May 29, 2024

 Well we’ve taken a little sabbatical from all things techno for the past couple of days.  But….we are back now.  :-)

We left Sarajevo at 10:00 on the morning of the 26th (Lynda’s 75th birthday) with our driver Kemal.  We knew it would be a 5’ish hour drive to get to Cavtat in Croatia so the plan was that we would take a short coffee break before we crossed the border out of Bosnia & Herzegovina.  It was a lovely little stop where there were only locals including a few gypsies (the first we’ve seen in our travels to date). Kemal explained that it is common for locals to give the kids a few marks as they’ll be trying to get enough for an ice cream or some other treat.  It became clear very quickly that we’d have to give each of the three kids their own coins as there was seemingly no love lost between them.  LOL. Kemal took care of it in their own language and everyone went away happily.  

It was a beautiful drive!  A similar one to that we’d made on the train en route to Sarajevo a few days earlier only this time we were on the other side of the river and so it was a slightly different vantage for sure.  Next stop was the Bosnian/Croatia border where the “not so great” stuff occurred.  While it was definitely not a worst case scenario…it was not good either!  The customs officer decided that this would be the time he would fine Kemal for crossing the border with Bosnian taxi plates on his vehicle (it is also Kemal’s personal car).  Kemal has crossed this border in his car both with his family and with customers many times in the past but today would be the day that things would be different, and not in a good way.  Kemal was driving us for a fee of 250 euros and guess what the fine was…..250 euros!  We had planned to pay Kemal in whatever Bosnian marks we had left and then top it off with euros once we reached our destination and he knew we’d have to stop at an ATM prior to paying him and after we’d crossed the border so we could get euros out of the machine.  Things were not looking great but in the end it all worked out.  Combined (including all of our coins) - the three of us were able to scrape together 250 euros to pay the fine and get back on our way.  The border guard would do up all the paperwork for Kemal to pick up on his way back after he dropped us in Cavtat.  Damn!  What an awful feeling it was for Lynda and I.  Kemal actually took it really well.  After his initial shock at the fine and subsequent realization that he’d given up his day off with his family to drive us for free (and to use his gas to do it) he settled back in to his very affable demeanour and assured us it was not our fault and that “these things happen sometimes”.  We still felt bad though.  In the end, we were at least able to use a card to put some gas into his car (in spite of his opposition) to help a little with the cost of getting us to Croatia.  The Bosnian marks we had left was enough to pay Kemal the rest of what we owed him for the journey.

Once we’d arrived in Cavtat and Kemal was safely on his way back to B & H, our first order of business was to hit an ATM as neither Lynda nor I had a penny to our names!  Luckily there was one right there at the bus depot where we’d been dropped off and within minutes we were once again both flush with a little cash in our pockets.  :-)

Cavtat was a perfect stop!  It’s about 1/2 hour south of Dubrovnik and a MUCH better option that staying in Dubrovnik!  We’d found a perfect accommodation too.  It’s a 500+ year old monastery right at the end of the old town’s promenade and on the waters edge.  They’d renovated a section of the old building into 3 rooms to rent.  We’d selected the one with the sea view and although our windows were small it meant that when the window was open we could hear the waves and feel the breeze off the water.  It was perfect and it was still Lynda’s birthday so it was off for a nice dinner and a couple of drinks to celebrate.  And guess what we discovered en route to dinner?!  As luck would have it there was a small concert scheduled to take place right there are “our” monastery that very night at 9 pm.  So after a wonderful evening and excellent meal we headed “home” and stopped in at the concert one door before our private courtyard entrance.  The concert consisted of a classical guitar and piano playing a selection of the classics in another small courtyard within the monastery.  We both actually LOVE this place!  It was exactly what we needed…..a little vacation from our vacation.  :-). 

We were in Cavtat for three nights and it was the biggest room we’ve had with the BEST bathroom and shower ever so it felt like we’d arrived in heaven after the last room.  LOL!  Three nights means two full days and we decided that one of those days would be spent doing absolutely NOTHING.  The wifi wasn’t great in our room so it was easy not to check email or anything.  We just rented lounge chairs right outside our front door and lay at the edge of the sea for the entire day!  And while we were laying there the man who’d rented us the chairs brought us a little gift of local fresh fruits from his tree.  We’d never had them before and they were called loquats and they were delicious!  Yep….it was a great day!  There were a few other people sharing the space with us but honestly it wasn’t crowded at all.  We both spent a little time in the sea, read on our loungers and basked in the Balkan sunshine for hours and yes…we even both got a teeny tiny burn.  Not enough to bother with but just enough to remind us of the fantastic day we’d had.

The next day would be our day in Dubrovnik so we caught the local ferry boat (about 45 mins) for 20 euros return trip.  It was a glorious day on the water and what a wonderful way to arrive in Dubrovnik!  The immensity of the stone walls surrounding the city can really only be fully appreciated from the water. We’d decided to come over for lunch and a couple hours of wandering but only lasted for lunch and about one hour of wandering!  It was sooooo crowded!  It was kind of ruining the vibe we’d created from our lounge day yesterday so after a VERY expensive lunch and a once over of the old city we made our way back to the main dock to catch the next ferry back to Cavtat.  Again the trip home was glorious and we breathed a sigh out on the water as we left the crowded streets of Dubrovnik behind us.  Oh ya….and that lunch we had…..we shared a ham and cheese sandwich and some fries, we had a coffee and a water and an orange juice and a tiny Pepsi (their pop bottles are like half size) and the bill was 40 euros or $60 CAD!  ouch!!!  Thank heaven Mario (from Zadar) suggested we stay in Cavtat and just visit Dubrovnik by ferry as he grew up in Dubrovnik and told us it was busier than we could imagine.

So now we sit in a little cafe across the street from the main bus station just waiting for our bus to Pedgorica in Montenegro.  That will be about a 5 hour trip and we’ll be crossing another border so fingers crossed it all goes well.  LOL

Till next time,

Lorrie and Lynda