Dubrovnik. I was working with something like, "A Crow-Ate-cha?", but
decided that it was beyond lame. Anyway...
We got to Croatia via a straight up Wright Brother aircraft. I was
expecting to see the pilot stroll up in a leather cap and goggles; but
alas, no goggles. No cap. But seriously, prop planes are ridiculous.
I feel like technology has progressed past the prop plane. What's
next: a hot air balloon to commute? Riding lawnmower for a joy ride?
We got picked up at the Dubrovnik airport by Pero, a friend of our
hotelier, who is also named Pero. He drove us to the hotel in his
"brand new, 4 month old Audi". Pero was quite the fan of his car, and
I must say, I was too. After 4 days of riding around in a 7-passenger
van with a Jackson Pollack windshield and no shocks to speak of, it
was heaven. Did I say, drove us to the hotel? Oh, no no no. There are
no streets in the Old Town of Dubrovnik; you have to walk everywhere.
This quirk is delightful when going downhill; significantly less so
when traversing back up. While scraping the Euros from the bottom of
our bags to pay Audi Pero, we were met at the car by the son of hotel
Pero [who is also named Pero] who led us down the hill to the hotel.
We dragged our bags up the stairs to the top floor and flung the
shutters open for some air. What a view!! We could see all of Old Town
and even the Adriatic in the distance. The warm air was blowing in the
window and the sun shined on the sill.
While walking to the hotel, I had noticed that there was laundry
drying on lines outside every window. "How delightfully quaint!" I
thought. Not so much. I desperately needed to do laundry, so I washed
out a few things in the sink and started to hang them up on the line
outside the window. I take my first pair of undies and try to pin them
to the line. Unfortunately, I do not seem to possess the skill set
needed to properly fasten undies to a clothesline. Down they go. Onto
the red tile roof of the next building, seven feet below my window. I
stare at the wet plopped heap, willing them to fly up and reattach
themselves to the clothesline. When my mind control fails to work, the
hysterical giggling begins. What are the owners of the building next
door going to make of a pair of pink undies if/when they find them?
But then, I get an idea! [/ Laura suggests]: get the umbrella from
downstairs and try to snag them. I stealthily pad down the stairs,
grab the umbrella and race back to the top floor. I lean halfway out
the window holding the pointy end, and fish for my undies with the
hook. After a minute or two of epic failure [plus some odd looks from
the neighbors], success! I do not try to reattach. I know my
limitations.
After that traumatic event, Laura and I explored in Old Town. The Old
Town is quite lovely, all built with the same pale stone that has
bleached pure white over the centuries. The main drag is called
Stradun, filled with lots of touristy shops and a truly excellent
bookstore. We grabbed dinner and headed to bed at 9:30.
The next morning, we walked outside the city walls to a park located
where the town moat once was. After reading for a while, we looked
into going to Mostar in Bosnia or Kotor in Montenegro for a day trip.
We decided that we had been in the car too much in the past week…and
I'll own up to it. The only reason that I wanted to go to Montenegro
was because Casino Royale was set there. I am a bit of James Bond
dork.
That afternoon, we discovered what was to be our base for the rest of
out stay. It is a tiny little bar that is located outside the walls of
the city on a tiny bluff overlooking the sea. You have an unobstructed
180 degree view of the Adriatic. The sea gently laps at the rocky
coast as you sit under umbrellas soaking up the sun and reading. Life
doesn't get much better. [Speaking of, I read four books during the
five days I spent there. Man, I can get stuff DONE on vacation!]
The next day, Laura and I took a boat tour of the Elaphite Islands.
These tiny islands make up a chain that lines the coast of southern
Croatia. While there is not a lot happening on the islands, the boat
ride was beautiful. This coastline is unlike anything I have ever
seen: no sand, just bleached white cliffs that fall into the clear
cerulean sea [yes, I did just use the word cerulean]. On every island,
there is a tiny chapel built of white stone on the highest peak of the
island. One wonders, how did the builders get up there?
On Tuesday morning, I decided to go back out to the café outside the
city wall with the amazing view of the Adriatic. I was the first one
there [or so I thought…] so I lumbered down the stairs to the furthest
point from the entry to I could read in peace. Little did I know that
this peace did not last for long.
I'm reading my book when I hear some splashes. Thinking nothing of it,
I casually glance in the direction of the water. I see the top of an
older man's head just as he spots me. He had obviously just come from
swimming since his hair was wet and he said to me, "the water is quite
cold!" as he walks up to the stairs. I am mid-polite reply when he
comes into full view.
Let me back up. While reading up on Dubrovnik, I ran across a mention
of some nude beaches on a few of the islands near Dubrovnik. I noted
where to steer clear so that I could remain in nudist free zone at all
times. The best laid plans…
Yep, he is nekkid. Ne-kkid. No clothes on. While every muscle in my
body locks into a catatonic state, I sharply jerk my head to look at
the sky, the cliff, my book, anything but him. He, on the other hand,
seems perfectly at ease with situation, not even reaching for the
towel draped on a rock nearby. He does not seem menacing or
threatening…he is not even near me, but I can't run away because he is
in my direct path to the exit. He looks for his belongings, bending
over, turning around, standing with hands on hips…I unwillingly see
this through my peripheral vision, even though I am trying my hardest
not to see ANY part of him. I quickly solve this problem my shutting
my right eye. Ha! No peripheral vision on that side!
I am vaguely hysterical trying to figure out what to do. He is still
trying to make casual conversation, despite my best efforts to ignore
him. Do I mention my large, tall, jealous boyfriend who will be here
any second? Do I pull out my iPod and pretend to have a "phone" call
spoken in loud Spanish? Do I jump off the cliff and take my chances?
As luck would have it, I am saved by an old Croatian lady who appears
to know Mr. Nekkid. She peers over the edge, sees him, then sees me,
and then proceeds to [I am assuming] tell him off in very angry
sounding Croatian. He grabs a towel and slinks off up the stairs as I
silently [and Puritanically] thank God that there are no nude beaches
in America.
The rest of the day was spent trying to get the Mr. Nekkid visual out
of my head.
On Wednesday, we took another boat trip, this time to Lokrum, an
island right off the coast of Dubrovnik. As soon as we got off the
boat, we ran into a peacock. Several peacocks in fact. Apparently they
were brought here a long time ago and have no natural predators. I
found a male and tried to startle him into spreading his plumage, but
no such luck. He just looked at me condescendingly, seeming to be
thinking, "Really? 'Boo' is the best you've got?" I was thoroughly
belittled by a peacock.
We walked through the centuries old botanical gardens that are still
recovering from being bombed during the war almost twenty years ago.
Who bombs a botanical garden? On the island, there are ruins of a
monastery that was founded a thousand years ago. It seems like an odd
place to found a monastery, out in the middle of nowhere on some
island in the Adriatic.
As we were walking along the path, we saw signs warning of a nude
beach up ahead. Still wary from the day before, I slowly backed away
and ran off.
Before leaving in Thursday, we popped by the bar outside the walls to
read for a bit. I had Laura to protect me from Mr. Nekkid…thank God,
we didn't see him. We lumbered back to the hotel [70 steps!!!] and had
Audi Pero take us back to the airport. Unfortunately, we forgot that
the rest of the world is not like Dubrovnik. When we got to Vienna, it
was freezing and we were in our resort clothes, looking slightly
ridiculous.
Today I didn't do much. Of course my last day in Prague was dreary and
overcast. That is…so Prague. I was too sad about leaving to try and be
a tourist, so I did some much needed repacking.
I am coming home tomorrow!! I am so excited I can hardly stand it. My
next email will also be my last [unless I think of more really clever
titles]. I hope to see all of you very soon!
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