Ending with a Splash...and a chocolate dipped cone!

It is our final day in Dubrovnik and what a day it has been! The sun was out in full force...the hottest day yet I think at 22 degrees...and we were scheduled to do a half day kayaking tour on the Adriatic Sea.

Old Town

We arrived at the Old Town at 9 am with plenty of time to meet our 10:00am tour.  We eventually strolled down to the area we thought was where we were to meet our group...only to find out after a couple calls by the staff we were at the wrong location. Not only that, but it was the other tour company in the city...the competition!  After dealing with our embarrassment, the guy took us over to the other tour group and we eventually got things worked out.

prep time

We left from the beach right along the Pile Gate with about 14 other people and our two guides...most of us where in tandem boats. We put all our belongings in sealed barrels that were then attached to the kayak...no need to get everything wet, especially my camera. Once we had the obligatory paddling review, we pushed off into the water ready to explore this beautiful historic city from yet another perspective. 

check out my toes!

and we're off!!

We started off my paddling about 15 minutes where we met and got some of the history of the City Walls. It was interesting to hear during the early years all the women who entered the town were required to provide one egg as an entrance fee.  This was used in the mortar when the wall was being built...I suspect it was a stinky town back with all those eggs!

history lesson

the City Wall from the Adriatic Sea

From here we paddled out towards Lockrum island. This island is no longer inhabited, but it does have a monastery, lots of peacocks and a nudist beach...it is also thought to be cursed and history has proven this could possible be true. 

Lockrum island

After taking some photos we headed around the island and past the nudist beach...one man instantly stood up as he saw us coming, so I guess he wanted to give us a bit of a show!  On the other side of the island we then entered a small hidden cave. The views were beautiful...it really was the perfect day to be out kayaking on the sea. 

Lisa enjoying the day

From the cave we continued along the coast of the island where we saw the local ferry dropping people off and then we headed towards the Dubrovnick coastline. 

the ferry dock

After about 20 minutes we regrouped to hear a bit about the War of Independence, 1991-1995 when Croatia fought for its independence from Yugoslavia. The devastation in Dubrovnik was massive and for a 9 month period nothing was coming in or out of the city until support was provided from the north. It's hard to listen to people talk about this time period...especially since it was such a fairly recent war. 

paddling to the coast

a significant location during the war

Finally it was time to head to another cave, this time one with a beach...this is where we had lunch and could finally get some pictures. 

beach time

The little beach had turquoise water...it was freezing...large and small pebbles and a house was actually built right over it and you could see its window through a large hole in the cave....very weird. 

a  beautiful cove

We stayed here for about 30 minutes, ate some fruit and some of the brave souls also spent time snorkelling.

snorkelling time…bbbrrrrr

Not me though...I decided to enjoy some down time relaxing in the sun and enjoying the view above water.

sun!!!!

Lisa swore the water was not cold, but I think her shivering and hand colour begs to differ...

I told you it was cold!

Before she got out of the water...or passed out from hypothermia...we were able to get one modified selfie...

time out in Croatia

The final leg of our trip included passing by a former villa that is now an exclusive hotel...apparently Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman stayed there in another life time...and the cost for one night is in the $10,000 range!  

exclusive villa

Not far from the hotel is the former quarantine building where during the plague people could not enter the town until they passed through the five sections over an eight day period… because of this process Dubrovnik had very little illness at that time.

Quarantine behind the people on the left

Next we stopped outside another section of the town, learned a bit more history....while our group completely drifted into a boat mourned out in the harbour. 

one last look with our guide

Once we regrouped, we headed around the fort, took a few more pictures and basked in the excitement of being on the water.  Our final stop was in front of Fort Lovrijenat...or for you Game of Thrones enthusiasts you will know it as King's Landing. 

for all your Game of Throne fans

It was close to 1:30pm when we reluctantly made our way to shore again.  What a spectacular day...I think it ranks right up there as one of my top three things we've done while in Croatia. And it was certainly a great way to spend our last day in Croatia. 

fantastic day!!!

Once we dried off and changed, we heading into Old Town to visit the War Photo Limited Museum.

history in photos

It had haunting pictures of the devastation in Dubrovnik during the War of Independence, as well as another exhibit depicting the Syrian War, by Mexican photographer Narciso Contraras… very graphic and certainly excessively violent.  Once again I am brought back to how appreciative I am that I live in a country that is not under siege or in complete turmoil...my heart just ached for the people and their pain that was brought out in the photography. 

At one point while in the museum I started to feel faint as I hadn't eaten a real lunch yet, so we ventured back to our favourite restaurant Nishta...we are really disappointed with a lot of food we've had in the Old Town, so it was nice to find something we enjoyed.  At the end of our meal we were presented our bill inside this little box, with a bean and the following message…

so creative…love this!

Hvala (thank you) Croatia for a wonderful time!!

We had planned to head back to Lapad, but the weather was so nice we decided to find a little caffe in the sun where we could sit and people watch for our last hour in Old Town...and there was no shortage of people our sights to watch. 

enjoying our final moments in Croatia

At around 5:00pm we headed to the Pile Gate...not before snapping one last shot of one of the MANY ice cream shops around. People love their ice cream in Europe…and so do we!

we LOVE ice cream!

We also ran into another kitty cat having an afternoon siesta...how appropriate to see one as we left old a Town during our last visit in Dubrovnik. 

goodbye Old Town

Upon arrival at our apartment we were greeted to a locked gate. Our host Milos mentioned this could happen and gave us instructions as to what we should do to open it...thankfully we finally figured it out. I'm not sure why, but we've had door and lock issues almost everywhere we stayed in Croatia...we are obviously in need of lock opening classes. 

using my locksmith skills to break in

Since we are in the country of ice cream...or so it seems...it would only be appropriate to get one last scoop before we turned in for the night....chocolate dipped of course!

one last scoop…DELICIOUS!!

So now we've packed our things...hopefully my luggage won't be over weight..and we are heading to bed in hopes of getting a little sleep before we get picked up at 4:40am for our three flights home. 

It has been a phenomenal visit to Croatia...I would definitely return here again...and I enjoyed exploring this diverse country with my great travel companion and friend Lisa.  Thanks for putting up with me :)

Now for our final leg.

Until tomorrow...

Lisa(s)