Dubrovnik & The Crazy Sisters

Dubrovnik, "Pearl of the Adriatic" they call it, well I'm not so sure. Yes, it's pretty, it's picturesque, it's in some ways special, but only the old walled town has that special feel and even that has competition from places in Montenegro. However, it's still a place worth seeing and probably best to see out of season so it is not overrun by tourist trips. The old town is in a lovely setting overlooking the sea and has some interesting streets to wander around and plenty of little shops full of items. Some curious, arty and some appallingly tacky and touristy. I wonder sometimes how some people can possibly stay in business selling the stuff they do.

I got to Dubrovnik though nearly didn't. At Mostar bus station the ticket desk said the bus was full. It arrived and apparently three seats were free and there were four in front of me. Two bought tickets, one of which was Jatta from Finland (now in Zurich) who I met briefly in Sarajevo and Melissa. The other two were travelling together so did not want the remaining one ticket and kindly let me buy it, how nice. Fortunately a few minutes later they got on the bus too as the man in the station persuaded the driver they could sit in the tour guide seat! Helen and Linzi originally from NE England have been working in Bratislava.

At Dubrovnik we got rooms from two ladies at the station who were sisters and as usual when we got there they tried to charge me more for being on my own. Lucky, I was offered a sofa instead, thanks Jatta and Melissa. Had a walk around Dubrovnik and later around the city walls giving views of the life going on around the old town. Visited the beach for a while with Helen and Linzi, who were really nice to spend time with and who also shared their vodka with me that night, before I went to watch Croatia lose gallantly to Brazil with a few locals who fed me with pizzas from the cafe next door. A fine night.



Left: Small harbour at Dubrovnik
Right: Linzi & Helen in the old town streets

Next morning, bit of panic over a mis-understanding with a bus timetable (if you're reading, you know who you are ;-)) and a few changes of plans caused a little chaos and conufsion which resulted in our sister hosts getting rather upset. First one then the other, screaming, shouting hysterically at us, telling us to get out, then going into the bathrooms, throwing our things out, packing bags for us and taking sheets of beds, and screaming for more money from us, they were really a bit crazy. I'm not sure I have seen anyone get quite so heated over something like this and result was we all got kicked out, quite entertaining really seeing them howling at us and as I left shouting Muzh! Muzh! whatever that means in Croat, 'go away' or something I assume.

Anyway ended up in remaining two of us finding another room for the night which was the first and only night in Croatia where I did not experience problems with my host trying to get extra money after a price had been agreed. It was also the first time in weeks that I had a shower with a shower head holder and a curtain, so you didn't have to hold the shower yourself continuously!



Left: Dubrovnik old town street from city walls.
Right: Sunset over Dubrovnik harbour.

The persisitent problems with hosts in private rooms was a bit disappointing and leaves a bitter taste, which will make me think twice about returning. The other point of interest is that beer is cheaper than fruit juice or water in cafes. 2 euros for 0.5l beer or 1.50 euro for 0.2l fruit juice, so beer is about half the price, same goes for Slovenia.