Day 73 Leaving Dubrovnik
Saturday February 16th.
We get up this morning and pack. There is a cab meeting us at noon to transport us to the ferry terminal.
Even so it is a challenge to move our luggage up the flights of stairs to the designated meeting point. How does our luggage keep growing?
The cab shows up on time – we talk about the war on the way to the terminal -I give him a generous tip. I am so disturbed –although I have witnessed and participated in a war it was never in my home town – I cannot imagine the suffering and fear and associated feelings being forced to defend your hometown.
He tells us that more civilian's were killed than militia. He sounds bitter that no country came to their aid for a very long time – I feel embarrassed.
We head into the ticket office – I am relieved – we have plenty of time only -the lady selling ticket says there is no Ferry to Bari – the information we had been given by the information center was wrong – the next ferry is Tuesday.
Obviously this is not acceptable – I am already anxious to get going – we are burning though our remaining days and I am ready for France although everyone else still wants to go to Milan. I read that The Last Supper requires reservations 3-4 days in advance – although it is low season I am concerned that we might head to Milan only to find out we cannot see the one sight we are interested in.
So Pam argues with the lady for a while – I am not sure what she is hoping to accomplish – they are not going to run a ferry just for usJ I eventually intercede and suggest we head to the bus depot to explore other options.
We have tickets remaining from out trip from Split to here – I am still concerned that they were one-way not round trip but Pam is convinced that she got round trip tickets – even thought the price does not line up.
Pam hands the ticket stubs to the lady – she staples them charges us 8 kuna and gives them back- at the time I assumed Pam had asked if they were good for the return trip….more on that later.
So as far as we know we are headed back to Split by bus for 8 kuna.
We move our luggage to a cafe across the street in the sun. We order a couple of Cappuccinos and then Allysha and Pam head to the store to get food for the upcoming trip.
Last night the wind was screaming all throughout the night and although the day was sunny it was very cold and there was an incredibly chilling breeze – It seems we caught the beast weather of the winter during our stay and we are leaving just in time. The wind is from the North making it so cold – out taxi driver said it rains when it comes from the south but it is warmer – he also mentions that it had been raining for an entire month before this week – I am glad we got such nice weather – this stay would not have been as pleasant in the rain given the amount of walking we did.
We board our bus but when they check our tickets they ask s to go to the information – I hand Pam a wad of kuna and she heads off.
She returns shortly and I can see the frustration in her face – she had to pay 4 full fares – no discount even for the child. I do not ask too many questions.
Off we go everything is fine until about 10 minutes into the trip when the drivers change positions. The young guy is a Mario Andretti protégé – he actually scares us – driving the bus like a formula one car on the cliffs overlooking the 500 foot drop into the sea below.
We hang on for dear life and I think back to the newspaper articles I recall with buses killing American tourists – I think they were in South America?
The only people on the bus are us, the 2 drivers and a guy who seems to be a friend of one of the drivers. We make a few stops at markets and fruit stands. This seems strange to us but what can we do. It seems like Mario is trying to make good time so they can make these stops but still stay on schedule?
The problem with this approach is when we actually stop at a bus station we do not stay long enough for anyone to stretch or use the restroom. The trip goes on like this with each driver change either being welcomed or dreaded depending on who is on deck.
The countryside is beautiful – I imagine living here in on old stone mansion totally renovated inside with modern décor and conveniences. A fun day dream – I actually do a lot of daydreaming – about work – about making the company successful – about my future - about how the trip is changing me – a thought on that – I am a poor measure of the changes I am undergoing. I actually ask Aria if she feels changed or that she will do differently when we get home – we talk about this for a while – I hope she chooses to blog about her revelations to me.
We arrive in Split it is dark and 8pm. We look into our options train ferry or bus and decide to take a bus to Trieste. It laves at 9:22pm and arrives at 6:30am. We figure we will have more options that way and will eat up some of the miles we need to cover vs. heading to Zagreb or waiting for tomorrows ferry to Ancona. No of us our looking forward to an overnight bus ride but I feel good to keep moving.
We grab a bite at a fast food court – it is absolutely freezing so we patronize one place that has a small counter to eat at protected from the wind. Although all he has o pizza we get a few pieces and also pick some chicken sandwiches from another place – they are very nice to us.
On that note there was a lady in the information booth who would not even talk to us – Pam is usually so forgiving but this lady really irritated her. Which reminds me Pam also spent some time conversing with the lady that originally sold us the round-trip tickets to Dubrovnik which ended up not being round trip. I am not sure what she was trying to accomplish but I left her alone for a while before telling her we should get some food.
Pam is not in a good mood – this day stretched her to the breaking point – although not according to plan I am ok with how things are going –I am just dreading the discussion upcoming about Milan, Cinque Terre, Portofino – I am really starting to get anxious to head to France. Our trip is coming to a close. It's funny how 2 weeks used to sound like a very long vacation but now seems like barely enough time to visit a smallish country.
We catch the bus and ride all night – trying to sleep – impossible for me – at least our driver is not causing my fingers to cramp due to the need for keeping a tight grip on my seat.
