Was in no rush to get going today and had very little of any idea where I wished to go. By the time I got going the sun was high and I decided to walk on the bottom road. There seemed to be a few people going further round to the point at Babaluk which I hadn’t seen. There was nothing there apart from some old boats, a diving school where they were getting their weights and tanks together for an expedition. Two of the local lads who were fishing I think have taken to spying on me when I am in the area. First they were fishing then they were climbing rocks further behind me, they keep giving themselves away but it is all fun. I walked on slowly then at a bend I doubled back and caught them desperately trying to hide.
Took the taxi boat from the Lapad Hotel across to the market area. This is so much more convenient than the walk to the bus and the huge queue, even if I have to get a bus later there’s far more choice.
Sometimes they are very polite and smile, other times it seems a real chore. The café by the ferry terminal has cornered the market in sullen people. Maybe they have become sullen as they get no tips or is it not self-perpetuating.
Another day another ferry and this one’s off to Lokram which is the closest island and I’ve left it to the last or penultimate day. I have my lunch packed and all I know is that most people come over to go swimming off the rocks. A few of the more mature women head up from the ferry on a mission. I guess my best bet is to follow them as they will know the best spots. At a fork, do I follow the shorter woman or the taller broader woman. I take tall and broad and end up at some craggy rocks which have flat sides at angles. These, if you are adept, can be the sun loungers at an angle. I have opted for the higher ground quite a distance from the sea rather further than the rest of the bathers. I have assumed that tall and broad is either German or Croatian. Her style of swimming is interesting as she uses fins and does a sort of butterfly but on her back and to my amazement she has no costume on. She did when she got in the water so must have secreted this at some point. She is a strong swimmer but her reasoning is now probably to do with an all round tan. So she must be German. Thank god at least when she finally comes out she is clothed.
There are too many wasps around to enjoy the afternoon so I head back to the island for a drink and continue another look. The sea around the jetty at Lokram is so clear you can see the rocks clearly through a very light turquoise colouring. The boats that are moored out in the bay al have people swimming and diving off them.
There is some major scaffolding going up in the old port of Dubrovnik and I can’t make out the purpose; over the last week the whole area has been swathed with scaffolding, unless it is to go on a pontoon and to do work on the outside of the wall as there was a derrick in port yesterday.
Tomorrow is my last day so I need to do something positive. Maybe the walls again, I should do the standalone fortress as I have not seen that. I have given up in getting to Mt. Srd as the Tourist Office states it is too far.
The owner of Konoba is so ungracious, maybe the loan is due and with so few punters he is worried about how to pay; now he has taken to counting the tips. The place is empty tonight.