Dalmation Coast, Croatia - Sun and Sunsets

Monday 3 September to Friday 7 September
My first full week back in London after 5 weeks away did nothing to make me love being back in London as a result of the Metronet tube strike causing mass crowding on the three lines still working, which thankfully for us did include the Jubilee. Tantrums flared across London with people fighting / arguing with each other to get on crowded buses and tubes. It was a timely reminder of why I am so looking forward to coming home to Perth. It didn't help the tourism industry either with Fiona taking 2 hours to get back from Heathrow, compared to the hour it usually takes. As a result of the difficulty in getting anywhere around London during this period, some plans were put on hold during the week and we only ended up having Maxine over for dinner on Wednesday (she luckily has a company car!), Fiona's Farewell Drinks on Thursday, and catching up with Jane at Smollensky's on Friday. For Fiona's Farewell drinks, we tried the Barrow Boy and Banker for a quintessential English Pub atmosphere. Maxine had told us that the inside was designed with the Ballroom of the Titanic in mind, with marble columns, brass chandeliers, long drapes, historical murals, and a curved staircase. After drinks, the group of us headed to Pizza Express in Shad Thames for dinner.

Saturday 8 September
This morning we received the very exciting news that Bel had given birth to a healthy baby girl, Abigail Xing Yi Brown. CONGRATULATIONS to the happy parents Bel and Raefe on this exciting new addition to their family! Wish we were there to celebrate with you!

After a quick lunch at home, Yang and I headed to the airport for our last trip for the summer on the Dalmatian Coast of the Adriatic Sea, Croatia. Our first port of call was Split, a UNESCO Heritage town centred around Emperor Diocletian's Roman Palace. On the bus to the town centre, I bumped into my ex-secretary from PwC Perth, who had just got off a flight from Cologne, and had a good catch-up chat for the half hour bus ride...the world is really small.

We checked into Hotel Peristil, which was built around the ruins of the Silver Gate (the Eastern Entrance to Diocletian's Palace) and overlooking the Church of St Dominic, and then headed straight out. We walked around the windy cobble stone streets of Diocletian's Palace, we watched the sunset from the Esplanade (Riva), window shopped on Marmontova and then back through the windy streets until we founds ourselves at People's Square. We had dinner al fresco at Poseidon, between People's Square and the Iron Gate. After dinner, we watched locals ballroom dance (my parents would have loved this) on the Peristyle, the main interior courtyard of the Diocletian's Palace.

Sunday 9 September
This morning saw us in Trogir, a small island that is also on the UNESCO World Heritage List. After walking through the Land Gate, the town was similar to Diocletian's Palace in Split with small cobblestone streets. The main sites of this town were:
- St Mark's Tower, a defensive tower








- Kamerlengo Castle, once the residence of the Venetia Governor (pic 1). We climbed to the top of the tallest tower for views of the entire island (pic 2).



- Trg Ivana Pavla II, a square with the Town Hall, Loggia and Clock Tower, Cathedral of St Lawrence and the Church of St John the Baptist.







Sightseeing over, we had lunch (al fresco again) at Fontana, overlooking the sea and the Church of St Dominic before heading back to Split.

By the time we got back to Split, it was full of cruise ship day-trippers, so we decided to head to Supetar on the island of Brač. However, we had time to kill before our ferry, so we ended up climbing to the top of the Bell Tower for aerial views of the ruins of Diocletian's Palace and outwards to the sea. We also visited the Baptistry of St John and the Golden Gate (which was covered with scaffolding for restoration).


I was hoping to get some beach time at Supetar, but instead of sandy beaches, they only had pebble beaches, and the water, albeit really clear, was really cold. We only stayed long enough to walk around the town and to its two beaches before catching the ferry back to Split...where we watched the sun set...I haven't seen such wonderful sunset for ages, uninterrupted by any man-made objects.

Back at the hotel, we had dinner al fresco, yes again; the weather here has been brilliant, whilst being entertained by a jazz trio in the nearby Peristyle, it was soooooo relaxing and surreal having dinner surrounded by walls over 1,700 years old.

Monday 10 September
We spent our morning wandering around the underground halls of Diocletian's Palace. It was amazing to see two huge halls with high ceilings still supporting the new city above; no wonder this palace is considered one of the largest and best preserved from the Roman world.

Then we got onto a catamaran and headed southwards along the Dalmatian Coast to Hvar. On docking at the harbour, we had an easy 10 metre stroll to the Riva Yacht Harbour Hotel, on the promenade. Our room was really cool and most importantly it overlooked the harbour and onwards to the Pakleni Islands.

Next was lunch at Café Pjaca on the Town Square underneath the Clock Tower and Loggia before an afternoon swimming and sun bathing around the Amfora Bay. To further relax, Yang and I also had a one hour massage at the Bonj les bains Beach Club...definitely a welcome change to our normal go-go-go itinerary.

Very much relaxed, we were ready to continue our sightseeing, visiting the Franciscan Monastery, Cathedral of St Stjepan, climbing up to the Fortress Spanjolica for its views of the town and the Pakleni Islands, and wandering around the town centre and its many tourist shops. We had dinner and drinks at the Hotel; the restaurant and bar were on the terrace and the views were so good, being at the tip of the promenade that we didn't need really need to go anywhere else.

Tuesday 11 September
We caught a very expensive taxi (£30 for 13km, making it more expensive than London) to Stari Grad, the main port town, to catch a ferry further south to Dubrovnik, the 'Pearl of the Adriatic' and also on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The ferry took 7 hours 15 minutes, and a bus would have taken 4, but it was worth it to cruise along the Dalmatian Coast. The ferry also stopped at Korčula, a town with its walled old city situated on a peninsula.

Docking at Dubrovnik in the afternoon, we checked-in and dropped our bags at the Hilton Imperial Hotel, before strolling around the Old Town. Walking down Stradun (Placa), the main street of the Old Town, the first thing you notice is how clean the streets and limestone buildings are even though the Old Town is a few hundred years old. The main reason for this is that in October 1991 the Serbian-Montenegrin remains of the Yugoslav People's Army (Croatia was previously part of Yugoslavia) bombed the city over 7 months (over 2,000 bombs and guided missiles fell). The Old Town has since been restored in its original style (restoration was only completed in 2005). Other sights in the Old Town that we visited today included:
- Fort Lovrijenac







- Pile Gate, the main entrance to the Old Town.







- Big Onofrio's fountain







- Orlando's Column (a monument to freedom), Sponza Palace, Bell Tower and Bell Lounge







- St Blaise Church (named after Dubrovnik's patron saint)








- Old Port







We also visited the Church of Saint Saviour, the Franciscan Monastery and its Old Pharmacy (which still keeps medicines in ancient jars), the Cathedral & Treasury, Gundulić's Square and finally St Ignatius Church before heading to dinner at Rosarji. This was a family run restaurant with really fresh seafood and traditional dishes like škampi buzara (scampi simmered in wine, tomatoes, garlic and herbs...the best dish in Croatia) and rozata (the croatian version of crème caramel).

Wednesday 12 September
As a bit of morning exercise, we walked along the Guards' walkway of Dubrovnik's ancient city walls (Gradske Zidine). This was really cool for breathtaking views of the Old Town, the island of Lokrum and the Coast. The walkway also took us to the top of the Fort of St John and Minčeta Tower.

After making our way along the entire 2km of walkway, we headed to the Rector's Palace, now the Museum of Dubrovnik with some nice paintings and furniture, the Ploče Gate, and the Dominican Monastery. We then stopped for a drink at Gil's, a cool lounge bar overlooking the old port, before making our way to the airport. Like all good things, our final summer holiday during our life in London had come to an end ... luckily it was a great one!