Leaving Split, Going to Dubrovnik

Thursday evening

We headed out for dinner and got caught up in the crowd going to the football – there was a big match on - Hajduk v some other team. We saw no evidence of the other team’s supporters. We walked to the stadium, not too far away. The atmosphere was “high testosterone”, raucous and excited singing and drinking on the streets. And that was before the game.

 We wandered back to the main drag.

Dinner last night was Pašticada. According to the waiter “coming to Dalmatia and not having Pašticada, is like going to Egypt and not seeing the pyramids”. Pašticada – is a traditional meat dish from Dalmatia. Beef is the main ingredient and, before the actual cooking which lasts a few hours takes place, it’s marinated for 24 hours in red wine, garlic and various herbs such as rosemary and sage. During the cooking it’s enriched with dry plums, carrots, onions, cloves and nutmeg so the resulting sauce is thick, dark and rich in flavors. Traditionally pašticada is served with homemade potato gnocchi. So Dick ”went to Egypt”. After dinner we strolled along the Riva and watched some traditional Dalmatian folk dancing, as part of the Split Summer Festival.

We passed by a shop that was called Fish Spa, and the charming Swiss girl, Tatiana, who worked there, persuaded us to try it out. There are two hundred little fish in a large tub. they are special fish from Turkey that latch on to your feet and suck the skin. So, adventurous, intrepid pair that we are, we tried it out. A seriously weird feeling, little electric shocks and tickles at the same time. We had our feet in for about 25 minutes, all the time the fish are swimming and sucking, on our legs and feet.
I have to say, the skin on our feet  feels really soft and refreshed! Apparently, some people go 'full body' in the tub. Mmmmmmm, not too sure about that.

Friday, 2^nd August

We traipsed through the town to the bus terminal and got on the bus to Dubrovnik. It was supposedly a four hour trip – the “fast line”. We got into Dubrovnik 5 and ¾ hours later. OMG.

We drove through some incredible country – skirting the coast on one side of the road and rocky, stony mountains on the other. We passed by some very beautiful lakes when we turned inland for a short way.

There was a border crossing into Bosnia i Herzogovnia, and we were there for about 30 minutes, driving, and a 20 minute stop at a café/shop/hotel/toilet break.

Back on the road to Dubrovnik. The bus stopped in the New Town and we got a cab to the Old Town, or at least to Pile Gate, as there are no cars in the Old Town. We found our Studio apartment, which is up a narrow lane, all the streets are narrow, and incredibly steep. It was hard work lugging the cases up all the steps. I must have looked like I was going to keel over, because a young girl stopped and offered to help.

We strolled out and about to acquaint ourselves with Dubrovnik, and went outside the walls to the harbour area. WOW moment No 1! Beautiful sparkling blue sea, ancient city walls, huge yachts interspersed with little fishing boats sailing around picturesque islands. Stunning.

We came back in for dinner, and have realised that Dubrovnik is much more expensive than Split.

The second WOW moment of the day was after dinner, taking the cable car to see the sun set over Dubrovnik. What an amazingly spectacular view. The cable car and much of Dubrovnik was bombed during the war in 1991-2, and you can still see the evidence of shelling on some buildings. The cable car was rebuilt, as has an enormous stone cross, high up on the hill.