Enough is enough...

As fascinating and charming as medieval towns and forts are to visit, there is a limit… and after a week, we had reached ours.

So, after leaving Dubrovnik, we spent a day at the Mljet National Park (on Mljet Island). It was as if we had been transported to a magical place – it was so quiet and peaceful.  The island is mountainous with two salt-water lakes linked by a channel.  There are many trails throughout the heavily-wooded pine, cypress and oak forest and along the lakefront.  We took a minibus into the park where we were picked up a small boat that ferried us out to a tiny island in the middle of one of the lakes.  There we found a Benedictine monastery from the 12^th century (which like many others around Croatia, is currently being “restored”…  editor’s comment: they have a long way to go).  We were then ferried back to the main island, spent some time enjoying the beautiful views, and then hiked back into the small village where we had left our dingy.  It was an exceptionally warm day and we went back to the boat and enjoyed a relaxing lunch on the top deck.

We left mid-afternoon and arrived at our next destination, the island of Korcula, at sunset.  This town’s “claim to fame” is that Marco Polo was born here, so as one might expect, the tourist shops sell all sorts of “authentic” Marco Polo artifacts.  I succumbed to T-shirts for a couple of my grandkids who drive me crazy playing “Marco Polo” in the pool.

Hvar Island was the next stop on our “island tour”.  We spent Saturday exploring Hvar town, one of the most visited along this Dalmation coast (according to the guide book).  We are obviously at the end of the tourist season (other than in Dubrovnik), which has its advantages and disadvantages. We’re very happy to not be fighting crowds along the narrow pathways on our hikes to the top of the forts.  On the other hand, we’ve been frustrated by the fact that most of the restaurants have closed for the season (… particularly the ones recommended by Trip Advisor).  We did happen across a wonderful outdoor taverna after we had hiked to the top of the fort in Hvar.  Timing is everything… they were closing that day and we probably had the best meal we’ve had since we arrived in Croatia!

                                  The Andrea Cay anchored outside Mljet National Park

                                         Sleepy little town at entrance to the park

                                             Joc and Shaz enjoying a day off the boat    

                                                    Benedictine Monastary (in the park)

                                                    We hiked around this peaceful lake

                                                       Our perfect weather continues

                                                      Korcula (Marco Polos's birthplace)

                                                                 Gail strolling the old city

                                 Searching for a dinner spot (don't they look hungry?)

                                        Hvar (of course we hiked to the fort at the top)

                                                                Hvar village square

 

                                           The strongly fortified walls protecting the fort

                                                              The fort of Hvar

                                                                View from the top
                                                    

                                      Rewarding ourselves with lunch after the big hike!

Dubrovnik

...today's blog brought to you by Howard

Continued north into Croatia stopping at the small town of Cavtat to pay our dues and spend the night.  Left early in the morning for Dubrovnik, one of Europe’s great walled cities and a World Heritage Site.  The city was bustling with several cruise ships in port but John pulled right into the middle of the harbor and Joc ferried us to the dock like the celebrities we are!

The city is a spectacular example of a medieval town that has passed through the control of Illyrians, Romans, Venetians, French, Russians, Austrians and others since the first millennia B.C.  We climbed the fortifications and walked the length of the city walls giving us great views down into the old city and out into the Adriatic. We wandered the narrow streets and steep stairways despite Howard’s semi-crippled state (John lent him his walking stick/cane) passing through a local outdoor market and into two of the main churches.  Then we had lunch in one of the many al fresco restaurants.

We also took a gondola to the top of the mountain that overlooks the city.  The fortress on the heights dating back to Napoleon gives control of the city to whoever holds it.  Inside the fortress was a very moving exhibition about the latest violent cataclysm to befall the city.  The war of 1991-92 that accompanied the dissolution of Yugoslavia resulted in heavy shelling of the city by the Yugoslav National Army along with Serbian and Montenegrin forces.  The damage from the more than 3000 shells that fell on the city has fortunately been nearly completely repaired by the UN and Croatian authorities.

                                          Dubrovnik under seige as it has been for centuries
                                        (although, how scarey is a pirate ship with fenders?)

                                  These walled fortifications surround the town of Dubrovnik
     

Main square in the town

                                                   Steep and narrow streets within the town

                                                   Church of St. Blaise in the main square
          

                                                                Altar of St. Blaise

                                                              We walked the city walls

                                                         Greats views from the city walls

                                From the top of the mountain we could see how Dubrovnik was
                        able to protect itself from invaders, except during the 1991-92 war when
                      the Yugoslav National Army took control of the fort at this hilltop location
                                                      and bombed the city mercilessly

                                           We cheated and took the gondola to the top!

                                             The Andrea Cay in the harbor off Dubrovnik
                   

Marvelous Montenegro

...brought to you by Gail   

On an overcast day we arrived at the mouth of the Gulf of Kotor (Boka Kotorska) passing through the narrow entrance between two old forts – the one on the port side is in Croatia and the one on the starboard side is in Montenegro.  The Croatian fort bears visible signs of the 1991-92 Bosnian War when it was shelled by the Serbian-Montenegran forces. Our destination was Kotor at the end of the gulf which is three large bodies of water connected by narrower passages.  The steep hills of Montenegro (which means black mountain) rise out of the gulf and the coast is lined with many small picturesque villages and a few larger towns.  Kotor is nestled up against steep mountains and the old part of the city is surrounded by walls.  It has seen many rulers over the centuries from the Illyrians, Romans and Byzantines in ancient times to the Serbians, Venetians, Hungarians and French in more modern (medieval) times.  Seems like there has always been fighting here.  Above the town more stone walls zigzag up the mountain to a church and then to the fortress of St. Ivan at the top.

For a slightly exorbitant amount of Euros we were allowed to pull into the cruise dock directly across the busy main street from a gate into the old city. Once we walked through that gate we were transported back in time.  Narrow, pedestrian-only, cobblestone streets wound among the stone buildings.  Except for the many churches and palaces, some dating back to the 13^th century, most buildings are 3-4 stories with red tile roofs.  Shops or restaurants occupy the ground floor and there are tiny apartments above.  There are many small plazas with lots of cafes featuring outdoor seating under umbrellas.  Kotor was severely damaged by an earthquake in 1979 and was rebuilt with the help of UNESCO.  It is now a world heritage site.  We all agreed it was an excellent reconstruction job as there are few external electrical wires and plumbing that mar the look and feel of many old European cities.  We sampled Monetnegran cuisine that evening which is nothing special but John found the local wine to his liking (big surprise).

Next day was equally cloudy and rain was forecast but we decided to chance the climb to the fortress up 1,350 steps along cobblestone paths.  As we got higher the vistas opened up and we made many photo stops wishing that the sun was out.  During our descent the rain began to fail and just as we reached the town, the skies opened up drenching us before we could get back to the boat.

The next day dawned bright and sunny and a couple of cruise ships arrived.  Nancy and I hiked partway back up the mountain for some photos and supported the local economy with additional purchases before we departed.  As we motored out, we anchored and took the tender into Perast, another picturesque village which has 17 palaces and 16 churches but just one (as far as we could tell) tiny store.  There are two islands just off of this village with churches on both.  One island, Our Lady of the Rock, was built over many years by scuttling old ships and depositing stones around a small crag.  We took a quick tour of the church, had lunch at an outdoor café on the waterfront and then continued back out to the Adriatic Sea bidding Montenegro adieu and heading north to Croatia.

Gulf or Kotor with it's small villages tucked at the

base of towering mountains

 Entering the walled city of Kotor

Typical narrow cobblestone street and stone buildings in Kotor

                                                One of many churches within the city walls

Interior of St. Tryphane's Church

                                         Cast bronze arms and legs containing what appear
                                                    to be the remains of a saint or martyr

                             The fort behind Kotor (difficult to see what a challenging hike it was)

Howard and John huffing and puffing their way to the top

After about an hour and a half we made it to the top

just before the skies opened up on us!  Note the most effective guard rail

View from the path taken the next day in the sun

(we were able to dock right outside the main gate into the old city) 

Another view of the city and bay on our one sunny day in Kotor

                                             Our Lady of the Rock Roman Catholic Church

         Small village of Perast where we stopped for a seaside lunch

    

Weee're back....

After a whirlwind two week trip back to Annapolis (and North Palm and Denver and Cincinnati), we are very happy to be back on board the Andrea Cay.  Meeting us in Aegina when we came back October 10^th, were old friends Howard and Gail Berman  (correction: “long-time” friends from our early-married days in San Francisco).

The next day, we traveled back through the Corinth Canal and into the Gulf of Corinth (I promise not to bore you with the same details of our first voyage through the canal chronicled in the “Corinth Canal to Aegina” blog).

We made a brief stop in the quaint little seaside village of Fiskardo on the northern end of the Ionian island of Kefallonia (aka Cephalonia).  This was the town where the movie, “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” (Nicolas Cage, Penelope Cruz) was filmed about 10 years ago.

Our last stop in Greece was the island of Corfu, situated between Italy and the Greek mainland and of such strategic importance that from the mid 1300’s to the mid 1800’s, it was under the rule of Venice, France and then England, until it was finally reclaimed by Greece in 1864.

Unfortunately, we returned to Greece bringing with us a lot of rain, which is quite a change from our near-perfect 2 month visit in August and September.  We still managed to get a day and half of sightseeing in though.  We hiked to the top of the Old Fortress of Corfu (built in the mid 1500’s by the Venetians) and were rewarded by incredible views of the old city.  We explored the old city which is pretty touristy with lots of restaurants and shops along the esplanade and down narrow streets as you work your way back from a lovely city park. 

The next day we rented a car and drove around part of the island.  Corfu is very hilly, but very lush and green, a real change from the barren and dry Cyclades Islands.  There are also beautiful beaches on the west side of the island.  The highlight of our day was a visit to the Achilleion Palace, built in 1890 as a personal retreat for the Empress Elizabeth of Austria.  Though the palace itself is not overly impressive, the story of the Empress is.  Also known as Princess Sissy, she was anything but!  A brilliant and educated woman, she was quite the adventurer and sailed around the Mediterranean, visiting Italy, Greece, Spain, France, Africa and Egypt, where according to legend, she would strap herself to the mast in rough seas!  When she arrived in port, she would slip off the boat incognito, as her hairdresser masquerading as the Empress would disembark with great ceremony.  She met an untimely death when a deranged radical stabbed her.

We had an 18 hour overnight trip to Montenegro last night.  It was very windy with thunderstorms and brilliant lightening all night.  Fortunately we had a 6-8 ft. “following sea”, which the boat handles very well.  Joc and Shaz insisted on taking the overnight shifts, so the rest of us went happily off to bed.  

                                                Howard and Gail in the Corinth Canal

                                         Two of the four spans of the new suspension bridge
                                                         spanning the Gulf of Corinth

                                                                      Fiskardo

                                                      Fishing boats in Fiskardo harbor

Shopping in Fiskardo

Gail has the most important item!

                                                   John and Nancy at the Old Fort in Corfu 

                                             

                                                        Corfu City from the Old Fort

                                             Empress Elizabeth's  Achilleion Palace

                                     Gail trying to figure out how she can copy this staircase
                                                  in her old Victoian San Francisco home

                                           One of many beach towns we saw along our
                                                              rainy-day car excursion

                                                        Howard and John in lockup
                                                    (Gail and Nancy went shopping)

                                                 Cloudy skys make for beautiful sunsets