Croatia
I took time out to head over to Croatia, staying in a small place called Mlini. It’s a beautiful place on the coast and a half hour boat ride from Dubrovnik, which was my main reason for the trip. The television series Game of Thrones used Dubrovnik as the main filming location for King’s Landing, the capital of the Seven Kingdoms. This was based on George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, the first book of which was called A Game of Thrones. You can get a bus, which is quite cheap compared to the boat, but boats are so much more fun and the views of the coast are amazing. You also get to experience coming into the old town from the sea which was just marvellous.
Due to the popularity of the series, the old town of Dubrovnik receives a huge amount of visitors. I went early to try and beat the crowds and by and large this worked out okay until lunchtime. From there on it was just crazy the amount of folk who had descended on the place. The walk around the top of the city walls is quite something to experience. The old town, with its red tiled roofs and its maze of winding, narrow streets is an impressive sight. Even without the massive publicity of the TV series, this place would still be on many tourists must-see lists. I’m not a fan of crowded places. Being surrounded by large numbers of people is not my thing, but I accept that to take in some of these sights, it’s something that has to be put up with.
I queued for a ticket for the cable-car, which provided a stunning view from the top of the mountain, overlooking the old town. The weather was bright and sunny at the bottom with the heat starting to rise. At the top, it was surrounded in mist and decidedly chilly. Before that I also managed to briefly take in the Museum of Modern Art. I also visited the Franciscan Monastery of the Friars Minor inside the city walls, which also contains a museum. Once inside the Monastery, it provided a welcome relief from the crowds, with its courtyard garden and fountain. There were other tourists in there, but I find such places do not attract the same number of visitors. It’s quieter, more relaxed so it’s always worth checking these places out. Time is always a challenge, and trying to fit in what you can means making choices over what to see and what to skip over. It was the same with the Modern Art Museum. A lovely building, with fantastic views of the sea from the rooftop, but again only a handful of people taking the time to visit. The theme of the main exhibition here was 80 years of the museum of modern art, and it was just opening. Unfortunately, some of it wasn’t quite ready for the public and I couldn’t access it all, despite that day being the advertised start date. No matter, I did see some impressive works I wouldn’t otherwise have come across.
Mlini, where I stayed, is situated on the coast, and it’s a lot quieter with some excellent bars and restaurants. One evening there was a thunderstorm, which flooded out part of the restaurant I was eating in, rain pouring through the roof. Luckily for me I could remain seated at my table. The table along from me was completely washed out. The lightning strikes were impressive though!
The next day I took a walk around, stopping off to book a table at another restaurant, and got chatting with the owner who mentioned her boyfriend was from Manchester. That evening we met and had a good chat about life in general. Turned out he had just packed up his belongings into his van and moved to Croatia, and in fact was getting married the next day. You can imagine the writer inside me was filing all this away, thinking of all the possible storylines that could be spun out from such a tale. His partner had lived through the War of Independence between 1991-95, and it was hard to believe I was sitting at a table outside, overlooking the sea, eating the best plate of Octopus I’ve ever had, in an area that had been impacted by the conflict. I recalled the day before, when in the museum of the Franciscan Monastery, there was a shell still embedded in the wall, a visible and sobering reminder of how easily the peace can be shattered.
I took a boat down the coast to a place called Cavtat. This appeared to be busier than Mlini, though still quite small. There is a walk around the coastline there, providing some stunning views, while the centre of town has a good number of cafes to sit in and drink coffee, eat cake and people watch. If beer is your thing, and I certainly had a few, the local brew is called Ozujsko and I can thoroughly recommend it. Maybe it’s just me, but I always find the local beers to be the best, and let’s face it, are always the cheapest too!
With only a couple of days I feel I managed to fit in some real highlights and would definitely return to explore more of the wider area. If Game of Thrones is your thing, you won’t be disappointed. Best to book tickets to the walled city though as that will save you queuing up and if you can get there early, even better.
The Fiction Factory 