I have decided to take the ferry northwards to the island of Korčula on Sunday morning. The departure times to the island of Mljet are not suitable. I may try to get to it from Korčula. The Sunday ferry is in fact the same ferry that brought me here, on its second run of the week. It travels all the way to Rijeka near the top of Croatia and back to Bari twice a week. A sea highway, in effect. If I don't take this ferry, I will have to either wait until Thursday, take a different ferry, or take land transport. And I prefer a ferry to a bus. You can walk around, enjoy the fresh air, take meals and in general feel freer than on a bus.
There is no sign of Manuel or Erica. Maybe they decided to stay on longer. The reason I mentioned them is because I had ruled out Montenegro when planning the trip, and I was curious to know what it was like. (Note from the future: I seem to remember that I was not sure about consular representation in Australia as Serbia and Montenegro had split the year before. Now that I've read that Podgorica is in a beautiful location and that Casino Royale was partly filmed there, I wish I had tried harder. Maybe if I had gone anyway, they might have issued me a visa at the border. One never says: I wish I had taken less photos, I wish I had tried less foods, or I wish I had visited less places. One regrets more the things one did not do.)
Inspite of its world heritage status, Dubrovnik is only a small city, with about 40,000 inhabitants. About the size of an Australian suburb. So I decided to spend today, Saturday, at nearby Cavtat. The bus took some hair-raising bends leaving Dubrovnik by the coastal road but the views out of the bus window were terrific, as this shot looking back at the old city shows.
Cavtat has a pretty bay, and the water is the clearest that I have seen on this trip so far.
That really is the bottom of the bay you are looking at through the water. I took a table at the kiosk in the picture and had a coffee, savouring the breeze.
A walk around the promontory brought me back to the town centre. Not that there was much danger of getting lost. Cavtat has several beach restaurants and I had a nice cuttlefish risotto.
A new bus station was being built and I fear that this will be the end of obscurity for Cavtat and it will be visited more in future.
The return trip in mid-afternoon was not so scenic as the air had acquired moisture, making vistas hazier.
I played a mental game with myself, designing a country which would be the perfect destination. It would have scenery like Switzerland or Croatia. Food would be like Italy or Malaysia or Hong Kong. Public services would be like Switzerland. Beaches would be like the south of Portugal or Australia. Hotels would be like in France. Music would be like in Brazil. Costs would be like in Malaysia. And people? Well, I think people are friendly pretty much everywhere.
There is no sign of Manuel or Erica. Maybe they decided to stay on longer. The reason I mentioned them is because I had ruled out Montenegro when planning the trip, and I was curious to know what it was like. (Note from the future: I seem to remember that I was not sure about consular representation in Australia as Serbia and Montenegro had split the year before. Now that I've read that Podgorica is in a beautiful location and that Casino Royale was partly filmed there, I wish I had tried harder. Maybe if I had gone anyway, they might have issued me a visa at the border. One never says: I wish I had taken less photos, I wish I had tried less foods, or I wish I had visited less places. One regrets more the things one did not do.)
A walk around the promontory brought me back to the town centre. Not that there was much danger of getting lost. Cavtat has several beach restaurants and I had a nice cuttlefish risotto.
The return trip in mid-afternoon was not so scenic as the air had acquired moisture, making vistas hazier.
I played a mental game with myself, designing a country which would be the perfect destination. It would have scenery like Switzerland or Croatia. Food would be like Italy or Malaysia or Hong Kong. Public services would be like Switzerland. Beaches would be like the south of Portugal or Australia. Hotels would be like in France. Music would be like in Brazil. Costs would be like in Malaysia. And people? Well, I think people are friendly pretty much everywhere.
