1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour #620 - Dubrovnik, Croatia

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour After Remission #620

 

- Dubrovnik, Croatia
 

(Read so much about it, saw so many photos in magazines - now, we are here at Dubrovnik, the aptly named "Jewel of the Adriatic Sea". The star is of course, the walled-city of the Dubrovnik Old Town. It is interesting that here in Croatia, people are allowed to live inside their old town area - given the historic value, one would think the government would fenced it away from possible slow decay by humans living in it. From the top, this city really looks like a medieval fort, which explains why it is a film-shooting spot for many Game of Thrones episodes. If you take a 40min boat ride, the city is even more beautiful)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour #619 - Ston oysters, Croatia

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour After Remission #619

 

- Ston oysters, Croatia
 

(The oysters are fresh from the sea here at Ston, and so were the mussels. We were given  samples of both to taste, and together with their own sourdough and wine, were a delightful late morning treat. These oysters, taking 3yrs to mature, go for nearly 2euro each in their local market, and are so prized that they do not have enough to export to other cities. The short ride to their oyster-pontoon, on their wooden sailboat was a nice change from our 3 days of butt-numbing bus-ride)

 

 

 

 

 

 

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour #618 - Hvar Island, Croatia

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour After Remission #618

 

- Hvar Island, Croatia
 

(Hvar Island is Croatia's answer to Greece's Mykonos or Santorini - not as eye-catching perhaps. But it took quite a while to get here by ferry from Split, with the rough sea giving the ferry a pounding. In the summer, we can imagine that this island is probably filled with sunbathers and tourists. The island is narrow but over 60km wide, and with the steep and narrow roads, took a while again for our coach to reach the other end of the island to hop onto another ferry, on route to Heum, a stopover town in Bosnia, distinguished by its painfully slow immigration checkpoint)

 

 

 

 

 

 

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour #617 - Split, Croatia

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour After Remission #617

 

- Split, Croatia
 

(The city Split, Croatia's 2nd largest, has the contrasting split of the old town of the Diocletian Palace and the new marina area. And when you climb up the hill in the evening, the view of Split from above is impressive. The sunset here by the marina reminded us of Italy's Positano)

 

 

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour #616 - Zadar Old Town

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour After Remission #616

 

-Zadar Old Town, Croatia
 

(Alfred Hitchcock said Zadar has the best sunset in the world - we couldn't verify that because we had to leave by 12noon. However, the Zadar Old Town area is fascinating, and as you get closer to the seas front, the sound of the 'sea organ' began to capture your attention. This natural organ, performed by the waves here, against pipes built into the sea is somewhat magical.. hear it in the vdo clip below)

 

 

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour #615 - Plitvice National Park, Croatia

1001 Places/Experiences to See or Savour After Remission #615

 

-Plitvice National Park, Croatia
 

(Croatia's treasure national park here in Plitvice is simply beautiful! With multiple waterfalls dropping into green emerald lakes, this park of limestone and karst is massive, with 3 levels of lake systems here - one deep enough to ferry people in a 100 person boat. We had time to see only a quarter of this park, with segments closed due to winter)