Day 28 - Thursday 9th June

There were no commitments this morning and so we slept in. It was about 9:45 before we went downstairs for breakfast. The weather forecast today was for clouds and showers but once again the forecast was wrong. It was warm and sunny all day except for a cool breeze on the terrace at breakfast time.

After breakfast, we walked down to the old town in Dubrovnik. Suzy went shopping at a market in one of the plazas in the old town whereas I walked the full length of the ancient walls of the old town. Apparently the walls are about 2km long. It took me about 100 minutes and I took more than 100 photos.

Most parts of the walkway are quite narrow and the sides aren't very high. Thankfully it wasn't too crowded. Although you are supposed to walk in an anti-clockwise direction, there were a couple of Japanese tour groups who wanted to go the other way. I just grabbed onto the wall as they pushed past.

I was pleased that I did the walk. The view was spectacular - especially since it was such a beautiful sunny day.

By the time I'd walked back to the hotel, Suzy was already at the pool - sitting on a lounge chair enjoying the sunshine and the view. When I found a waiter to order some lunch, he suggested a hamburger and a secret special drink that turned out to be Bacardi, Coke and lime.

The appointed pickup time for our afternoon tour was 2pm. When Luka didn't turn up, I checked with reception and they said they'd just got a message from him that he was held up in traffic and will be with us soon. I wondered where there could be a traffic jam in Dubrovnik. Luka arrived at 2:15pm and told us he had left a message with reception at 8:15 this morning that he would be 15 minutes late.

He took us first to a tourist resort near Dubrovnik that had been destroyed during the war in the 90s and never rebuilt. There were shells of several 4-star and 5-star resorts overlooking an idyllic bay with a sandy beach. Let's hope that someone redevelops this area one day.

Along the coast, he stopped at a viewing area so we could take pictures of the coastline.

Next we went to a town called Cavtat. I guess it's possible that you could get tired of driving along stunningly beautiful coastlines and visiting fascinating old towns in beautiful settings but we haven't reached that stage yet and hopefully never will. The town is built on two bays that were a glistening blue colour and were filled with the yachts of wealthy people and lined with open-air cafes.

Yesterday we'd mentioned to Luka that we like visiting vineyards and so he'd arrange to take us next to a vineyard, Dubrovacki Podrumi, in a nearby valley. There we were welcomed by the owner who proudly let us taste his red wines such a merlot and a plavac, a Croatian grape type. As we sat around chatting, he explained the Croatian view of the war in the 90s.

The final item on the itinerary was a visit to an old mill in a bushland setting. Luka took us for a walk past the streams, channels, aqueducts, water wheels and waterfalls. Then we had dinner at a restaurant in a garden setting next to the stream. Our table was in the garden, some were on a small platform above the stream and others were on a platform under the nearby stonework bridge.

The chefs had prepared a traditional meal (peca) of lamb, veal and potato cooked slowly for 3 hours under a heavy steel dome over an open fire. Before the meal, they served us a selection of brandy liqueurs of different flavours. Next was a platter of meats and cheese followed by the peca with a carafe of red wine. A beautiful meal.

Luka dropped us back at our hotel at about 7:30pm.