Croatia (1/2)
I'm leaving Montenegro behind with really nice memories despite the stuff that was stolen from my bike and a minor fall I had close to Cetinje. Weather's nice with only a few clouds decorating the blue sky. All set to enjoy a ride by the sea (for most of the part) and the funny fact that on this route you leave Montenegro to enter Croatia then Bosnia/Herzegovina for a tiny part then again Croatia. As ex Yugoslavia as it gets... At the borders I didn't have much delay due to my wise choice to pick early season to be around but those hippy(ish) guys in a beetle van might still be there checked by the local police. I guess the officers smelled their weed from miles away. I did :)
Entering Dubrovnik my eyes don't run out of nice things to see. The area is marvellous and so does the city. A local biker horns and smiles on the view of a fully loaded bike from Greece and I try to find the place I rented to unload my stuff and Carpe Diem around this gem. After a bit of a struggle in the narrow uphill backstreets of Dubrovnik I find my place and instantly feel lucky I booked it:
The view to the old port from my bedroom was so nice that I felt like leaving a camera on 24/7 could make a considerable income. So beautiful to see all these vessels, especially those old ships on any time of the day.
I don't hesitate to walk around and especially the old part of the city stole my heart.
However, scenic stuff was not the only I experienced around. Croatians haven't spared from exposure items reminding their fight(s) against their neighbours. Actually they placed them close to touristic attractions just to be sure people don't skip that information.
Seriously now, I don't want to sound ironic by peppering all this stuff with my English humour which is for from great since I am not a native English speaker. These are very sad memories flooded by hatred and blood so let's hope that it won't happen again. In other words, mission impossible - people are talented in repeating the same mistakes.
Was nice to walk around Dubrovnik's peninsula (Babin Kuk) were they have their local attraction, a beach "aptly" named Copacabana.
I have my last hours to spend at Dubrovnik so I first consume my last local delicious supplies,
and later I watch the last wonderful port view there:
Next morning finds me heading North, driving on the coastal (not toll) road), on a very nice route that I would enjoy even more without the part time rain. Still early season hence the traffic was not that much. I don't want to imagine what it is like with all these slow campers later. I make it to my next AirBnB at Split without drama. I have booked a place up by the castle and the first thing that caught my attention were...the peacocks! These beings can jump on the road any time regardless the traffic. Fortunately I was slow looking for my place but still missed one by a couple of cm. However, next morning I would find out a more annoying habit of their's...they start screaming from 5:00am. Free alarm clock. Whether you want/need it or not. And just in case they might not be heard, they climb on the rooftops to amplify the effect:
The city of Split was really nice to walk around, speaking of the historic center at least which I enjoyed (surprise surprise) much better than the contemporary one. I managed to take some pictures when the rain paused.
Back at my AirBnB that old Yugoslavian radio caught my eye:
Next day's nice weather was a no brainer to tour around Split so I did Sinj, Knin, Sibenik and then back again from the coastal road. Lake Peruca offered unique moments. I couldn't have a better natural mirror there. Some of the most calm, cleansing and therapeutic images of my life:
Heading back to Split via the coastal road it was such a nice ride. Many attractive view points. Here's some from Morinje bridge:
Back at Split the beauty of course was still there:
At night too:
Time to leave Split next morning and head to my next destination, one of the least known places on earth. I mean...who knows this?
This place hosted my first swimming in the Adriatic sea and besides the cold water I couldn't complain much about it:
You know what happens after swimming? Yep, you're getting hungry like a wolf. Luckily the meal was a nice match for a nice day like this:
The area is a biker's heaven with top tarmac and nice bends by the sea which I could enjoy due to low traffic (again, don't wanna know how it would be like later).
Croatia was impossible to upload in one piece (it kept returning error 500) so stay tuned for the rest of this country on part 3!