Day 7- the last day

Having had a somewhat rest from museum-ing of late, on the last day  I threw myself into it with renewed vigour.

The first one on the list was the National History Museum. The museum is spread out on three floors ; the first about birds with lots of stuffed birds glaring at you like they want to peck your eyes out, but fear not it gets scarier.

On the second floor we (and here I mean the royal we, which by the way have you heard the news about the royal baby? No? What have been living under a rock? The half blood prince, he lives! but anyway let's get off from our tangent and get back to the museum, now where were we?.....ah yes the second floor) learnt all about fishes. Big ones, small ones, endangered ones, scary ones and as you pass into the next room there's a lovely video all about sharks. Did you know for example that Sharks have a row of fifteen spare teeth for every razor sharp tooth in their mouth and some sharks go through 200 teeth in their lifetime. So fear not if a shark loses a tooth it will grow another, sometimes in under 24 hours.
Somehow this piece of information doesn't make sharks any less terrifying to me.

The top floor was about flowers, finally something that won't scare the living day lights out of me, like the plastic fish dangling suspiciously from the ceiling on the floor below. Alas the flowers were not going to be my friends in the 'golden afternoon' (although it was morning) as I was going to learn all about the poisonous properties of the deadly plants. I already knew that holly and ivy were sneaky so and soes but lily of the valley and snowdrops? Well didn't I tell you that gardens were evil.

The second sojourn of the morning took me to the archaeological museum where I was privy to learn about all the old churches in and around Dubrovnik as well as looking at the some of the old stonework that was salvaged.

Going around museums is thirsty work so I ventured to look for a spot of respite which I found in the form  of a cliff side bar. According to the TimeOut website where I had done a bit of research before coming. The cliff side bar though picturesque is popular with nudists. Uh oh.

Thankfully there was not a nudist in sight so I could sit reading my book in peace without getting an eyeful.  With a hot chocolate and cherry ice cream so ends my final day in Dubrovnik, in the morning: home time.

Day 6

Today I swapped the hustle and bustle of old town in favour of a visit to peaceful and serene Zaton bay. Breakfast and a quick jaunt around the Dominican monastery though took precedence, I mean what's a day without its fair share of culture?

At breakfast I was reminded about the importance of commas. I was looking forward to the prospect of eating honey bread with my morning coffee  however instead of the honey bread with jam and butter, I got honey and bread (as well the jam and butter)

It's no 'let's go eat grandma' and 'let's go eat, grandma' but I think it still proves the point that commas can make all the difference.

*Edit* when I went past the other day I noticed that there actually was a comma between honey and bread. I wasn't being decieved at all. What a numpty.

The Dominican monastery is the second of the two monasteries in the old town of Dubrovnik  situated near the west gate whilst the Franciscan monastery lies in the east or maybe it's west and the Dominican is east. I'm not too sure, I was never any good at geography, all you need to know is that one is one and the other is t'other.

Day fi-a-a-a staying alive staying alive

Not really sure why I did that. The fifth day of my jollies brought its own perils in the form of cramps, so I was forced to lay off my gung-ho attitude towards sightseeing and lay low for a while.

This would have worked as the Croatian café culture (my favourite kind) meant that they would happily while away the hours over a cup of coffee. Yet I am forgetting that I was in the most touristy populated part of Dubrovnik, if not the whole country and  the notion of 'bums on seats' is obviously more important than that of a 'happy camper.' Therefore after a few hours of sitting in the harbour café/restaurant that I shall not name I was rudely told that I was being moved because a large group were coming and they needed the table where I was sat. Obviously using the other twenty or so empty tables in the establishment was against the question. Feeling affronted I left.

My faith in humanity was restored however when I was let into the Franciscan monastery cloisters and pharmacy museum 'fo free' - so much for the no sight-seeing plan.

The evening repast was taken in the shadow of the cathedral where I was seated next to a Russian woman.  As if proving  my previous point that there is a perception that all twenty somethings' do with their time is party (see 'things start to get awkward' )  the girl was having a discussion with the waiter about the very same subject, when asked if she went out 'partying' although I think the cool kids term the phrase 'clubbing' or 'going out' the girl replied and I quote " I don't have time. I'm 24, I want to get married and have kids."

Excuse me whilst I choke on my piece of bread and olive oil.  Clearly the waiter was as shocked as I was by this statement as he lamely replied that he was 27 and had done neither of these things.  If anyone else is confused by what I over heard I would not blame you, it's like saying 'sorry I don't have time to do this mundane thing that is apparently fun because I have to go and settle down and start a family.'  Sorry what? I know your body clock is ticking and all that but you are only 24 love, what's the rush?

By  these standards it would seem that I only have a year and half left, quick find the nearest eligible bachelor we're going to get eloped

Day 4- the history lesson

Today I decided that was high time that I visited the Rector's Palace which also housed the Cultural-Historical museum. As the name suggests the Rector's Palace was home to the Rector, some would argue that, well actually everyone would argue that because I believe it is true, that the Rector, appointed monthly was the head chairman of the major council that ruled the Dubrovnik Republic. 

The Republic flourished during the 15th and 16th century and Dubrovnik's trade by sea went from to strength to strength yet by the 17th century things weren't looking so good for the poor D.R. who were losing out thanks to the Venetian Republic. 

Worse still in 1667 there was a disastrous earthquake that brought the city of Dubrovnik quite literally to its knees. The whole city was destroyed .(apart from one church- see previous post)  by the eighteenth century the city seemed to be recovering from the shock and was building itself back up but then Napoleon came along.

Dubrovnik surrendered to him afraid of a Russian invasion but at the Congress of Vienna in 1816 was passed to the hands of the Hapsburg's and has ever since been toing and froing never knowing which way it'll go next. That's probably a gross exaggeration on my part but hey ho. The independent republic of Croatia was finally formed in 1990 and by 1991 they are being bombed by Serbia. 

The downstairs galleries of the museum were dedicated to the famous faces of some of  Croatia's genii and I must admit that I had not heard of any of them, not even Stjepan Gradic who had most of the upstairs gallery all to himself. 

The special exhibition about Stjepan Gradic  'the father of the homeland'  marks four centuries since his birth. Gradic was a great scholar and highly regarded diplomat both in his homeland but also in Rome where he spent a lot of his time. It was there where he heard the news of 'the great quake' of 1667 and like any great hero Gradic dropped everything and rushed to his people's aid. He is known to have helped facilitate the cities recovery seeking out help and funds from places like the Vatican amongst others. 

Indeed it was Gradic who the rebuilding of the Cathedral can be attributed to, so quite naturally this was my next destination.

Well I hope you enjoyed your history lesson. Bok Bok (which apparently means bye bye but the first time I heard this was from a grown women who sounded like she was imitating a chicken.) 

Day 3 -where the bus disagrees with me

On the third day the parentals were going to the harbour to catch a ferry so I got the bus with them and waved them off before catching the bus back. Simple right?

Wrong, as readers of this blog will probably know by now, nothing I do is ever 'simple'. I was shown where the bus stop was and knew which bus to get -so far so good- I had my Dubrovnik card at the ready which as I have previously mentioned allows me free bus travel for up to 20 trips (well I didn't mention the last part before but now you know- why aren't I a font of knowledge). So there I was poised and ready for action and then the bus drives straight past me. Fantastic. But it's ok I can get the next one…apparently not as the second bus full to capacity goes hurtling by.

Here I am, sitting at the bus stop, it's sweltering hot and by this time getting a bit fed up. Cue random irate Croatian woman shouting 'il lipo' at me, not going to lie this did slightly freak me out and I couldn't remember the phrase for 'I don't speak Croatian' but no matter because here comes the bus. It turns out that all she wanted was to borrow a pen. For future reference the phrase I was looking for is " ne govorium hrvatski."

Today was a day of churches, St. Blaise's being the most ornate as he was the patron saint of Dubrovnik. However also on the list were St. Saviour's but I was the only one in there having a gander so that wasn't awkward at all and another near the city wall but I can't remember the name of it. This church is one of the few buildings in the city and survived the 1667 earthquake and is still standing today,you can therefore imagine my horror to find that it is being used as an art gallery. An art gallery in one of the few remaining original buildings? Are you insane!!!

So there we have it ladies and gents at the end of day three I am starting to look rather brown, have heat rash and blisters on my feet. Fantabbydozy. On the plus side I found some spots where I can get wifi yay I don't feel so out of sync with the world anymore.

Day 2- when the parentals came to visit me and I wasn't all alone.

Seeing as I had gone through all this hoop jumping palaver to buy the 'Dubrovnik card' I intended to (as my father would say) get my money's worth.

Conveniently today's plans included venturing up the walls that enclosed the old town. It was on the card so guess who got in free :)
Yet whoever decided to go up the wall at the height of the midday sun is nothing short of a genius. Well done you. * looks shifty*

Halfway around the wall (or there abouts) you will find the maritime museum, conveniently located for those seeking a bit of shade and even better I can also use my card here to get in free. However the museum really should sack their curator as the exhibition was a bit higgeldy piggeldy and all over the place. Instead of running along one wall in a chronological fashion the display boards were placed in a kind of zig zag formation so to the untrained eye (like mine) you will have to jump back and forth from century to century…a bit like a time lord really but I'm pretty sure that Doctor Who wouldn't be sweating profusely in a sun hat, the Tardis is probably air conditioned.

Nevertheless the Maritime Museum proved to be very interesting and was worth the visit.

The afternoon was devoted to going swimming at the Pile Pier (this apparently was where some of the filming for Game of Thrones occurred) but I'll have you know that you shouldn't touch the the sea floor because there are urchins and they will eat you alive. Just kidding but it does hurt if you step on one although that didn't stop me from getting scratches from something when I tried (unsuccessfully) to heave myself back onto the slippery pier.

Day 1- Things start to get awkward

The Croatian/Dubrovnik adventure has officially begun as we were all herded onto a bus and then plane like sheep, well if sheep had suitcases. The journey to the Dubrovnik airport was, thankfully, uneventful. So far so good. Yet things were about to get interesting. We were supposed to be met at the airport , my parents by the weird walking/adventure trek thing they were going on and someone was supposed to come and take me to where I would be staying. However after a few minutes of failing to find our names on people's placards I started to panic.what if they forgot about me? Will I have to make my own way there? Where is it I'm going to anyway? Yet before I could have full on panic attack our guide arrived.

The otherwise nearly bald man had a rather impressive beard and was wearing what I can only describe as swimming goggles but were in fact sunglassesbut that didn't make the trip any less awkward. We dropped the parentals off in….some city I can't remember the name of and carried on with our journey (cue the awkward silence) before  I was dropped off outside the Hilton…..garage. Luckily to be met by the owner of the house who showed me where it was.

There is a perception that all that twenty-somethings do is drink and party and drink some more and party harder, at least from what I have gathered but  beardy man was clearly quite shocked  when I revealed that I had come for the museums and sightseeing and my answer killed any conversation.

Having finally arrived at my destination I unpacked quickly (not living out of the suitcase like I normally do. What's wrong with me?) before setting out to begin a new adventure.

First on my list was a trip to the tourist information centre to collect my '7 day Dubrovnik Card' which allows me free entry to some museums, discount in some shops and restaurants and even a free bus pass. You would think that having had purchased  the card online would make the collection quick and easy but alas this was not the case as the lady behind the desk kept shouting that I needed a voucher. Although it sounded more like 'wowcher' - like the advert.

I eventually got my card and wanted to activate it immediately.

The museum on today's itinerary was the Home of Marin Drzic, Croatia's most famous playwright. I had high hopes for this small museum but it didn't really deliver as everything was in Croatian, I later learned that I could have got an audio tour….fantastic oh well at least I got in free (with the card that is). There was an interactive board near the front of the museum which I thought might help me but I couldn't work out how to change the language so was forced to read it on the same language setting as the previous users…which was French, Je ne comprende pas.

After a rather unsatisfying trip to the museum I explored the narrow streets of the old town locating many of the shops and restaurants that I had looked up through doing research before I came here. But soon the sweltering sun got too much and I just had to get myself an ice cream, it's a hard knock life.

 My last destination for the day before going back to get changed before going out for dinner was to go to the church of St. ignatius the youngest of the Peverell brothers…..just kidding, St. Ignatius is the patron saint of something or another and he has a rather nice church.

Woah we're going to Croatia

No seriously- Woah!

I might as well change my name to 'Anxiety Girl- Able to jump to the worst conclusion in a single bound' (although I can't take any credit for writing this description myself, I found it on the Internet.)

Faced with the prospect of my imminent departure for Dubrovnik ,  I shall go for my jollies, on my own, for a week, I have spent the last week or so in a somewhat limbo.

At times I have felt very excited, ecstatic even at the prospect of going on holiday by myself, being able to do what I want when I want, being able to go wherever I like whenever the fancy may take me.

Yet at the same time there have been periods when i have simply burst into tears thinking 'OMG OMG what have I done' as I am crippled with fear and doubt. Worrying not only about whether or not I will get lost (I will, so much is obvious) but also whether or not I will psychically melt in the heat, (the maximum tempetures next week are set to hit 32 C and I do not cope well in the heat, the recent heat wave in England has been bad enough) how I will cope in a strange place where I do not know where anything is (see above) and also do not speak/understand the lingo, whether or not I have packed enough clothes and/or  if I have forgotten something and/or everything but I will most probably arrive at my destination tomorrow (OMG I'm going tomorrow PANIC!!!) and realise that I have forgotten something obvious like my toothbrush or  shoes or my passport….although I think that I have all those three things…. and finally if  I will stop worrying long enough to be able have a good time.

With all these conflicting emotions I am feeling suitably exhausted and ready for a holiday. Only time will tell how this tale will unfold. 

T.B.C.