Monday 22nd October 2007

Today is our son Simon's birthday – Happy Birthday Simon.
Jane ironed the trousers to dry them out and turned the hairdryer on the coats to remove at least some of the moisture.
We caught the bus for Dubrovnik Old Town from near the campsite and Ann and Nick joined us at their bus stop. It was a day spent dodging the showers and moving between museums. Although we all really wanted to walk around the walls, we decided to wait for improved weather when the views would be much better. It was not a very pleasant day, being cold wet and windy but there were dryer interludes and we were able to use these to explore the back streets of the old town. You only need to move away from the main streets in order to lose all of the other tourists.
Our campsite on the Babin Kuk Peninsular is very close to the docks at Gruz on the other side of a small bay and this is where the cruise liners dock. It is even possible to hear the ships' PA systems, probably announcing the departure of the next trip although, fortunately, we are not close enough to may out the words. When we arrived on Sunday, an absolutely enormous Carnival liner was in and, as a floating city, it totally dominated the small liner beside it. This morning they had moved on and the Aurora had replaced it. Ann and Nick's apartment has a wonderful view over the same bay and the hills behind it and they are able to see the impressive Dubrovnik suspension bridge dominating even the largest cruise ships below.
We wanted variety, so we didn't return to the same restaurant as last night so we proceeded to walk further down the same road where there are many restaurants. Unfortunately, being out of season (and because it was a Monday?) all the other restaurants were closed. After a long abortive walk around part of the headland and paddling in mud through a dark seaside park, we still hadn't found an open restaurant. In desperation, I called into a hotel and asked if there were any restaurants in the area, receiving the obvious answer - “We have one here, sir”. It was a £14 three course eat-as-much-as-you-like buffet and was actually quite good. We left well satisfied with some of us (guilty as charged) more stuffed than others.
Photos: St. Blaise the protector of Dubrovnik; Back street in the old town; Detail on the church of St. Blaise.