Trips

OAT: Crossroads of the Adriatic

June 3-18, 2018

The second half of our almost two months in the Balkans was spent in Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Slovenia. It was very interesting, had lots of history, and the land/countryside is absolutely beautiful! This, of course, has led to lots of landscape photos.

The tour started in Dubrovnik, Croatia and ended in Ljubljana, Slovenia and included many unpronounceable but beautiful places.

Crossroads of the Adriatic Itinerary

Trip Map
June 3-4	Belgrade, Serbia to Dubrovnik, Croatia; Dubrovnik City Tour; Ethnographic Museum; Walk on the City Wall
June 5	Montenegro: Our Lady of the Rocks; Kotor City Tour
June 6	Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Jablanica; Sarajevo
June 7	Sarajevo City Tour; Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque; Synagogue; Home-hosted Dinner
June 8	Sarajevo Tunnel
June 9	To Karanac; Cathedral of St. Peter; Sklepic Farmstead; Cheese Making
June 10	Sklepic Cooking; Pottery Demonstration; Karanac Village; Szabo Winery
June 11	Zagreb City Tour; Cathedral of Zagreb; Lenuci's Horseshoe
June 12	Antuna Augutincic Gallery; Rogatec Open Air Museum; Sinful Hill
June 13	Plitvice Lakes National Park; Opatija
June 14	Excursion to Istria; Motovun; Central Square; Truffle Hunting; Aura Distillery
June 15	Postojna Cave Park; Ljubljana City Tour
June 16	Lake Bled; Bled Rowing Center; Bled Castle; Gingerbread Making
June 17	River Cruise; Ljubljana Castle - Puppetry Museum - Dragon Museum
June 18	Ljubljana to Estes Park

 

Trip Map
Flag of Croatia	License Plates: New EU above and old pre-EU below. The HR stands for Hrvatski  which is Croatia in the Croatian language
Sun., 6/3/18 - Belgrade, Serbia through Bosnia to Dubrovnik, Croatia One tour ended and our next one, Crossroads of the Adriatic, began today. To fly from Belgrade to Dubrovnik would have been expensive and time consuming with one-stop and customs, etc. There are no direct trains so to make the move we hired a driver in a private car and Gorman drove us. It worked out well. He was an excellent driver and the scenery was impressive. We drove on “B” roads across four mountain ranges/passes. B-roads are what most of Serbia is. They are narrow, two-lane, windy roads through farmland or mountains. We left at 7:30 AM and arrived at Hotel Kompassin Dubrovnik at 5:30 PM. We had two border crossings (Serbia into Bosnia-Herzegovina and then into Croatia), two bathroom stops, and a quick hot lunch of two omelets, a beer and a Coke, and bread for 13.6 Bosnian Maria or 7.50 Euro. We drove through Sutjeska National Park, the Tara Gorge region, and went part way around Bileka Lake, all in Bosnia-Herzegovnia. We checked into our hotel and met our group of 14 (one couple cancelled) for a welcome dinner and 1 1/2 hour “briefing.” We went to dinner near our hotel, eating at 9 PM. Marge and I walked back to the hotel at 10:30 PM. It was way too long of a day.
Croatian countryside on our drive from Belgrade to Dubrovnik	Croatian countryside on our drive from Belgrade to Dubrovnik
Croatian countryside on our drive from Belgrade to Dubrovnik	First view of the Adriatic Sea
Mon., 6/4/18 - Dubrovnik, Croatia We have a wonderful buffet at this hotel - but the eggs are still cold! At 8:15 we walked to a local bus stop and rode the #4 bus to Pile, the west gate to the walled old town of Dubrovnik. Daniella, our local guide, toured us into and around the old town. The fortress was built and enlarged upon in the 9th, 13th, 15th, and 17th centuries. The fortress is a UNESCO site. We toured St. Francis monastery and the “oldest” pharmacy, originally run by monks, and still selling things like aloe salves. The cloister was a peaceful place and the capitals on the columns are all different. One has a face with a swollen cheek looking to the pharmacy because of a toothache.
From our hotel room	From our hotel room
Lots of steps in Dubrovnik	Bounded on the east by steep hillsides
Fort Lovrijenac - a medieval fortress outside the western wall of the city	Walls of Dubrovnik - the Minceta Tower is above the wall
City walls	The old and the new
Franciscan Monastery	Franciscan Monastery Cloister
The laundry still has to be done
Very narrow streets in many places	Many street cafes and restaurants
Candy store!	Goodies for sale
Dubrovnik clock tower - the bell tolls by mechanized statues hitting it	Marge and I left the group and ventured off on our own. We looked inside the cathedral and walked out to the harbor and then to the market square where venders were selling fruits, vegetables, herbs, and crafts.
A market, of course	The market
Dubrovnik Cathedral	Inside the Dubrovnik Cathedral
The organ inside the Dubrovnik Cathedral	Interesting Station of the Cross inside the Dubrovnik Cathedral
Sponza Palace	Huff and Puff
Waterfront	Waterfront

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