Dubrovnik, and a small Ston!

After catching a glimpse of the city at night, I couldn't wait to get started exploring in the daytime! Can I just say, these shutters were amazing! When I woke up at 7:45, it was like it was the middle of the night in my room!

My view at breakfast!

I had looked up walking tours but had a hard time narrowing down which one would be good and where they were starting. I decided to find an information centre to ask. They gave me the time and place, sold me the ticket and also got me set up with a 1 day Dubrovnik card. It would give me entrance to the city walls, to the Fort, 6 museums, as well as 24 hours on the city buses.  It didn't take me long to figure out that this place was expensive! And full of tourists! Yikes! I had an hour and a half before the walking tour so I decided to go and walk the city walls. Wow is all I have to say!

There's two little guys in there who bang on the bell on the hour! It's the only bell in Dubrovnik that doesn't swing!

I asked this couple to take my picture. The husband said sure and took the camera. He put the camera up and then his wife came over and was ordering him around, I didn't know what she was saying but she was clearly criticizing him. She then just moved his arms to where he should be aiming! Haha...It was awesome!

I'm not sure I can even show how breathtaking it was! Amazing. After I was done (and did I mention it was a lot of stairs)! I went down and sat by a beautiful fountain, waiting for the walking tour which was soon to start!

Then I saw this lady! Ugh...birds and I are not friends. So while I'm sitting here watching these awful creatures, pigeons were literally swooping down past my head. I swear, I was ready to die!

When I saw this lady, I heard Mary Poppins singing "feed the birds!" In my head!

The tour started, and the guide was good but there were over 20 people and I find groups that big are hard. And the guide was a bit rigid, he clearly had a routine to things. But it was interesting hearing about the old city. During the Croatian war, there was a lot of damage in Dubrovnik. In fact, the roof tiles are so bright because they needed to be replaced. The ones that are lighter, are original ones. Because Dubrovnik is a Unesco site, they invested billions of dollars in restoring it.

Nobody knows how this tree got there, but many view it as a miracle!

After the tour, I went and bought a takeout salad from a little place. I took it back to my room so I could  prepare for the trip to Ston. By the time I got back to the room, there was dressing all over the bottom of the bag. The lid wasn't closed properly. It wasn't that great so I ate what I could and then went to the Franciscan Church and Monastery where they have a pharmacy museum. All I can say is, I'm glad it was free with my Dubrovnik card!

I had read about a town nearby called Ston. It has a wall built around it that they call "The Great Wall of Croatia". I really wanted to see it so I figured out a bus schedule and headed to the station. I was worried about there not being enough time, but I was assured by several people that 2 hours would be plenty of time. When I got to the station, I found out the return bus wasn't going to leave Ston at 6pm, but at 7pm. I really wanted to figure out a way to go to Mostar, Bosnia the next day, but arriving back at 8 pm meant that nothing would be open. I headed out anyways as I wasn't sure when I'd get another chance. 

We pulled up to Ston shortly after 4pm. My first impression....was lacking. The wall looked amazing but there was nothing else in the town. And I had 3 hours to kill. I knew I should have brought a book! I went straight to the wall and was told I could do a 20 minute climb or a one hour climb which would take me to the next town. Worried about getting back to the bus, I did the short climb.

After that, I explored a little.

Some sort of salt mines.

Look at that face, creepy!

I was done exploring in just over an hour. I tried to do some more wandering but there wasn't much else to see. An hour and a half later, I left on the bus. By the time we got back to Debrovnik it was 8pm. I decided to have a decent dinner, since I was starving and hadn't had much of a lunch. I went to a place recommended by the woman from my accomodation. I ordered spaghetti carbonara, and it was delicious. It totally hit the spot! I decided that I still had so much to see in Dubrovnik so I wasn't going to look into tours elsewhere. I'll just have to go visit Bosnia on a separate trip! 

I Split...to Togir!

The next morning I was up early again, this time to head to Togir. It was the town recommended by the guy in the information office. Luckily there was a bus that left quite often and it was only a 30 minute ride. As we drove along the beautiful coastline I could see the advantage of having a car. I coulnd't stop and take pictures of all the beautiful sights, and there were many! We arrived to a cute town surrounded by walls, directly on the water.

 I wandered around and there were signs with maps to show where to go. The water here is such a beautiful colour and I just wish my camera really captured it properly. 

After walking all the way around the city and through some of the streets in the centre, I decided to stop and have some lunch. I was starving! I chose to eat on the water so I could enjoy the beautiful sunshine as well as the view.

 I ended up ordering a pizza, but I also had a tomatoe salad, again, wanting some "veggies".

It was pretty good and hit the spot. I walked a bit more in the walls before deciding I had exhausted the city so headed to the bus station. 

Togir had not been a happening place and many things were closed (including the tourists offices, which by the way most of them are). It was Sunday so people may have been in church! When I arrived back in Split, I went to the cruise boat to buy a ticket. I was a bit early so I sat and waited but the time grew closer and nobody showed up to sell tickets. The plank never came down. As I headed back to my room, I passed the markets and saw a man selling strawberries. I had been eyeing them for the last couple of days so decided to buy some. Yum! Eventually I went and did some research about the islands. I had cancelled my hotel in Bol, thinking I wouldn't be able to make it work. I had to pay as it was too late to cancel but I figured it would be worth it. As it turns out, all the islands are hard to get to, and this one was one of the easiest. I was starting to regret my decision to cancel. I grabbed my book and decided to read in the sun for a bit before the next cruise time. This time, I went up to the boat and the captain was sitting inside. He said it wasn't a good day to go out and it was not running. Too bad! I did some more exploring of the city before choosing my dinner place. 

This time, I was intent on finding something with truffle oil. It's a big thing here and I hadn't tried it yet. I found a place that did homemade pasta with a truffle sauce with prosciutto and cheese. 

It was heavenly! So rich and filling! 

That didn't top me from having some desert! I am on vacation at all!

And that was the half size!

That night I sent the hotel in Bol a note saying I'd be coming after all. I got myself organized so I could leave first thing.