“Stuck” for lack of a better term…

The U.S. CDC placed Greece on the “Level 4 - Do not Travel” list, the day before we were supposed to go. Being “good citizens” (and the fact that we may have insurance issues if we travelled there), we cancelled all of our Greece accommodations and decided to just hole up in Croatia for another month or so (Croatia is still “level 2”…whatever that means). Interesting that in Greece, most of our accommodations had no idea what “level 4” was, but we were able to cancel most everything we had booked, without issue.

So…

I have adjusted our little travel map to only show where we know we will go next - up through northwestern Croatia, into Istria (Croatia Tuscany). Our “plan” is to then head into Italy (still “level 3”), through Trieste and Venice, and then Tuscany before we head to Sicily - but for now, we will leave that open. We will go with the flow! Thankfully, we (meaning Eileen) was smart enough to book most of our trip this year using Booking.com and the “no prepayment /free cancellation “ option, otherwise we’d be setting up a “Go fund me” page by now! 😁

Anyway, “Stuck”(?) in Dubrovnik? - What a great place to be. We came back from the island of Korcula and planned to spend a few nights here, but thanks to Marriott points, we were able to stay for 15 nights (with free breakfast - I’ve gained 10 lbs…mmm bacon)! We’ve been here before, but that makes it all the better - just relaxing and doing a few things we enjoy. And frankly, this is one of our favorite hotels anywhere in the world - a beautiful pool and view from the rooms, and the Adriatic Sea and beach 50 yards away (and bacon). The water taxi can take you several places, including the old city - just a few minutes away. Waking up to this each morning is hard to beat. We love this area.

We of course visited the Old City of Dubrovnik (a couple times). We did not “Walk the Wall”, which is a must if you ever visit here, but we did of course visit the “Hole in the Wall” bar. It’s a great place for a few drinks and to watch the jumpers into the sea - a couple guys from about 60 feet!

We also had a chance to help out a few “lads” from the UK - The Hole in the Wall only takes cash, and there were about 6 boys, who needed a little help. the waitress told them where the nearest ATM was (about a 10 minute walk), and one would have to remain. They had something like a 700 Kuna ($110) bill, and were about 30 Kuna ($4) short. I went down (secretly) and gave the waitress the needed cash and told her not to tell the boys - but one of the other guests decided to anyway. Well, I guess we have some new UK friends (and a happy waitress). It was a fun day here for sure.

The old city is great of course, and I know many people know of it from “Game of Thrones” (although I’ve never seen it). The ancient walled city is incredible - the walls around the city are amazing, and the narrow streets and views are great.

We also took a day to visit Kotor in Montenegro - about a 40 minute drive from Dubrovnik. The Bay of Kotor is like a Norwegian fjord - with mountains jutting up from the sea - but one where the water is much warmer! And the walled city of Kotor is amazing - the walls stretch up and down the mountain to protect the city - zoom in on the second photo if you can.

I’m also adding a video I found on YouTube of Kotor - no narration, but a beautiful view of this city. After our visit to the city, we took the very short (maybe 5 minute) ferry ride back across and another 30 minutes back to Croatia.

We spent another afternoon visiting the small town of Cavtat (“Saav-tat”), which was just a 20 minute water taxi from our hotel. A beautiful little town with an incredible sea-wall walk all around it (a little like Stanley Park in Vancouver). And this is where yachts clear customs as they enter Croatia from Greece, Monenegro and Italy - so you can see many beautiful boats.

Another visit to old town Dubrovnik, but mostly just hanging out around the sea for the rest of our time here. We will take off tomorrow for Split by ferry - just overnight - and then on to Zadar and the island of Mali Losinj - new places for us. Our time in Dubrovnik has been great, and very relaxing. Now we are on to new places and new adventures.

All the best to everyone - sorry for the glare in the next picture - forgot my hat!

Tim & Eileen

p.s. - make sure to check out the other pictures in the photo album.