Using public transit in Croatia

During the Bosnia & Croatia trip, we largely relied on public transport (i.e. buses & ferries) to travel between and within towns. This worked out well for us, but was a nightmare to plan.

Despite spending hours checking online, calling & emailing transit authority, and double-checking the schedules of transit with the ticket office when we were in town, we still ran into problems. The main reason: all summer schedules become void on Sept. 1st when new schedules are posted to correspond with the shift from summer to fall. Unfortunately no one knows ahead of time what the new schedule will be. Also, no one that we spoke with seemed aware that the schedule changed on Sept. 1st.

(Day 4 of vacation) To travel from Dubrovnik to the island of Vis, we planned to take an 8-hour ferry on Sept 1st. Due to the Sept. 1st switch, there was a change of plans:
6:40am - arrive at ferry landing; learn that ferry will depart 1 hour later (due to Sept. 1st switch); have to wait 1 more to buy tickets
7:45am - try to buy ferry tickets; learn that ferry is going to another island destination & no ferries go to Vis today (due to Sept. 1st change)
8:00am - IM & I running back and forth for 30 min. (looking very clueless) between the ferry ticket office, bus ticket office, rental car agency, & tourist info determining how to figure out how to get to Vis; KS was the lucky one during this ordeal - she got to sit on a bench, eat breakfast, watch our bags, and be relaxed
8:45am - buy bus tickets to Split (learn bus is full and we'll have to squeeze on)
8:50am - board bus to Split (where hopefully we can get a ferry going to Split); bus was over-booked and we got stuck sitting next to old ladies try to use our foot space for their bags
1:00pm - arrive in Split; spend 30 min discussing with lady at ferry ticket office & learn that there are no ferries to Vis until tomorrow morn (due to Sept. 1st switch)
1:30pm - go to internet cafe; call travel agency in Vis; learn from travel agency in Vis that there is a 4pm ferry from Split to Vis today
2:00pm - purchase tickets for 4pm ferry to Vis from the same lady who told us that there were no ferries to Vis today
4:00pm - board ferry; sleep in sun on back of ferry
8:00pm - arrive in Vis (yeah!!!)
9:00pm - negotiate accomodation & site-seeing plans for next day (cave boat trips for friends, scuba diving in caves for me)
10:00pm - make it to our B&B

While we were waiting to get our ferry tickets in Dubrovnik, a couple younger folks got on a (very nice) yacht. I commented how we should get a ride with them. Next time - I will ask them for a ride instead of just commenting. My guess is that they would have made it to Vis much quicker (and in better style). Next year, it's all about the yacht.

I would like to thank my parents who spent years teaching me how to figure out stuff on my own, and how to deal with last-minute changes like the one above. :)

Destination: Dubrovnik, Croatia

(Day 2 & 3 of vacation)

Dubrovnik was designed for women who love stilettos. The streets and buildings are made of a gorgeous pieces of white marble, which have no cracks or bumps in between them (so stilettos can be worn without getting stuck in the stones). The old town was rebuilt in the 1990's, after being destroyed in the war. This was a smart investment by Croatia as many tourists visit here. The end result is a sleek and stylish old city, which brings in lots of tourists.

Around the old city are the original fortress walls. Visitors can walk around the top of the old fortress walls and have a glimpse of the whole town and of all the yellow and orange rooftops (yellow = old roof, orange = newly re-roofed... see pic above). Hiding throughout the city are small, cute corners with restaurants, bars and fountains of fresh, drinking water. Pic 4 (above) shows an amazing location just on the outside of the fortress walls where people can sit, watch kids jump of the rocks into the water, and enjoy the sunset.

Ironically, there is a sign in the alleyway on the way to this bar saying "no nudists." Apparanetly nudism is a common theme in Dobrovnik.

There are 2 beaches in Dubrovnik: 1 sandy beach (sandy beaches are not common in Croatia) and 1 stone beach. As it was 100 degrees when we visited, we decided to go swimming. We were told by our hosts to visit the 2nd (stone) beach because it was cleaner, less crowded and also has a cave, with a fresh water spring, where people can swim. We were told to avoid the sand beach as it is dirty and gets too crowded. Taking the advice, we set-off by boat to a nearby island where the 2nd beach is located. When we got there, we learned why it is less crowded... it is a nudist beach. A nudist beach full of gay guys to be exact. Not wanting to miss out on swimming in the cave, and too lazy to walk back to the dock and wait for the next boat back to Dubrovnik, we set-up camp at the beach (or rock-slabs would more accurately describe the "beach"). This turned out to be a smart move. The water was great, the cave was cool (except for the dead fish where the salt and fresh water meet), our neighbors were very smart and interesting to talk with, and not once did anyone even look our way. From our spot on the rocks, we were able to overhear some very interesting discussions including the pro's of gay rights in Canada, 2 (Italian?) men - 1 older & big, 1 younger & in-shape, flirting vicariously with each other and discussing how they declined further comment during an interview, and modern European Architecture. Definitely an afternoon well-spent.

Natives to Dubrovnik are very nice. The owners of the B&B in which we stayed forever asked us if they could help us (and even brought up grapes and pomegranates fresh from their garden). The 20 yr old son of the owners spent much time trying to figure out if how old we were and if any of us are single. The whole family gave us great tips for places to see.

All in all, it was a very entertaining visit. One thing to note if you visit Dubrovnik in summer... find a place with A/C!

Pic1: Main street in the old town
Pic2: Famous "step" on side of wall... legend has it that the longer you can stand on this ledge, the better your luck will be (it is impossible for all but little kids to stand on this as the edge is so warn from people attempting to stand on it)
Pic3: rooftops within old city
Pic4: rocks outside the wall of the fortress where kids jump into water; also a happy hour bar
Pic5: cave & nudist beach from boat
*Click on pics to make bigger