled with customers. Split seems to have a good economy based on tourists and local bar hoppers.

July 1 - Split

Our tour this morning by a local guide took us through the old town. Most of the old town used to be a huge palace built by Diocletian, a Roman emperor, during the late third century. The palace was partly a villa for the emperor and partly a Roman town. In succeeding years, its wide streets were chopped up into very narrow ones and its buildings we're carved up into small housing units. Today it is a warren that is easy for a visitor to get lost in.

Our tour took most of the morning. It started on the streets and ended in the underground part of the palace. This was timed to be in the coolest part of the tour at the hottest part of the morning. 

After the tour, Ann and I looked for a lunch place. After being turned away from a fully booked restaurant, we settled on a cafe associated with a youth hostel. I had a tasteless hamburger with fries while Ann had a forgettable salad.

After that, we braved the heat and tried to take a bus to a museum and swimming beach. We missed the bus so we hiked to a different beach. This family beach was very shallow, so shallow that Ann couldn't get far enough out to swim laps. I sat in a cafe to wait for her and to guard her backpack. When this ordeal was finished, we managed to walk for a mile or so back to our hotel and collapse in our air conditioned room. 

Dinner was on our own. We went to Apetit where Ann had lamb and I had amberjack. We enjoyed our meal, especially the grilled vegetables with a sesame seed sauce. My amberjack had a tomato sauce with bacan and olives - very tasty. Afterwards we sat on a bench on the Riva to watch the world go by and then stopped for gelato at Hajduk which was named after the local soccer team. The ice cream was very good and the scoops were large.

July 2 - Dalmation Island Hopping
After loading our luggage, our bus drove us to the docks in Split where we boarded a ferry for Hvar. The bus drove on to meet us later. The ferry ride took us about two hours. I spent most of the time inside where it was air conditioned. When we arrived, we took shuttles across the island the the main town. Our driver was out of the American west. He had on a cowboy hat and a big belt buckle. He was playing 60s American music on his CD player, or was it a cassette player?

Saso gave us a brief orientation tour of Hvar. It couldn't have been longer because the town is very small. We went as a group to the Benedictine convent where the nuns never go outside. Instead, they pray and make lace all day long. Ann and I then did a short tour on our own mainly to kill time until lunchtime. We scouted a couple of restaurants but they were not open for lunch. We settled on Konoba Menego, a Rick Steves recommended restaurant. It was worth the climb to it up very steep and very hot steps. We had the fishermen's platter, a cold mixture of squid salad and two kinds of sardine-like fish. The half liter of home made wine gave us the motivation for our next adventure.

Continuing up the steep steps and along a gravel path with several switchbacks, we reached the 13th century Hvar fortress. The main feature of the fortress is its view of the harbor and surrounding countryside. On the way back down, we questioned our sanity for making the trek in such high heat. 

Back at sea level, we walked over to the swimming area where we killed time and cooled off by wading in the water. Then we went back to the docks and caught a high-speed catamaran for Korcula. This was a much shorter ferry ride but Ann and I took advantage of the time by napping the whole way.

When we got to Korcula, our bus was waiting for us and took us across the island to the town with the same name. This is a small, walled town that has maintained its Venetian character. After checking into out hotel, Saso led us into the old town for a good dinner at a fish restaurant. I had the #1 fish and Ann had squid. They were both better than average.

July 3 - Korcula

We were on our own today, a vacation within a vacation. Ann took a swim in the hotel's pool before breakfast. After she ate, we walked into the old town for some sight seeing. We wandered through the narrow streets trying to stay in the shade as much as possible. I took lots of photos and we bought a couple of t-shirts. We got some snacks at the supermarket and then wandered back to the hotel. On the way, we stopped at a streetside cafe for lunch. I had an octopus salad while Ann had a tuna salad. We also discovered the best beer in Croatia.

At the hotel, we took refuge from the blistering heat. Ann went for a swim while I got caught up with my blog while watching the Tour de France.

June 29 - Opatija and Plitvice
We walked down the hill from our hotel in Motovun and road the local bus to our real bus and left for our next destination. On the way we stopped in Opatija to see where the rich people from the Habsburg Empire spent their vacation. Opatija is a beach town with dozens of elegant old baroque, neoclassical and art nouveau villas which have been turned into hotels with appealing names - the more exotic, the more popular. Ann and I spent our time searching for a place to eat and finally settled on a restaurant on a terrace overlooking the sea. We both had salads which were OK. The restaurant was affiliated with others in Croatia with Hemingway in their titles.

Our next stop was in Senj. This was a bus driver required stop. Drivers by law must have a rest after two hours. Senj is known for its pirate. He is an ice cream vendor who turns his cost per scoop sign to a more expensive one when he sees tourists coming. We didn't spend much time there. 

We went a little farther to a gas station/rest area to wait for one of our tour members who had to visit an opthomologist for a potential eye problem. He caught up to us there after we all had some refshments.

Continuing on, we arrived at our next hotel in Plitvice National Park. Before dinner, we had a potluck happy hour where everyone brought snacks or drinks to share. Our contribution was salted peanuts. Dinner was in the hotel's dining room. Our entree was chicken breast with a cream sauce and rice.

June 30 - Plitvice National Park and Split

We loaded our luggage onto the bus this morning and then walked down the hill to a tram which took us into the depths of the park. Then we began a nature walk through the forest along streams and lakes past refreshing waterfalls. It was refreshing to walk in the shade and to stretch our legs. Halfway through the walk, we got onto a boat and motored across a small lake. On the opposite shore, there were several restaurants and snack shops. We bypassed them and continued our stroll through the park. It was getting much hotter and more crowded as we went onward. Most of the crowd was going in the opposite direction from us. By design, we were heading for the main entrance.

Ann and I made a detour to visit the park's main waterfall. Inadvertently, Ann decided to leave her iPhone frustrations behind somewhere along the trail. No problems, though. We were able to lock the phone via the Internet.

After climbing up the switchbacks to get out of the park, we bought some forgettable sandwiches to tie us over until we could get some real food.

We arrived in Split during late afternoon. Our hotel was located just outside of the old part of town. After cleaning up, our group marched into old town for dinner at Sperun Restaurant. We were seated inside in a room that was just large enough to fit our group. It had an Old World ambiance with the exception of being air conditioned. This was absolutely necessary because of the high heat. We had grilled fish which was simply prepared with olive oilq, tomatoes and no other seasoning. It was accompanied with very fresh zucchini - a very well-prepared meal.

After dinner we strolled along the Riva. This is a very wide pedestrian walkway along the harbor. There are dozens of outdoor cafes along the Riva and every one of them was filled with hundreds of people drinking, snacking and smoking. When Ann and I broke away from our group, we took an indirect route through the old town back to our hotel. We wandered through very narrow streets past dozens of tourist shops. Occasionally we came upon small piazzas which were surrounded by more restaurants filled with customers. Split seems to have a good economy based on tourists and local bar hoppers.

July 1 - Split

Our tour this morning by a local guide took us through the old town. Most of the old town used to be a huge palace built by Diocletian, a Roman emperor, during the late third century. The palace was partly a villa for the emperor and partly a Roman town. In succeeding years, its wide streets were chopped up into very narrow ones and its buildings we're carved up into small housing units. Today it is a warren that is easy for a visitor to get lost in.

Our tour took most of the morning. It started on the streets and ended in the underground part of the palace. This was timed to be in the coolest part of the tour at the hottest part of the morning. 

After the tour, Ann and I looked for a lunch place. After being turned away from a fully booked restaurant, we settled on a cafe associated with a youth hostel. I had a tasteless hamburger with fries while Ann had a forgettable salad.

After that, we braved the heat and tried to take a bus to a museum and swimming beach. We missed the bus so we hiked to a different beach. This family beach was very shallow, so shallow that Ann couldn't get far enough out to swim laps. I sat in a cafe to wait for her and to guard her backpack. When this ordeal was finished, we managed to walk for a mile or so back to our hotel and collapse in our air conditioned room. 

Dinner was on our own. We went to Apetit where Ann had lamb and I had amberjack. We enjoyed our meal, especially the grilled vegetables with a sesame seed sauce. My amberjack had a tomato sauce with bacan and olives - very tasty. Afterwards we sat on a bench on the Riva to watch the world go by and then stopped for gelato at Hajduk which was named after the local soccer team. The ice cream was very good and the scoops were large.

July 2 - Dalmation Island Hopping
After loading our luggage, our bus drove us to the docks in Split where we boarded a ferry for Hvar. The bus drove on to meet us later. The ferry ride took us about two hours. I spent most of the time inside where it was air conditioned. When we arrived, we took shuttles across the island the the main town. Our driver was out of the American west. He had on a cowboy hat and a big belt buckle. He was playing 60s American music on his CD player, or was it a cassette player?

Saso gave us a brief orientation tour of Hvar. It couldn't have been longer because the town is very small. We went as a group to the Benedictine convent where the nuns never go outside. Instead, they pray and make lace all day long. Ann and I then did a short tour on our own mainly to kill time until lunchtime. We scouted a couple of restaurants but they were not open for lunch. We settled on Konoba Menego, a Rick Steves recommended restaurant. It was worth the climb to it up very steep and very hot steps. We had the fishermen's platter, a cold mixture of squid salad and two kinds of sardine-like fish. The half liter of home made wine gave us the motivation for our next adventure.

Continuing up the steep steps and along a gravel path with several switchbacks, we reached the 13th century Hvar fortress. The main feature of the fortress is its view of the harbor and surrounding countryside. On the way back down, we questioned our sanity for making the trek in such high heat. 

Back at sea level, we walked over to the swimming area where we killed time and cooled off by wading in the water. Then we went back to the docks and caught a high-speed catamaran for Korcula. This was a much shorter ferry ride but Ann and I took advantage of the time by napping the whole way.

When we got to Korcula, our bus was waiting for us and took us across the island to the town with the same name. This is a small, walled town that has maintained its Venetian character. After checking into out hotel, Saso led us into the old town for a good dinner at a fish restaurant. I had the #1 fish and Ann had squid. They were both better than average.

July 3 - Korcula

We were on our own today, a vacation within a vacation. Ann took a swim in the hotel's pool before breakfast. After she ate, we walked into the old town for some sight seeing. We wandered through the narrow streets trying to stay in the shade as much as possible. I took lots of photos and we bought a couple of t-shirts. We got some snacks at the supermarket and then wandered back to the hotel. On the way, we stopped at a streetside cafe for lunch. I had an octopus salad while Ann had a tuna salad. We also discovered the best beer in Croatia.

At the hotel, we took refuge from the blistering heat. Ann went for a swim while I got caught up with my blog while watching the Tour de France.

Saso arranged for an evening happy hour cruise for us. We all boarded an old stinkpot and cruised the islands around Korcula while sipping wine, munching on snacks and taking photos. We also got to sing Happy Birthday to Veronica. The boat dropped us off in Korcula just as the sun had set and the full moon had risen. It was an excellent photo op.

Ann and I walked back to the hotel, stopping a sidewalk cafe for a platter of cheese and prosciutto. The cafe had a man playing a guitar and singing oldies.

Saso arranged for an evening happy hour cruise for us. We all boarded an old stinkpot and cruised the islands around Korcula while sipping wine, munching on snacks and taking photos. We also got to sing Happy Birthday to Veronica. The boat dropped us off in Korcula just as the sun had set and the full moon had risen. It was an excellent photo op.

Ann and I walked back to the hotel, stopping a sidewalk cafe for a platter of cheese and prosciutto. The cafe had a man playing a guitar and singing oldies.

July 4 - On to Bosnia

We got into our bus at 10:00 and drove to the ferry back to the mainland. For the 20-minute ride, we had to get out of the bus. I took advantage of the air conditioned cabin and had a real cup of coffee at the bar. The coffee that we have been drinking at our hotels has been OK, but it comes from a machine and is not custom brewed. This was the best coffee so far on my trip.

We stopped at Ston for a break. This is an interesting town very close to Dubrovnik. It is fortified by a great wall stretching into the hills being the town. Its purpose was to protect Dubrovnik from invaders that wanted to steal the salt trade.

We continued to the Bosnian border where we had an extra long wait while the officials checked the bus' papers and all of our passports.

Under way again, we went for a few kilometers and stopped for lunch at an outdoor restaurant. We sat under an awning under 100 degree temperatures and ate huge amounts of grilled meat. On the walk to and from the restaurant we bought small amounts of fresh fruit and dried fruit from ladies along the path.

We arrived in Mostar around 4:20 and checked into our hotel. Ann and I have a suite, half of which is air conditioned - the bedroom is not. We are hoping that the wall unit in the sitting room will eventually cool off our bedroom.

At 6:00 we set off on a town tour. The temperature was still hovering around 100 so we seeked as much shade as possible. Mostar was on the front line during the ethnic cleansing in the early 1990s. We saw many buildings that were battle scarred and totally destroyed. There are bullet holes in most of the other buildings. The old town is mostly rebuilt including the famous bridge. Tourists have discovered Mostar and the vendors are very happy. The old town is much more picturesque than I expected with ancient buildings and a blue/green river running through it.

We had dinner in the old town looking over the river. I won't comment on the food. We were still full from our meat pig-out from earlier.