Croatia 2016 Day 1 – Arrival in Dubrovnik and Old Town visit

After disembarking the plane, we went about looking for the airport hotel. It was only 4am and our connecting flight was almost 5hrs away so we had booked the airport TAV hotel airside room for our comfort. It had rooms going at horrendously expensive rates in 3hrs block but there weren’t other much better choices.

TAV airport reception
TAV airport reception

There wasn’t much info on where it was located and the counter near the transfer gates was closed. We had to pass through transfer gates luggage checks before arriving at the departure hall where the hotel was situated. There were 8 lines of passengers waiting to get their luggage checked to get to the departure halls but the line moved rather quickly.
There were signs providing directions to the hotel at the hall and we arrived at the reception and checked into the room for the shortest 3hr period at 118 euros. The rooms were pretty basic. There was leftover coffee in the flask and we couldn’t boil any water in it as there was the taste of coffee left. I got out and bought a bottle of mineral water at Starbucks for 1euros. Since there was some time left, we took a bath and took a quite nap. After the short break, we checked out with baby K still napping in my arms and went to Cakes & Bakes for breakfast. The pastries and the coffee costed 44euros!

Room
Room
Bathtub in the toilet.
Bathtub in the toilet.
Inside Cakes & Bakes cafe.
Inside Cakes & Bakes cafe.
Our lunch.
Our breakfast.

We got ready for our next flight and as we arrived at the gate, we found ourselves being one of the last to board (again!) the bus that took us to the plane. This was a much smaller plane as it was a short 1.5hrs flight to Dubrovnik. There weren’t any entertainment onboard the flight, simple meals for breakfast but we survived any baby tantrums as he was pretty well behaved! As a bonus, the weather was clear and we caught a birds eye view of the Kotor Bay (no time to take a shot though).

The plane landed in small Dubrovnik airport and we managed to clear Immigrations rather quickly. We got our luggage proceeded out of the arrival. There was a forex counter and we changed Euros to Kunas at a poor rate (expected) of 1:7, which we changed only 200euros to tide us over till we get to one with a better rate.

Dubrovnik airport
Dubrovnik airport

The car rental companies were located at a street directly across the street of the arrival halls. Having earlier anticipated that we could actually take a long time to settle the car as our itinerary was a little complex (having to drop off the car at another country and what not), I had previously made a reservation online, trying to provide all the details possible, settling questions on costs and the types of insurance, and asking for the baby seats and types of auto car that could take our 2 large luggage, in a bid to have this all ready for us to pick up, it was all done in vain. The car was never prepared. At the Avis counter, though there were 2 people there, it took very long as there were both new customers and returning customers. Then when it was finally my turn, it took a while to even get started, as though my reservation was too difficult to handle. Then while getting to the payment and the insurance, I was confused by the initial payment and the deposit as I remembered not paying any deposit for any of my rented cars at all (maybe this time around I didn’t had zero excess insurance). Moreover, he was charging to card 1 more time more than required and told me that the initial charge was cancelled and having received an SMS from the bank, I was even more confused.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Line of car rental companies

A diesel car was given and as I got in to check (after the external damage check and taking photos and so on), I realized first that there wasn’t any baby seat in which he said he really didn’t have anymore and showed me the empty cupboard. He offered to talk to another company but I had to rent it from them directly (and pay them separately). This brought the question of what I was paying for again. It wasn’t cheap and costed 120 euros, which I thought I could have bought a new baby seat with that kind of money. Avis guy that offered to provide me a portable wifi set for free that kinda eased my frustrations a little.

Then while I sat in ready to go, I realized I was given a manual car rather than an auto (which was the more common of the 2 in Europe). Went in and told him I had reserved an Auto and frankly it would be too challenging for me to do manual in a left hand drive coming from a right hand drive Singapore. He said he had to pick it up from a garage at another place. At this point, I had already given up all expectations of any better service coming from Avis and just wanted to quickly get on with my trip. (Baby K wasn’t helping as he was incredibly cranky)

When he finally returned with a Chevrolet Cruze wagon, I went through the same checks and loaded up the luggage and the baby seat, started the GPS and we were finally on our way. Just seated in, baby K was in dreamland. And then mommy said she left her hand phone in the backseat of the manual car. Back to airport again.

At arrival, I couldn’t get thru the tight lane spaces due to multiple car parking on the sides and cars maneuvering to get in/out, I quickly just parked by the road side and ran to the car, and recovered the hp. Finally we were on our way.

Driving in Dubrovnik was fairly simple, one lane highways from the airport to Lapad, therefore the speed of which depended on the amount of traffic. It wasn’t too bad and soon, upon arrival at our first Airbnb accommodation, Dvori Lapad Apartments, I parked at the public parking just outside the block of apartments (we know we have arrived as I have “visited” the place before using Google map during planning). Couldn’t remember the instructions and therefore gave the owner a call. She came to the car park and brought us to the private parking at a specific lot. After that she gave an introduction to the accommodation to me (left mommy and sleeping baby K in the car) and provided the map, tips on going to the old town, market close to the apartment and places to eat and visit. Thereafter I paid for the 3 nights stay in Euros (which was good as I don’t suffer dual forex losses and I don’t have much Kunas to begin with). It was exhausting but I felt a sense of relief that we had finally arrived some 3hrs after our flight have landed in Dubrovnik.

Living room with a bed.
Living room with a bed.
Main bedroom
Main bedroom
Kitchenette.
Kitchenette.
Bathroom
Bathroom

Returned to the secured car park and pick up luggage and brought everyone to the apartment. After leaving the our barang barang in this attic apartment, after some tiring lugging of luggage up 2 flights of stairs, We visited the Studenec supermarket located on the ground level to buy fish and drinks. Whilst mommy had to cook for baby K, I brought him to the ground level this time to visit the bakery to get some bread.

Studenec Supermarket
Studenec Supermarket
Pastries from the bakery.
Pastries from the bakery.

After having our meals, we left the apartment to visit the old town. In order to take the bus, we had to go buy tickets from a kiosk at 12 Kunas per adult per way. The bus stop was conveniently located within a few meters from the apartment block and we boarded bus 4 for a 15mins ride before dropping off just outside the old city walls. We then climbed the wall for 120kunas and walked the entire 2km stretch around the old town. It was a nice walk offering various views of the city, the fort and also the harbour. There were also some restaurants and cafes along the way for tired tourists to sit back and enjoy the view.

Bus tickets kiosk.
Bus tickets kiosk.
Bus tickets.
Bus tickets.
Bus number 4.
Bus number 4.
Entrance to the old town.
Entrance to the old town.
Within the old town.
Within the old town.
View from the wall.
View from the wall.
View of Fort Lovrijenac from the wall.
View of Fort Lovrijenac from the wall.
Dubrovnik Harbour Pano
Dubrovnik Harbour Pano
Famous orange roofs of Dubrovnik old town
Famous orange roofs of Dubrovnik old town
Main street of Dubrovnik old town.
Main street of Dubrovnik old town.

After our tiring walk, we looked for a forex counter to exchange 500euros to kuna at 1:7.2, slightly better. Our initial intention to take the cable car up to the viewing station was dropped in favor of going back to rest (some jet lag and walking while carrying a toddler was no joke). Bus 4 return was much more crowded than when we took it to the old town.

Once back at the apartment, we pumped up the air bathtub for baby K to bath. For our dinner, I went to the pedestrian street, Šetalište kralja Zvonimira, which was lined with restaurants. As it was a busy night, I tried ordering for takeaway but they had offered pizzas only. Thankfully another restaurant Agora offered more when I ordered scampi (prawns with claws) spaghetti and fish soup all for 250kunas. This street was quite crowded as there seemed to be a outdoor concert event about to start.

Pedestrian street at night.
Pedestrian street at night.
A restaurant
Agora restaurant
Our dinner
Our dinner

The night closed rather quickly as we had dinner and baby K fell asleep while I changed his diapers. It was a long day after all. As we had cooked fish, I had to throw the garbage at the main bin center to avoid any fishy smell in the apartment. There were still people walking about and it felt relatively safe, one of the many positive feelings I had about this country.

After my bath, we found ourselves already in bed before 10pm, some deserved rest before our long exploration of this part of Balkans.

Escape plan to Croatia/Slovenia September 2016

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to Croatia/Slovenia 2016:

Total duration 18D18N
Singapore is 6hrs ahead of Croatia and Slovenia.
Flight time is 11hrs 25mins on Turkish Airlines from Singapore to Istanbul, Turkey followed by a 1hr 50min flight to Dubrovnik, Croatia after about a 4hour transition at Istanbul.
Return is 2hrs 30mins from Salzburg to Istanbul, a 11hrs layover then a 11hrs 5mins flight from Istanbul back to Singapore.

Flight from Singapore to Istanbul at 10pm, arriving at 425am in Istanbul and fly off again at 920am arriving in Dubrovnik at 1010am. Return flight from Salzburg is at 1125am and touching down in Istanbul at 255pm and flying off at 150am and finally touching down at 555pm.

Day 0 Flight to Istanbul
Day 1 Arrival in Dubrovnik, old town visit
Day 2 Day trip to Perast and Kotor
Day 3 Day trip to Mostar and Blagaj Tekke
Day 4 Dubrovnik to Neum to Split
Day 5 Day trip to Hvar and Stari Grad
Day 6 Krka National Park waterfalls and Sibenik
Day 7 Split – Diocletian Palace and old town
Day 8 Split to Trogir to Zadar
Day 9 Plitvice National Park waterfalls and towards Zagreb
Day 10 Zagreb old town towards Opatija, Motovun visit
Day 11 Opatija to Pula to Rovinj
Day 12 Rovinj to Porec, border crossing, visit Postojna Cave and Predama Castle to Ljubljana
Day 13 Ljubljana old town and castle
Day 14 Ljubljana to Skofja Loka to Lake Bled, Bled castle
Day 15 Lake Bohinj and Trenta Valley
Day 16 Lake Bled to Salzburg, Mirabell gardens
Day 17-18 Flight to Istanbul then Home Sweet Home

This annual family trip we wanted to do a road trip as it would be easier for us to manage with toddler in tow. With a car, we could get from place to place at our own pace. A few other options did surface (such as Eastern Europe – Prague and Budapest) but we were more in favour of this itinerary as we thought in terms of security these countries had less issues as it seemed less popular amongst tourists and therefore lesser target for security issues. Though we had concluded that it was really difficult to travel with a toddler from our Europe trip last year, I guessed wanderlust got the better of us?

Budget – Depends – budget buster for us due to choice over comfort.

The total amount spent was about 12k SGD, mostly coming from the plane tickets and the car with all the tolls and petrol. Accommodation was the other major contributor especially in Turkey airport. Food expenditure was not very high and comparable to Singapore’s standard of eating out at a normal restaurant, unlike in other European countries. Croatia had its own currency and there would be some losses due to double exchange from SGD to Euros to Kunas.

Complexity – High without car. Ours made easy due to car and Google maps on data plan and GPS.

Although there were multiple border crossings, it wasn’t really difficult with our own transport since we have everything with us most of the time. Road signs were clear and easy to navigate. Only roads in old towns were narrow and parking were challenging to find. We had to purchase data SIM (12-15euros?) which eased the navigation bit as Google map was accurate to the dot. The map that was used in my Garmin GPS was neurotic, often choosing the smaller roads which made the journey longer than it should have been thus unreliable.