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A couple of days visiting Dubrovnik and than one week of great sailing in the southern part of Dalmatia. I was lucky to get this invitation from my friend Igor. Here is the crew: Petra, Iva, Zac, Matija, Hrvoje, Ivana, Tvrko, captain Igor, Cris and Andrei.
We sailed from Dubrovnik to Okuklje (Mljet Island), Korcula, Lastovo Island, again to Mljet Island but on the other side and finally back to Dubrovnik.
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Driving from Bucharest to Dubrovnik
It took two days from Bucharest to Dubrovnik through Serbia and Bosnia (via Drobeta, Zajecar, Visegrad). We spent the night at a hotel in Serbia near čačac. The night caught us on the road and was pretty hard to find a place to sleep.
On our way back we tried to make it in one day. It was one hell of a driving day (and night) and we had to stop 100km before Bucharest at Pitesti (we slept at Adi & Anca). The last 50 km I drove only behind a truck, just following its lights. -
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Old Bridge of Visegrad
Višegrad, Bosnia and HerzegovinaIt's a very nice old bridge, build by the Turks I think. It reminded us of the old bridge in Regensburg.
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Mosques
Bosnia and HerzegovinaWe have seen many white mosques. It seems that they were the first one to be rebuilt after the war.
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Bosnia it's a country of the mountains
Bosnia and HerzegovinaWe drove hundreds of km through beautiful mountains and canyons. Was a great drive but also very tiring.
I did not know Bosnia is so beautiful and has so many mountains. We must come back someday for hiking, while is still an "unknown" destination. -
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Dubrovnik Old City
Dubrovnik, Croatia, 25-27 Apr 2008Dubrovnik is impressive indeed. It's probably the largest old city I have visited and for sure the best preserved. It was actually bombed during the war with Bosnia but was quickly rebuilt. For many centuries Dubrovnik was a rich and powerful city-state and a very important commercial port.
Igor & Petra arranged us accommodation at one of their friends. We had a small but cute studio right in the old city. Our host (Mara) gave us a tip were to park the car for free - there is a small parking place on top of a hill above the sea. Our car had the bast view on the old city :)
It's nice to stroll around narrow streets or on the main big one, to discover the hidden corners, the old churches, the small boutiques with all kind of beautiful things, the restaurants.
The best is to walk around is early in the morning before the arrival of the tourist chords coming by cruises (or in the evening when they are gone). Dubrovnik is a major stop for many cruises around Mediterranean Sea. We were outside the season and was still pretty crowded, I cannot imagine how is it "in season". This also makes Dubrovnik one of the most expensive places in Croatia, but it's definitely worth a visit.
We are not so much "city tourists", we prefer nature, so that two days and half in Dubrovnik was kind of too much. In the last day we were looking forward to the arrival of the other guys to start the real "adventure". -
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The tour of the Old Dubrovnik Walls
Dubrovnik, Croatia, 26 Apr 2009This tour is worth to take. The walls are quite long and takes some hours to go around. But you are up there and you have beautiful views on the old city as well as on the sea. All groups do this, so go as early as possible.
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Sailing
Croatia, 27 Apr - 3 May 2008And here we go sailing!
On Sunday afternoon we took YUM-YUM boat from Aci Marina. It was a Beneteau Oceans 473. We spent the night in the marina and the next day we "hit the road". -
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Okuklje Marina
Mljet, Croatia, 28 Apr 2008Okuklje is a nice little village hidden in a bay on Mljet Osland. I guess this is the only night we spent anchored in a marina - it was for free because we have eaten at the restaurant there. Here we met the Ukrainians with the two months old baby on the boat sailing from France to Ukraine.
In the evening we made a small walk on the road to the top of the island - probably 200 m high :). -
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Korčula old town
Korčula island, Croatia, 29 Apr 2008The old town is very nice - we visited in the evening. Unfortunately it started to rain and we could not really enjoy it.
Next day we picked up Hrvoje, Ivana and Tvrko from Prezba and sailed further on to Lastovo Island. -
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Walking & Hitchhiking to Lastovo village
Lastovo island, Croatia, 1 May 2008We walked from Pasadur to Ubli. From there only us, Iva and Matija decided to go further on across the island to Lastovo and than even further to the old lighthouse in Skrivena Luka. The others went back to the boat and waited for us on the other side of the island.
From Ubli we walked a couple of km than we were lucky and a car stopped and drove us to Lastovo. There were no sits in the back, just some materials and strange smells. But that's all the fun :)
PS: We arrived on Lastovo Island the evening before and we anchored the boat on an old dock (seemed abandoned). Unfortunately we scratched the boat during the maneuvers. -
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Lastovo chimneys
Lastovo Island, Dalmatia, Croatia, 1 May 2009Lastovo village is lovely. We walked around between old houses and these typical chimneys.
The village is up on the hills. It's somehow strange that the village is not by the see as you would expect on such a small island. But in former times was safer this way - it was a protection against pirates. Besides inland they make quite a lot of agriculture.
During communism Lastovo was a military base - we could see some big tunnels designed to shelter army ships. That is why the tourism is still not so developed and the island has a more wild and authentic look. -
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Begging for pancakes :)
Lastovo, Croatia, 1 May 2009After the walk and hitchhike we arrived in Lastovo and we were very hungry. Bad luck - it was 1st of May and every shop, every restaurant was closed. So the only solution was begging for some food. We've got some bread and cheese and tomatoes which we have eaten in front of the church. Than a lady invited us for some pancakes - but this time we had to pay something :)
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Lighthouse at Skrivena luka
Lastovo island, Croatia, 1 May 2008From Lastovo village we walked further on across the island to Skrivena Luka. The boat was waiting in the bay. We were quite tired but we decided to go also up the hill to the lighthouse where we had a well deserved beer.
After a few days sailing this one day walking was great. And we had lots of fun on the way :). -
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Sailing & anchoring in bays
CroatiaUsually we spent night anchored in the middle of a bay and we were going at shore by a little inflatable boat. We had to make two ways so that everybody gets on land.
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Pasta on the boat
One of the main dishes we had on the boat. The whole trip was low cost so we have always eaten on board. Was a lot of fun, except for the dish washing.
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Cycling around Mljet lakes
Mljet Island, Croatia, 2 May 2008We arrived in the afternoon at Polac. We decided to rent bikes and cycle around the two Mljet lakes. We had to hurry since was quite late and we had just a couple of hours before getting dark.
We started by going up, quite long and steep by my standards :). But we made it and than here comes the valley :). Than going around the lakes. Great trip. -
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Benedictine monastery in the middle of Mljet lake
Mljet Island, Croatia, 2 May 2008These is quite interesting. You have a island, Mljet. Than you have the two lakes on the island. And in the middle of the lake there is another small island with a Benedictine monastery on it.
Ok, the lakes are actually communicating with the sea by a small and very narrow channel. But they have sweet water, not sea water. We could not cross on the other side of the channel, so we actually returned on the same side of the lakes. -
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Swimming for 30 seconds
2 May 2008In the last day we said we have to get into the water - for 30 seconds :).
It was another beautiful bay. We also rowed on the shore in our inflatable boat there was also a real sandy beach where we could walk without problems and built some sand castles.
This time of the year the water is still cold. Next time we should take neoprene suits. The good part of the story - the winds are perfect for sailing and we almost did not use the engine. Plus, there are very few tourists. -
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