Thank heavens for travel wash. The single traveller who now has a bag full of smellies needs to wash them too. Chores done, off to Centro.
Didn’t have a clue what to do today and so went straight into town on the old No. 6. Wish they would buy some new buses, some of them really grind the gears and you wonder if you will ever get up the hills. I have been trying to ascertain which bus to take or how to get high enough to view the city from above. In theory the top road should be high enough but Mt Srd would be even better. Thinking about a taxi and just about to get one and a No. 8 arrives at the Pile gate, now I know this goes up but I am not sure where so I am on it and away before I can determine where it is destined. Down to the Port Gruz which is a little disappointing but then sharp right and we are climbing only just the gears need to be disengaged before the selection of a higher one so you get the feeling that the loss of momentum will mean a quick return to where we came from. I have noticed that different parts of the city serviced by these buses have a different level of passenger, i.e. noticeable affluence. Out to Lapad and Baba Kuk, they all dress well and the bus is busy with young, old men and women. Out on the 1A and 1B to Mokosvic it is all mainly middle to old women returning from the market. They dress less well and this was the incident with lack of Rightguard.
Now this bus No. 8 travelling up along the high peak between new and old houses, it is a mix of both. The houses look quite original at least 100 years although where they have sold land there are new ones on the plots. They are more reminiscent of detached blocks with may be 10-15 apartments in each. I find a suitable vantage although it is not as high as I expected and from here I get a clear view of Lokrum, the island and a good panoramic of the old town. Upon walking down which is going to be steep, I venture down what I perceive to be stairs leading to an alley to be met with a dead end as they only go to private accommodation. When I am in luck the steps are steep and the sun completely blocked by the high sides of walls and apartments. Ever this false sense of finding my way through is interrupted by the wrong turn at two sets of stairs. A little old lady helps me out and I eventually come out by the Excelsior hotel.
I toy with renting a car or scooter but on the basis of the driving skills required here, I am unsuitably trained. At the last minute I buy some bread and ham and cheese, which I ensure has been wrapped as the cockroach running amok into the deli counter is not my idea of healthy.
Just to be different I take a ferry, more like a pleasure boat that can carry 10-12 people to Cavtat. I have learnt that on all these boats to sit at the back and in the middle as you are far less likely to do a You know who (honk over Harry). Most of the others on this boat are excited and along the edges so they get a good view leaving the old harbour of Dubrovnik. Having not left from this point before I get a good rear mirror view of the old city and it is then you realise how high the fortifications are around the city. This must have been so daunting or even exciting seeing the city for the first time in huge old sailing boats.
The journey to Cavtat is slow and sluggish and some of the passengers are visibly distraught by how cold and how wet from the spray they are getting. I have just buried myself in another book. Initially my view of Cavtat is poor and I consider the journey a waste of time but we have only stopped at an inlet where there is a hotel. Most of the guests depart, well all those with the plastic ID tags, as if they are in a pop concert. By the looks of the hotel I am surprised they need identification to let people in, it looks like hell. The boat journey has lasted just over an hour and we are now popping round the bay to another bay which has clocks, church and the usual café paraphernalia. This is old Cavtat which started it all for Dubrovnik. It is fairly quaint with little tourist traffic, couple of big boats that I am sure are even twice the size of Harry’s I mailed them a card to tell them I had seen a Windy earlier in the week but not a clue to the model. I have had to seek shelter from the sun as my arms feel like they will burn away and I am making an effort today to avoid it. My lunch of rolls, prast, cheese (cockroach free) is had outside an official building with shade from trees and some benches. Curiosity has not got me as everyone walking past stops to comment on wondering what is up the steps through the gate. I can’t tell them but I am going to find out. It is a large old style building with gardens and I think I am wandering around the grounds of the Council Offices. No one stops me so I take a good gander.
I turn out to be one of only three in the boat returning to the city. The Captain, pilot or young lad “driving” gets the boat out of the harbour and then begins to scan the horizon with very powerful binoculars. Obviously safety in mind, make sure there is no one swimming or small boats. He traverses through the horizon and ends up eyes right looking at the rocks and beaches whilst steering with one foot on the wheel. He is more interested in the state of the beauties sunbathing and as there is little access from the land they’ve swam out and now wear probably nothing. SS Voyeur gets back into Dubrovnik and I head back through the usual throng around the Strada. Dinner, I have decided, will be Chinese which is half-way up the hill out of the Pile Gate.