The unusual transfer to Korcula

What began as just a late start suddently became quite strange and unnerving.  We were to be picked up at the Hotel Lapad by 4:45 pm. 

That time came and went, as did 5, and 5:15 and about that time I thought perhaps they may have left a message at teh front desk and Elda went to check while I waited with out bags.  Indeed they were to be late; and could be arriving any time between then and 5:30. Just a minute or two before 5:30 he arrived.  I say "he" as we never did learn his name.  "Korcula?", he said. Or at least I think that is what he said.  "Yes", I replied and within one minute our bags were snatched out of our hands and loaded into the back of the van and we were ushered into the front.  At this point I personally had not seen anything to indicate he was with the right company, knew who we were, or what the plan was.  And I swear, no word of a lie, he probably did not speak more than 5 words to us for the entire trip other then we forced answers out of him, and it turned out to be a long trip.

In the van he got, and off we went.  Elda said she saw the company's name on his door so at least I felt a little better about it.  Off through Lapad town we went - discovering where our one-way road actually ends up, and the next thing we know we are heading for the hills.  Okay this seemed wrong as I was under the assumption they were picking us up, transferring us onto a ferry and then someone was picking us up on the other side to finish our "door-to-door" service.  When we requested clarification all we got was that everything was okay!  Not very reassurring, particularly when he then takes us to an industrial area of town to "pick something up" and just leaves us in the van with the motor running.  Eventually he did come back, and we asked him to look at our voucher and make sure he ws taking us to th right place.  "Yes, yes", he said, "I need to get there too so we are going to the right place".

Okay then, guess with that out of the way we could enjoy the scenery.  Which would have been easier if he was driving with one hand, no seatbelt, rummaging in his bag on the floor, swerving in and out of our lane and around tight mountainous corners while talking on his cell phone.  Time for a moment of pray for our safety I think!  And the conversations he was having were not happy ones - even in Croatian we could tell that.

The countryside was delightful and grew more so the further away from town we went.  The second hour was even nicer as we passed by the remains of old walled cities and vineyards lining the road.  Now keep in mind that the trip from beginning to end was supposed to be 2 hours total.  So about the time we were driving by vineyards and watching the sun set we had been expecting to be buying tickets to see the Moreska dancers and getting ready to have a relaxing dinner on Korcula.  Yet here we were still very much inland following the Dalmatian coast north bound.  When 2.5 hours had passed and we had yet to see water we were beginning to wonder if we were going via Split!  Fortunately we then started seeing signs stating how far away Korcula was.  67km away?  How could that be?  Yet when I read the next sign and it said 65km away I knew I had read it right.  Okay so we were going via Orebic - at least I remember seeing this was another port that you can get to Korcula from.

Finally sometime in the third hour we start seeing ferry signs - good signs for us.  But when he goes to the ferry terminal; then gets back into the van and drives away we no longer know what to think.  Remember throughout all of this, other then the angry Croatian cell phone conversations, he has not said a word to us.  So down the coast again we go, but at least now we see water and the lights of Korcula in the distance.  Suddenly he pulls over, turns off his lights and backs down to the waters edge and we see a small boat idling there with its lights off too. Then another van pulls up with 6 more people in it.  He indicated for us to get out of the van, our bags were removed and it seemed pretty clear we were expected to get on the boat.  Felt like we were getting smuggled out of the country in the middle of the night on a little cruiser being captained by a 12 year old (not kidding).

On the trip over to the island, still with no lights on in the boat, the cell phone conversations continued.  We figured out later he was phoning our contact and telling her they would not be escorting us and that she had to come get us at the dock to finish the |door-todoor| service.  The process repeated itself in reverse for off-loading and without so much as a good-bye our driver was gone.

Then a mad rush for the house began, hands were shook, introductions were made and then our hostess prompted us quickly to follow her....up the docks, up the stairs, up the hill, more stairs, through her outer courtyard, up more stairs, and finally UP MORE STAIRS! Having had the quickest orientation ever she disappeared saying her ferry was leaving and that was the last we saw of anyone in the house until 5am the day we left for Split when another couple on the first floor were also going down to meet the ferry, not so bright eyed and bushy tailed.

Dubrovnik Days - Sept 24-27

We arrived in Dubrovnik September 24th and visited there until September 27th in the afternoon.

 The first day (see previous post) was mostly travelling as we really didn’t get to Dubrovnik until closer to what we consider dinnertime.  The second day however was all about the old town. Once we partook in the hotel's breakfast buffet we got our stuff together for the day and walked into the old town.  The coastline is really beautiful and helped us make it up some steep hills in the blazing sun (and it was only 9 something in the morning).

The old town was swarming with cruise passengers. Little umbrellas leading the herds down all the streets and alleyways.  Despite that though we were still able to find some places that were unoccupied, even if sometimes it was just for a moment.  We both really love Dubrovnik.  And have discovered that iced gelato can really help you deal with the stress of the day.  We also discovered that most of the shops have air conditioning and this fact is important to know when the temperature the whole time we were there hung between 23 and 28 and was extremely muggy.  It was great fun just roaming the town and exploring the hidden sights and unexpected photo ops.  Everywhere you turn you see something new and then you look up!  And as the sun moves across the sky even the places you have already seen look different and you discover something new.  That is how we spent our first day.

In the late afternoon we decided to go back to the hotel and have a nice refreshing swim in our pool.  As it turns out though the unheated pool curled Elda's toes and I don't even think both ankles got wet....I made it up to my knees.  Such a good plan foiled.  Sitting in the sun reading our e-readers became our alternate plan. 

After all the walking we did throughout the day we thought we would try out the hotel buffet for dinner.  The items themselves all looked very good and there was quite a selection; however it isn't until I go away that I realize how much healthier we Canadians on the west coast are when it comes to what we eat for the most part.  I think that almost every dish in the buffet was swimming in butter. So not what we are used to. Don't get me wrong it tasted good but I think I felt one of my  arteries clog on September 28th!

After dinner we really felt the need for an additional walk and so we headed off in the opposite direction to what we had already seen and checked out the neighbourhood.  On the way back we stopped by some benches on the waterfront ad watched a couple of men fish, while enjoying the sight of the cruise ships across the bay.

The next day was a bit of a repeat but this morning we made our way over to the other side of the harbour to check out the daily market.
 

 

Along the way we may have also checked out a couple stores - so unlike us! We may have even made a purchase or two. Since all the buses take you to the old town we hopped on the first one that came along...along with what felt like every other inhabitant of Lapad Bay - when we thought we were packed like sardines on the first trip we were SO WRONG - this trip we felt like chunk tuna. How is that you say? Well at first glance chunk tuna looks like just one piece but when you take it out of the can you can see it is actually many pieces. We were jammed in s tight there wasn't an inch of space not occupied. In fact at one point Elda was perched up between the wall of the driver and the foot space of the two people in the front row; hanging there like a chimpanzee every time we went around a corner. This didn't last for long and as soon as a little space became available Elda was back down with the rest of us crammed in the aisle.

While in town we also took a tour of the city walls.  It was great - with fabulous views of the roof tops, the cathedral and church steeples and all with the backdrop of the marvelous Dalmatian coast, harbour and islands.

Once we had our mandatory gelato and stocked up on water for the night we had dinner just outside the old town gates and tried two varieties of risotto.  Then we hopped on the bus, headed back to our hotel and started packing as we were  checking out the next day.

We had thought of going on a tour of Montenegro on that day but the prospect of 10 hours (mostly in a bus) just wasn't working for us.  And as much as we would have liked to see Kotor, Budva, etc. neither of us would have traded our day in Dubrovnik for that.  Perhaps another time.

Our final day in Dubrovnik was a pool day.  The hotel stored our luggage for us and we gave our poor little tootsies a rest by staying pool side and just soaking up the sun (and whatever shade we could find).  Went for a little walk, had a little lunch, and mainly relaxed.

We expected our transfer to Korcula Island at 4:45pm.  "Expected" being the operative word, but more about that in our next post.

Transition to Croatia

Ugh - this was one of our have to get up early days!  We were supposed to fly out of Budapest mid-morning but since we had to drive to the airport during the morning rush we wanted to make sure we got there earlier rather than later. The check-in system for our airline was ridiculous - you have to be there 2 hours in advance but they don`t post what check-in stalls are associated with your flight until 40 minutes before your departure time.....then all 300 of you rush to check-in only to be told you have to do it yourself at one of three little kiosks.  Chaos and confusion and not one smiling face to assist.  After that part of the process you proceed through security and then find out your flight is delayed. Fortunately for us we decided to use up our extra forints to get some real food for our flights as the `refreshments`on our first consisted of a minuscule bottle of water and the 'snack` on the second one was either an apple or little chocolate wafer bar.  Since that flight was delayed as well our real food was most welcome. Probably could have sold my salad more than once to those around me.

We were happy to see that this time our luggage arrived with us and that the shuttle was still out in front of the airport to take us into Dubrovnik old town. It was a scenic drive in and we could tell when we were getting closer as traffic came to a complete stand still. Fortunately at this point we had some interesting vistas around us to observe while we waited.  Our connecting bus to Hotel Lapad was also sitting there once we got off our shuttle.  I don't think they take "maximum capacity" very seriously here as we were packed tighter than sardines in that bus (and a lot of us also had luggage). One thing we immediately noticed when arriving was how narrow the roads are; and how big the buses are when they are barrelling towards you.


Fortunately the hotel is all of 20 feet away from the bus stop so once we extracted ourselves from the rest of our bus mates we made short time in getting into our room and putting down our luggage. The hotel itself is very nice, clean and with a sense of history even though they have modernized.

Our room even had a nice little patio with two chairs and table looking out into a private garden.  When you walked out the hotel's front door you are literally 15 from the water's edge and all along the road are boats parked like we would have cars....however over there they have both.  Handy for ducking in between when vehicles come down the tiny one-way roads. 

Across the bay we had 4 cruise ships in our first night.  They looked beautiful all lit up in the evening.

We could have made our way back into town for the evening but decided instead to just walk around Lapad Bay and find ourselves somewhere to eat in the neighbourhood.  Once we left the hotel we walked the whole bay, checked out a bunch of huge yachts and the cruise ships before heading half way back and relaxing in a park for a while while waiting for the restaurant (Otto) to open for their usual 7pm dinner start time. Otto's was in a carved out cave near the water and the food itself was very good. 

From there we were quite tired so headed back to the hotel to get an early night.  The sky was very dark and the air humid and we wondered if we would get rain, but we didn't.

Budapest-Margit Island/West Side mall/Folk show

This was our last full day in Budapest.  Once we were up and ready to go all four of us headed into town - in the car! First on the agenda was attending the church Michelle and Norm go to.  It is in an old theatre and was in English and then tranlated into Hungarian. The translator was very good.  Once the service was over we had lunch at an egyptian restaurant just up the road - we all had gyros and a glass of tea (curtesy of the owner).  I am happy to report that the tea in Hungary has been up to Elda's standards so she is a happy girl and for the most part getting her tea quota.

At this point Norm left us girls to be about our business and the three of us got on the tram and went to Margit Island where we took another tram to the other end and walked back through the park.  They have peddle carts and motorized versions (in kid sizes too) that you can rent.  They even had some made to look like vintage cars.  The island has everything from a running track, jogging path surrounding it, a pool/water park, variety of other entertainment options, along with the usual "park amenities".  There are some lovely flower gardens in the middle and depending on the time of year other seasonly events happen here - right now they have an outdoor market.

Next stop once we had our Sunday stroll in the park was checking out a Budapest mall (West Side).  The shoes/boots in Hungary was gorgeous but unfortunately they are not reasonably priced in any way.  Apparently malls are the same the world over - a bunch of overpriced stuff you don't really need.  We ended up having dinner at the food court in the mall as we were going dircetly to the Theatre once we left it.  Again unfortunately we discovered food courts are the same the world over as well. There were a lot of options; all with a  Hungarian flair.

The theatre we went to to watch thhe Rujka Folk Ensemble was very elaborate.  There are a ton of little theatres throughout the city but from the street you wouldn't know they even existed.  So much is hidden behind plain facades.  The performance was excellent - both the dancers and the live orchestra.  Watching the orchestra play was just as entertaining as the performance itself.  They were very in sync and played it up with a lot of sudtle humour.

So with one more metro experience we said good-bye to Budapest transportation and drove home via the Citadel so we could experience the views of the city, bridges, etc. all lit up at night.

Budapest-Market (final time/River walk/Vaci utca

If we were going to buy something, today would be the last available day so off to the market we went to do our final shop, to try some fresh langoes (I had a traditional sour cream and cheese one and Elda had garlic, and I mean GARLIC, for lunch, followed up with some danishes from the same shop we got a sour cherry and plum one from the other day that was absolutely fabulous. 

Since it was Saturday and the market closed early they didn't have the same selection and there were literally only two left (an apple/sour cherry combo) so we didn't need to spend any time deciding but rather bought them quick before someone else got them. Not warm like the last one (see picture below) but good nonetheless. 

Our next stop was somewhere along the river - we were off to find the Little Princess statue, and in a little park with a very nice fountain nearby we stopped to have our afternoon snack (including our danishes).  It was a lovely day to walk in Budapest - just slightly overcast, warm, but with a cool breeze.

 

From there we slowly meandered back to our #49 tram along the river and Vaci utca checking out the shops, snapping pictures as we went of whatever struck our fancy along the way.  It was an awesome quasi final day in Budapest and we both thoroughly enjoyed not having a schedule or timeline to follow.  Once we got back into Diosd our pick-up was again so kindly waiting for us to take us back home (so we didn't have to do the final 20 minute walk in the dark), and a lovely dinner followed.  Elda and I started to get our stuff re-packed as the following day we were going to be in town from mid-morning until late at night..... why you ask? I guess you will have to read the next post to find out.

 

Szentendre/Skanzen

Started our day with a bus, then tram, then metro, then train, then bus ride to Szentendre/Szentendre Open Air Museum (SZABADTÉRI NÉPRAJZI MÚZEUM).  We got there later then expected but managed to walk through several "villages".  This outdoor museum is set up in several village-like groups to show folk architecture, interior decoration, farming and the typical way of life in various areas in Hungary from the 2nd half of the 18th century to the 1st half of the 20th century.

We then returned to Szentendre city centre and wandered the streets.  I contnued to check out the area while Michelle and Elda found themselves a nice place in the main square to have lunch and have a visit...so litte time for them to catch up with all the tourist time. 

They were having an outdoor crafts market on one of the main streets and so on our way backto the train station we enjoyed taking a peek at what they had to offer.  They were having an outdoor grill that smelled SO GOOD.

Szentendre is very quaint and right on the Danube and I really enjoyed spending some time in the afternoon checking it out before we headed back through Budapest to Diosd for the evening.

Budapest-Synagogue/Parliament/Shoes on the Danube/Baths

Synagogue - take 2: Made it to one of the morning tours and got a good guide. It was a very interesting tour of the synagogue and attached museum and Holocaust Memorial which is a large metal weeping willow tree that has all the names of the known Hungarian Jews who were killed engraved on each of the willows' leaves.  It was very moving.   

Holocaust Monument

The sun was out again but the temperature was not quite as warm, as before the previous days’ storm, in the morning but by the time we were done our tour and making our way down to see Parliament and the Shoes by the Danube installation it was warming up quite nicely.  A lot of the Parliament building is currently under wraps but despite that you can still see enough to compare the old, the part under restoration and the restored sections.  Our dangerous act of the day was following the sidewalk along the main road until it suddenly disappeared; at which point they post a sign saying you aren`t supposed to be walking there and that the sidewalk is closed…..what is a girl to do but run across the main thoroughfare! No way we were walking all the way back around.

Parliament

Once across we walked along the Danube until we came across the Shoes on the Danube tribute to the Jews who were taken down to the banks of the river, told to take off their shoes and then were either shot and shoved into the river; or when they ran out of ammunition were wrapped together, one person was shot then they were pushed off to drown with the "dead weight". 

The tribute has 60 pairs of shoes, including children's, all haphazardly left on the edge of the river as if just kicked off.  So hard to believe anyone could have done these things and so much worse to another fellow human being, but the even sadder part is how many people are still treated poorly in this world.

Okay now I realize the following isn't exactly the best transition into our next activity but from the tribute we walked to the Gellert baths to sooth our sore and tired muscles.  It was a relaxing experience but I must admit they weren't the best baths I have ever been to.  A beautiful setting to be sure but lacking in helpful employees and again not such good signage (e.g. getting chased out of large lap pool for not having a cap on.....yet in the segregated sections it is okay for people to charge around naked in the pools, saunas, etc.  Go figure.  Regardless one cannot dismiss the positive effects of that sort of bathing experience and we came out a lot more relaxed and with our muscles feeling a whole lot better. Thankful at this point we can make it "home" on auto-pilot.

Budapest-Church in the Rock/Gellert Hill/Market again

We were blessed with another fabulously sunny warm day to climb a big hill!  But first we checked out the Gellert Baths and went on a tour of the Church in the Rock before taking on Gellert Hill, with a picnic along the way to give us strength for the second half.  The view from the Citadel at the top of the hill is incredible; looking down you can see all the bridges along the Danube, and over to the Pest side of the city.  After checking out all the vistas we headed back on down the hill via the serpentine steps along the front side of Gellert Hill then made our way back over to Pest to check out the market again without all the crowds.

Hazy view from hill up to Citadel

Leaving the market we took the tram a couple stops to the Jewish Synagogue arriving just in time to miss the last tour.  It was at this point that our warm sunny day was changed with the arrival of a flash storm.  In came the dark clouds followed quickly by the wind and rain (and I mean a lot of rain).  Since the sightseeing was cut short by the weather we instead found ourselves something to eat in the neighbourhood before making our way `home’.

Synagogue

 

Castle Hill District

Today we bought tickets to go see Rajko Folk Ensemble at the Duna Palota on our last night in Budapest.  We then headed off by bus to investigated the Castle Hill district.  No matter where you look in Budapest there is some sort of statue, decorated or ornate house. The details are amazing..... could spend months here going street by street and still not see all there is to see.  And most of it, other than the statues, is up high on buildings.

Once we reached the district by bus (we saved the walking for the down direction) we started our tour on the northern part of the Castle Hill district and had a lovely lunch in an inner private garden at Pierrot`s.

I tried the traditional Hungarian Goulash and Elda had a fabulous chicken crepe dish (Hungarian name to follow if we remember what it was called).  We still need to try a fresh lango and more more fabulous pastries.  They are so good.





 

Matyas Fountain

We then took the bus over to the Royal Palace and worked our way back to where we began (near the Mathias Church and the Fisherman`s Bastion.






















 







Fishermen`s Bastion



Arriving later in the day makes a huge difference to the number of other tourists and up in the Castle district there were many day tours happening.  And getting a picture without a couple heads of people you don`t know is quite a challenge.

 

After we toured the Fishermen`s Bastion we headed down the hill for a tour in the Hospital in the Rock, then continued down the hill for our tram home.