laartista

Great report Images. A question please, how was sky europe airlines? thanks

Mathieu

Ahhh Images, thanks so very much for your detailed and (for me) nostalgic report of your stay in Budapest. I visited both Dubrovnik and Budapest for the first time in September 2004 (9 days in Croatia, 2 days in Budapest) and fell in love with both. I returned to Budapest again in April 2005 for a week and will be returning again this October for another blissful week. It is one of my favourite cities in central Europe.

I am well familiar with the open-face 'Szendvich' shops (aren't they beautiful to look at ?) and neat little grocery stores with great food, as I love to explore and roam the city on foot. The things one can discover....

I too also enjoyed the Dohanyi synagogue and Tree of life. How long do you think it will take to fill the leaves on that beautiful willow tree with the names of all the Hungarian holocaust victims and descendants ?
I also enjoyed the tour of the museum attached to the synagogue.

I also made it a point to go to several arts events (dance theatre, plays and music events) that are off the beaten path and hope to do more this year, after spending a week and a half discovering Turkey first. There were times when I didn't feel much like a tourist in Budapest even though I was one !

Your report just gives me more to look forward to.

Thanks !

Images2

Hi laartista,

We were thrilled with Sky Europe! We were at the airport 2 hours before our flight and were the first in line, and I asked for exit row seats and received them! As you check in, you get seat assignments. They were very, very friendly, and had great baggage service. We had our bags in Dubrovnik about 10-15 minutes after we got off the plane. Seemed quicker since we had to go through immigration first, but that was also easy in Croatia. Hungary is another story. They really study your passport there.

The Sky Europe flight was right on time also. They don't overbook, so you will have a seat if you've purchased one.

We are booking 2 more flights on Sky Europe for the spring. If you book early or around Christmas, you'll get very low fares!

Thanks alot Mathieu for your comments. Budapest is a wonderful, easy city to visit.

laartista

thanks for the info images-but all ready came and went, last minute unplanned trip. Now posting a report. also thanks for budapest info in your report

Images2

Hope you had a great time! Aren't last minute trips wonderful.

I just noticed on the SkyEurope page that they now will book seats assignments when you buy your ticket, for an extra charge, of course.

Images2

laartista,

Did you end up flying on Sky Europe? If so, did you find it ok? I love the fact that there are these budget airlines in Europe.

laartista

Hi Images, no another airline, cuz it was so last minute the prices were really high.But others have also said good things about them. I'll probably use them in January. By the way thanks for the tip on the Folk art store, I did some damage in there.

Images2

I just found your report. What a hoot!! I need to travel with you next time! We also thought the food at the small places was so, so good. We enjoyed it alot more than the food at the big name restaurants.

We're going to Prague in early May. Have you been there, any suggestions? We're also going to the Netherlands first, including Amsterdam (our second trip there)and connecting the two on SkyEurope.

laartista

I was in Prague once for 3 days in 2000. I liked it, liked budapest better. Prague is very picturesque with some intersting sights. The jewish quarter is a must see. I also saw a puppet theatre production of Don Giovanni. I'll see if I could find the info. We stayed at the Domus Henrici up by the castle. Pretty cool hotel.

julia_t

Fabulous and most enjoyable trip reports from both of you, Images and laartista. I've really enjoyed them both.

Now I want to ask a little advice from you please!

I have a reservation at the Victoria Hotel (for next April) with my almost 18yo daughter. Actually it will be her birthday trip. But I am finding some really quite nice apartments over in central Pest, for half the price of a room at the Victoria, around 50-80 euros per night for the 2 of us. Staying in an apartment would just about halve my accommodation costs.

I am just a little concerned that the Victoria is just that bit little out of the way, (maybe not for me, but for her - wanting to be in the buzzing centre of things... close to shops, restaurants, being able to walk out almost on to Vaci Utca first thing for coffee, etc). We're not too worried about breakfast, so would we gain any more from staying at the Victoria apart from the views if we get lucky with a high room?

If you can offer any thoughts on Buda v Pest I'd appreciate it.

Thanks in advance...

laartista

Buda seems to be where a lot of the tourist sights are, but alot of locals live in the Buda hills. Pest I think is where more of the businesses are.my cousins apartment is in central Pest and he is always talking about the good location. I guess it depends what experience your looking for. My hotel was on the pest side, we walked everywhere including to the Buda side. Hope that helps a little.

Images2

Hi Julia,

Sorry for the late reply. I've been out of town for awhile.

We didn't feel out of the way at all at the Victoria, but it's not special enough to stay at if you have a better option. You can tell if the apartment is in a good location once you study where all the sights are in Budapest, and if you feel it's in a good spot, I'd stay there. Everything is spread out, but not over a really large area, so I think there is not one prefered place to stay over another.

Have a wonderful trip with your daughter! I took my daughter to Paris recently and we had a great time together. These are trips our girls will never forget.

teacher33

So what happened to the Dubrovnik part of the report?

julia_t

Topping because I'm now researching a trip to Croatia in October and every time I search here YOUR report comes up, but without the Croatia part...

I can't find it under another title either.

Please post it if you can - I've really enjoyed your Hungarian adventure so far, and found it incredibly useful too. I would love to read the next installment, and not only because it would help my planning but because I enjoy your writing style!

Waiting to hear from you...

Images2

At the time I posted the 2 halves of the report on different boards, one on Hungary and one on Croatia. Instead of searching for it, I'll just repost, in sections the Croatian part here. Beware, it's very, very long! Hope it's of some use to you, we had a fabulous time, and I'm sure you will also!!

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Our SkyEurope flight landed 10 minutes early in Dubrovnik. The approach was quite interesting, passing so closely over the hillside and homes in the Cavtat area. Not much room for error here. Passing through passport control was fast and easy. No scrutinizing of your passport here. The luggage arrived quickly and after getting Kunas at the ATM we boarded the Atlas transfer bus, which usually meets flights, for the trip to the Pile Gate in Dubrovnik. The bus tickets were $6 each and we bought the tickets on the bus. They collect the money after you board. The driver was very helpful, and answered any questions the passengers had. He also dropped a couple of people off along the road into Dubrovnik. At this time of night the public buses are no longer making the trip from the airport.

Wow, we were in Croatia! The sun had set, but it wasn’t dark yet, the sky was pink and the view spectacular. As we drove the coastal road my husband said it’s a good thing we went to Budapest first, this is so gorgeous!
We had reserved a sobe ahead of time, which was near the Hilton. Up the steps we climbed with our luggage, along the small alley right in front of the main door into the Hilton Hotel. At the top of the steps we turned left and climbed more steps. These aren’t steep steps, and very wide, so it’s not difficult. Jadranka and Milan Benussi sobe http://www.dubrovnik-online.com/apartments_benussi/ [email protected] was our home in Dubrovnik. We reserved a double room here for 50.40€ per night. Jadranka met us half way up the steps, (her son had passed us on his way up) and kindly took my suitcase and cheerfully welcomed us to her sobe.
We were so happy with our choice. There was a beautiful terrace with huge pots of hydrangeas and a small view of the sea. We enjoyed wine here several nights of our stay. The Benussi’s have a couple of double rooms, with a small kitchen area built into the rooms with refrigerator, and also rent out a couple of apartments, for families. These are just steps down from the terrace, and all are behind a private, green locked door. The home is built of stone. One even has it’s own private terrace. We had excellent air conditioning, thank goodness. It was in the high 90’s while we were here. The bathroom was spacious and spotless, and beds very comfortable. Satellite TV had several channels and we could enjoy the World Cup games when we turned in. Croatia was still playing in the World Cup while we were there. What fun!

Jadranka kindly invited us to sit with her and enjoy drinks on the terrace, but it was late, and we wanted to see this beautiful city we had just arrived in. We thanked her and asked to wait until another evening. It’s only a 5 minute walk from our sobe to the Pile Gate. We loved the location since we would take the public bus a few times and they all stopped just outside the gate. There was also an excellent market here, a bakery and restaurant with outdoor tables looking at the city walls and the sea. Atlas travel office is located here, along with an internet café with an excellent information booth inside.

Wandering up the Stradun Placa, through the tiny alley ways full of shops, and to the old port, we explored briefly. The light sparkled across the smooth, slick stones of the streets. Another World Cup game was playing on TV’s all over town. We chose a café, and enjoyed drinks as we joined with others in cheering for a team. England vs. Sweden 2-2 tie was the outcome. I over hood a conversation between some English women who were so disappointed in the beach they went to earlier in the day. They saw it as filthy and uninviting. I was a bit worried about what we’d find in our coming days at the local beaches. Looking back at it now, it must have been the beach around the East/West Beach area. We found this area crowded, dirty, and not a beach we would enjoy, but the outlying areas were clean and clear.

We couldn’t end our day without some gelato and found the ice cream shop by the big fountain , just inside the Pile Gate entrance to be our favorite. I loved their chocolate with cherries and enjoyed this flavor each day!

Just inside the Pile gate there is a plaque which shows where each Serbian bomb dropped on the Old Town. It’s amazing how many bombs were dropped on this city, and for what purpose. We would later hear Jadranka’s story on those frightening weeks.

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June 21 The first day of summer!!

The sun rose very early here in Dubrovnik. The sunshine woke us around 4:30 a.m. so we quickly learned to close the shutters the next evening to help block out the bright, early sunshine. No breakfast was included in our room rate and I wasn’t about to cook it myself, so we’d enjoy it overlooking the sea just outside the Pile Gate.

It was HOT, and it was humid, but that wasn’t going to stop us from walking the walls. We climbed up, up, up the steps, at 9 a.m. We bought the audio so we could appreciate what we were seeing. Looking back, I don’t think it added to much. It was wordy and boring overall, although parts were interesting. That was just my opinion. Others may enjoy it more. We stopped in the little bits of shade we could find, listening to the tape. The views are magnificent. The rooftops are mostly new, and the old tiles are so much more interesting and picture some. We took many, many photos, including some black and white which turned out beautifully. One woman who’s apartment patio opened onto the walls was selling cold drinks, lace and handmade items to those who strolled by.

The Buza Bar sign was easily seen from the walls, as well as the bar. This helped us place it, as we wanted to enjoy drinks there after our walk along these walls.

We spent 2 hours walking the whole way around, and came down in the same spot we climbed up. I think there are 3 entrances where you could begin this walk, we began at the Pile gate area. A few cruise ships had arrived this morning, and the passengers were just beginning their climb. We were happy to complete it before the hoards of people arrived. Actually I think an evening walk may be a better idea, to avoid the hot morning sun.

We needed, really needed a cold drink after this, so of course went on the hunt to find Buza Bar. Even knowing where it is, it’s hard to find the first time. It’s hard to judge at which spot this bar is, as you walk the inner wall. The sign is obvious, once you are there, but the inner wall is long, and you have to walk the right direction to find it.

Once there though it’s fabulous. The views are incredible, and it was very peaceful around noon. Not many drinks to choose from, but that’s ok. Some people had bathing suits and towels, and walked through the bar area, down the stones, and swam off the rocks to the left. We were content to just sit, drink and soak up the atmosphere, watching boats sail by.

After looking down on Dubrovnik, I wanted to get a closer look. We started at the Franciscan Monastery and went inside the medieval pharmacy. There is a real, working pharmacy here also, so if you have a need of one, it’ll be easy to find! There are many tour groups which stop here, but we luckily arrived between them and were able to enjoy looking around in peace. Don’t miss the spot which shows where a Serbian missile hit. There is a cloister here also with pillars and portals which were also damaged during the war.

After visiting the Cathedral and what else, I can’t really remember, we stopped at Mea Culpa for pizza. It’s located at Za Rokom 3, and has excellent pizza. We ordered only one, they are large, shared it, along with a half liter of wine. This area was all in the shade, which was greatly appreciated! Lunch was only $12.

Needing some R&R we changed and took the boat to Lokrum. Boats leave from the Old Port and the return trip is $6. The boat ride is only about 15 minutes, and arriving we followed the pine tree lined path to the rock beaches to the left of the boat dock. We passed an outdoor terrace with several people enjoying a late lunch and drinks. What a lovely area! A map of the island is on the back of your ticket I seem to remember. You could spend hours here hiking, and exploring, but we just wanted to sun and swim. We found a big, flat rock with a metal staircase for sea access and enjoyed a couple of hours in the sun with a gentle breeze blowing. The views were beautiful. We could have spent so much more time on this island, but after walking across it, to the other side, looking around for a bit, we returned for the short ride back to Dubrovnik.

We had dinner this evening at Sesame, www.sesame.hr which is outside the Pile Gate, across the road from the Hilton, but a bit further up the street. Their website says you should reserve, but there is no need. We were only one of 3 tables dining here this evening. The atmosphere was excellent, even though it is situated right along the main road, I didn’t find the traffic to be a problem. It is set back a bit, and I wasn’t distracted at all. We sat upstairs on their lovely terrace full of flowers, and they had someone playing soft music. Dinner and wine was $60 and I know we enjoyed it, ordering fish, but it wasn’t the best meal we have had! As in many of the restaurants we ate at on this trip, the starters usually seemed tastier than the mains. Rarely would we order dessert, since the portions were always to large. Service was excellent and they were very friendly. We talked quite a bit with the staff which is always enjoyable. We love hearing about the lives of the people in the countries we are visiting.

After walking through the old town again, emptied of the hordes of cruise ship passengers we returned to the Benussi home. Jadranka again invited us to share some time together on the terrace, and we accepted. She’s such a friendly woman and truly loves what she does. She once worked in the hotel business, but needed a change and after the war changed jobs. She has put all that knowledge to good use, offering wonderfully clean and comfortable rooms for those of us that want to spend some time in her town.

I was so curious how her life was, living here during the war. She graciously told us her families story of their time in this home, even enduring a bomb which fell on the church which is right next door to their home. It was very, very frightening, she and her husband had 2 small children at the time, and she had to protect them. For what reason did they bomb this city, she would ask? We all lost someone in this needless war. No one came to help us defend ourselves. After enduring some weeks of the bombings, she also left taking her children to safety. They returned when it was again possible and has turned her home into a haven.

Don’t be afraid to ask some of the local people of their stories during that time. We did, and they wanted to tell of their experiences. They want people to understand what they have been through. It is still so fresh in their minds. They are also bitter still. Before the war tourism was huge, in a different way than it is today. People came to Dubrovnik and spent time here, spending a lot of money. Staying for weeks, not for hours as they do now. Now the big tourist dollars are gone. The tourists they see today are mostly those from the cruise ships, which wander the shops, spend little, stay on their ships, eat on their ships. They don’t help the people who live there make an acceptable income. They are still suffering a lot. There is no industry. There are few jobs, and those are almost all in tourism. They have high hopes that things will improve, but now, it’s still very, very hard for them to make a decent living. So much hurt still pours out of them when you spend time, really listening to how things are today. This is why, on the surface, they brush you off. They don’t easily open up. They still hurt and have a wall around them. But underneath, if you care, and can really listen, you will find how wonderful they are. They want their lives back to what they had “before”.

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June 22

Today was Antifascism Day in Croatia which marks the outbreak of resistance in 1941. This is an official National Holiday. This doesn’t mean much to a tourist, but it just so happened that it did put a bugaboo into our plans for the day.

We planned on going to Lopud today which is part of the Elaphite Islands. You can go there on the Jadrolinija ferry. We had read enough reports on the day excursions to these 3 islands to know that only Lopud would really interest us. This ferry leaves from Port Gruz which isn’t as convenient as the Old Port in Dubrovnik. We took bus A1 I believe, which leaves from the Pile Gate area to Port Gruz. When you see the big ferries, and small boats, this is where you get off. Later on this route is the “Marina”, but this isn’t where you want to go. (We learned this the hard way, silly us). On the way we asked the bus driver to tell us where to get off for the main bus station. This wasn’t as clear to pick out. We wanted to pre-buy our bus tickets for the trip between Dubrovnik and Split. I thought the buses would be crowded and didn’t want to miss out on getting seats for the following Sunday morning. We were going to connect to the Split-Hvar catamaran and I wanted to be sure to arrive in Split in time.

Well, as it turns out, the Jadrolinija ferry does daily trips to Lopud but on Sundays or holidays the schedule is changed. We had missed the 9:30 ferry and the next one was at 8:30 p.m. The trip to Lopud on the Jadrolinija ferry costs 32 kuna round trip which is about $6. We asked around, to see if there was another way to Lopud and found that NOVA also goes to Lopud. We found their office and were told the cost was $20 each round trip from Gruz port. Ouch, $40 to go to the beach. We declined. They do this trip several times a day though, so it’s much more convenient than taking the Jadrolinija ferry, which leaves the Gruz port at 10 a.m. Monday-Saturday.

We took the bus back to Dubrovnik, with new plans to go Lopud on Saturday. When we arrived at the Old Port we noticed that NOVA had boats here also that went to Lopud. If you want to go with NOVA you can leave from this port and it’s about $23 round trip, with several trips there and back a day. If you would rather see all 3 Elaphite Islands, NOVA has a day pass for around $25 which allows you to move between the islands and do 2 or 3 on your own. Just realize you need to keep close attention to their schedules so you can plan the times accordingly. We decided on a trip to Cavtat would be more to our liking. This town is only 12 miles away, but it’s 1 hour by boat, a very slow boat. The cost is $12 round trip. We bought round trip tickets, but maybe I would have enjoyed the bus ride back instead. If you buy a round trip ticket you must use the same boat to return to Dubrovnik. If you buy a one way ticket, then you can chose any boat to return, buying a new ticket for your return. The advantage to this, is that each boat sails on a different schedule, and you can return at a time of your choosing, instead of having to wait for “your” ticketed boat. Hope that’s clear!

We really enjoyed Cavtat. It’s very laid back. The town doesn’t have a lot to see, but we came planning on some beach time, not needing to “see” the sights. We walked to the left, down the gorgeous pine tree lined pathway. Lots of other people enjoy this area, along the rocks. Yep, it’s rocks again, some large and flat, some pebbly. We walked to a spot just past the wooden beach bar, hanging from the side of the hill overlooking the ocean. Great views of course! Walking down the stairs to this beach we found very easy water access. Families were here enjoying the clear, cool water. The bay was pebbly and we easily walked into the water, wearing water shoes. I needed those shoes, but the locals do just fine without them. There was no climbing down a ladder to get into the water here. It gradually got deep, so it’s a great place for kids and adults. A water mattress would be wonderful here and some of the kids had great fun diving into the water off the rocks. So refreshing, but not so cold that you couldn’t enjoy it. We spent a couple of hours here, then moved down the path a bit further. This area was full of pine trees with lots of shade and you could lay on pine needles, not rocks. Jets fly over since Cavtat is where the airport is, but it didn’t bother us. This might just be the best place for families to vacation in this area. We loved it.

Returning to the port area, we found a bar/restaurant, showing another World Cup game! What fun this was following the games as the days went by. We did have our favorites. Of course Croatia was our first choice, since we were here, but then, my husband wanted England and I wanted France… Well, I got lucky almost to the end. Who would have thought France would go so far! We enjoyed a bite to eat and drinks, then returned to Dubrovnik by boat.

This evening was the BIG game. Croatia vs. Australia. We had to be in town for it. We walked all over looking for the best TV and the square with the most atmosphere for the game. We didn’t care what the food was like! We got what we were looking for. Great atmosphere, poor food! Knoba Mediterranean had bad risotto but a lively crowd. 1/3 of the crowd were Australians. They came prepared with the Australian flag and lots of enthusiasm! A TV crew was on hand and they decided this was a great place to record some footage also! Croatia scored early, on a penalty kick, what excitement, and of course the red flares were lit. Then Australia scored… Cheering from their corner. The game went to 2-2, then the final, 3-2 Australia. Poor Croatia. They were out of the World Cup. Everyone had so much fun that evening, and way to much to drink, but fortunately the crowd handled it well, and there was no violence with the loss.

Returning to the Benussi home, we said goodnight, but knew better than to talk much about the game. Milan and his son are great fans, so their disappointment was obvious.

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June 23

Today we had a trip planned to Montenegro with Atlas travel. This was the Montenegro Blue trip. Many of you already know what happened to us that day, so I’m going to cut and paste the experience we had with Atlas here:
We had a very disturbing morning with Atlas today. I had booked the Montenegro Blue tour on THEIR web site on May 12, and got their voucher with our reference number, date of tour, and number of people,plus where to meet. They charged my credit card. Today when we met the bus they denied us seats because they had no reference of our reservation. This was so disturbing. The driver called the main office, giving them our voucher number and they still denied us seats on the bus. He gave us the phone and my husband and I argued for 15 minutes with them. Finally after we refused to get off the bus,( we had walked on holding their phone) the lady at the main office told me, ok, you can go. She had said there were no seats for us. The tour itself was excellent. Our guide spoke to use in English and Swedish since she was actually a guide for the Swedish tour company, many of the passengers had traveled with. Montenegro is poor, but really worth seeing.

After the tour, we went to the Atlas office to question them on their practices. We were not pleased. They admitted that the web site has a known problem and frequently loses the reservations, even though the customer is charged. Even knowing this, they denied us seats. This so unacceptable. They know the web site doesn’t work properly but they still take the reservations and your money. They say not to book on their site. They want you to email them directly. I explained that they do not often answer their emails. Yes, this is true, they said, they are to busy with customers walking in. So the solution is to wait until you are here to book the tours, but often they are full, so you must book several days ahead. No good solution to this problem, But they really do not care about this problem. The sad truth is Dubrovnik is beautiful and wonderful at night, but the tour companies are rude, and can’t handle the amount of people they are dealing with.
Okay, so I was very frustrated when I wrote this. Regardless, I stand by all I wrote. Enjoy Atlas tours, their guides are excellent, just don’t book them ahead of time unless you can reach them by e-mail and do it on a personal basis.
A bit about our tour…
After being “collected” at various points in the city, we all met at a central spot and transferred to a large, comfortable, air-conditioned bus. There was more than 1 tour bus since I saw an overflow van. There were more than 2 people in it, ha. Our Swedish guide joined us, along with a guide who spoke English, but the Swedish guide was a much better guide, and just delightful. There are also other tour companies that do this tour, including Kompass and Elite. We saw them in the same areas we toured.
We approached the border crossing, leaving Croatia and entered no man’s land. Our passports were checked as we left Croatia.
Our first stop was Perast, which is a town of stone buildings coming down to the sea. We only got a quick peek of the town from the road. Our real purpose of this stop is to take a boat to Lady of the Rock which is an artificial island created by locals placing rocks in the sea every July 22. Later they sunk 87 ships full of rocks here which helped the process along! St.Nicholas church is on this island and it’s an interesting stop. The church is full of icons, silver panels given to the church by thankful sailors and art. There is a small museum here with a beautiful embroidered picture which a woman worked on for years, waiting for her husband who was at sea, to return. He never returned. A nun sells postcards and small items in the small museum. If you are not on a tour, you can still take a small boat to this island. I think it’s worth the time. There is also an hourly minibus from Kotor to this location.
Our next stop was Kotor. To reach Kotor we are driving all around the long Bay of Kotor which is the largest fjord in southern Europe. Kotor is at the head of this fjord. The fjords in Norway are much more impressive IMO. This is a walled town, and if on your own, you could climb the wall. Being on a tour we have no time for this. Poor children greet us, begging for any handouts we can give them. I give one boy coins worth about 1€. He is thrilled, and politely thanks me. Oh, that reminds me, Montenegro takes Euros. It’s their official currency. You will need them for any purchases you make.
Our guide tells us to visit St.Tryphon Cathedral. We find it easily and find it worth the small entry fee. It truly is amazing inside. Don’t miss it, but bring some information with you describing what you are seeing, because no guide will explain the interior to you. Walk upstairs to the chapel, more to see here!
We enjoyed exploring the rest of the town, peeking into other churches and just enjoying this lovely small town. I felt we had just enough time here since I had no interest in walking those walls!
Our lunch stop on St. Stefaan, the fishing island and resort town was a beautiful area to stop. We enjoyed sharing travel stories with others at our table while being served a quick and filling lunch. It really wasn’t to good, but adequate. You must buy your drink. If you have a swim suit you could dip into the water here, but we chose to walk around the high end hotel here. Entry is free if you are with the Atlas tour. The grounds are lovely, but I have no idea what you would do here! The gardens are well kept, there is a pool and it’s beautiful and very hot.
Our last stop, Budva was just strange. I know, this is debated but we didn’t care for Budva at all. We walked up to the fortress, looked around a bit, went inside a church that was being restored by an artist (this was pretty interesting), and went into another church were some local people were praying. Ok, this church was really interesting but still, this town was strange. The music blaring over a loud speaker didn’t help the atmosphere. We spent most of our time having a really interesting conversation with another traveler in our group.
The drive back to Dubrovnik isn’t to bad, because on the return you take a car/bus ferry to cross the fjord. This cuts a lot of time off the return trip, and you can exit the bus and stay outside on the ferry while it crosses. A rain storm decided to open up on us just before this ferry ride so it was a bit slick. We also ran into a car accident just after this rain storm and had a terrible time passing by. The car was horizontal across the road. Even though there really wasn’t enough space to pass by, our bus did it anyhow, and actually tilted when the tires of the bus drove on a drop off of the road. Scary to say the least.
We returned to Dubrovink at 7:30 p.m. Pick up was at 7:25 a.m. so it was a long day, but enjoyable once we got on our way. Of course our passports were checked again on our way back across the border, but it was not “threatening” as one couple thought.
After our visit to the Atlas Travel office to see what their explanation was about our morning problems, we cleaned up and went to find some dinner. Lokanda Peskarija, right at the old port was our choice tonight. I had the grilled shrimp my husband had the muscles and we shared a salad and ½ liter of wine and water. We thought it was delicious. The Lokanda was so crowded, it has an excellent reputation. When we sat at our table for 4, I signaled for another couple who was waiting for a table to join us. They were happy with this arrangement, but spoke only Italian so we couldn’t share much but hand signals and smiles! The strange thing was the way the waiter handled this situation. I explained to him that we were actually 2 tables and would need to order separately. He was amazed, and didn’t know how to handle this. After a bit of thought he told us he would take the Italian couples order first, then later come back and take ours. What a shock. He took their complete order, brought them the bread and their drinks. They felt so bad. He pretended we weren’t even there. 15 minutes later he returned and took our order. This solved his problem, but made the Italian couple really uncomfortable since we had invited them to share our table. We let them know the best we could, all was fine, not to worry and enjoy their meal! They ordered much more food than we did and it looked excellent! I see why this restaurant is so popular. Service is very rushed though and if you want a nice, relaxing meal, go elsewhere. The views are great though and our bill came to $26.
Back at our sobe, Jadranka asked if we wanted to share drinks again on their terrace. We did and shared stories of our day and had an interesting conversation with her and her grown son, who is attending school so he can also work in the tourism field. His dream is to work in the U.S. though. He described their Christmas celebrations and the fun traditions they still follow today. Being a child, growing up in the peaceful Dubrovnik sounded like lots of fun! I’m sure he has many memories he won’t soon forget.

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June 24 Lopud
Lopud was our destination today. While reading through the information booklet you can pick up at the TI in Dubrovnik I noticed that another boat makes this trip. I think the name of it is NORA, regardless, it’s the hydrofoil that goes daily to Mljet. On Saturday’s only this very fast hydrofoil also stops at Lopud. It leaves only from Gruz Port at 9 a.m. Tickets are 11 kuna, or $2 US. What a bargain, and it takes 30 minutes. It returns at 8 p.m. though, so instead of buying a round trip ticket, we bought a one way ticket. We decided to take the Jadralinija ferry at 6:50 to return to the Gruz Port. These tickets were 16 kuna one way and took 50 minutes. We bought this ticket in the town area once we were on Lopud. You don’t need to buy them at the Jadralinija office in Gruz port. You could always take the NOVA boat back also, so there are several choices, depending what time you want to return.
The NORA hydrofoil has 230 seats and it was crowded but not full. You buy your tickets in the building, right at the parking lot, (set back a bit) that says Marina on it.
Arriving on Lopud we headed for Sunj beach. The walk in about 1 km across the island, and the path begins at the far end of the town. This takes 15-20 minutes to walk. There is a sign marking it, but it faces the opposite direction that you’ll be walking, so unless you turn around and look for it, you’ll miss it. Towards the end of the path, it splits. Take the split to the right. At this point you can almost see the beach.
What a long, sandy, clean beach this is. It’s a great area for everyone. Most of the beach is textile, but at the far left end there is a large Naturist Beach. Still all sand. There is also a great restaurant on the right side of the beach. The water is very shallow very far out. In fact, we never got into deep water. There are boats anchored out farther, so it gets deep at some point. Many local kids play a game with a small ball, I forget the name of the game, in the shallow water. The point is not to have the ball ever hit the water. They fail in this, but have great fun regardless!
We rented a thatched umbrella and 2 lounge chairs for the day. It was perfect. We had picked up fruit, bread and cheese plus drinks at the small market by the Pile Gate, so snacked on this during the day. I was afraid that being Saturday, this beach would get really crowded, but it never did. The man we rented the chairs from also cleans the beach. He takes real pride in keeping it spotless. He had a great personality and had fun talking with everyone. The sand here was really hot, so we had to walk quickly to the water, our feet would burn…
Hours and hours later, we returned to town, found a good bar to watch World Cup!! We had so much fun keeping up with the matches. Drinks and ice cream here while waiting for the ferry and our return to Gruz Port. From here we took bus A1 back to the Pile Gate. Bus tickets are 8 kuna each and are good for one hour. See why I liked staying in this area. We’d return dirty and tired from a long day, and wouldn’t have to walk through town to the Ploce Gate area. We were close to our sobe, and we appreciated this a lot.
Dinner tonight was back at Lokanda Peskarija. We enjoyed their food here, even though it was so busy. On this evening we had their risotto. I had the seafood risotto, but had to peel the shrimp in it. My husband had the black ink risotto. Both were excellent, but there was so much risotto in one pot, we could have, and should have shared one. No, we didn’t share our table this evening, ha, we learned our lesson.