This sure ain't Kansas!

Not that I would actually know having never been to Kansas!

Sunday midday, I started this new adventure which will take me to Croatia, Germany, France, Switzerland, England and Wales over the next 9 weeks (whew!).  I was particularly excited to have Croatia as part of this itinerary because it is a country I have never seen before and I have heard such great things about it.

While we were waiting for our flight to Frankfurt, we ended up talking to a guy who, as it turned out, was originally Croatian.  So, we got a little insight into the country even before we left Vancouver.  We had asked him to take a photo of us - and we blame him for the way it looks!  The subject matter has nothing to do with it!

Our flights went well even our 4 hour layover in Frankfurt.  Because Linda was flying business class, she had access to the Lufthansa Lounge and, thankfully, because I was a premium economy passenger, I was able to use the lounge for a fee - 25 Euros.  The guy at the front was very nice, however, and gave me access to the lounge at no charge.  Well, that was remarkable:  a German breaking a rule!!

We arrived in Dubrovnik around 5:30 pm, were through Passport Control in minutes, and then met by our driver for the 30 minute ride to Lapad, the part of Dubrovnik where our "home" will be for the next week.  Lapad is about 4 or 5 kilometers from the Old Town but there are buses which run regularly so access won't be a problem.  Our first impressions of the country and city were all positive.  The countryside looks a lot what I imagine Greece to look like - rocky terrain, scrub vegetation, and pinky white stone buildings - marble maybe?  Our apartment overlooks the new harbour and has lovely views - which I am sure would be even more impressive on a sunny day.  It appears we brought some of our ugly west coast spring weather with us as it is cloudy with rain in the forecast.  Anyway, the apartment is perfect and we are hoping to enjoy the balcony at some point!

View from our balcony

We don't look too bad considering we'd been up more that 27 hours at this point!

Once we had a brief rest, we decided to go out for some dinner.  Iris (the proprietor) had suggested a place nearby called Orsan.  Because we are in a basically residential area, I was expecting a small, casual restaurant - nothing special - which would tide us over until we got organized tomorrow.  We walked down the hill - which isn't bad considering some of those ones in Villefranche sur Mer - to what turned out to be a lovely little restaurant right on the water's edge.  The tables were set up outside and we got one close to the water where we enjoyed our dinner.  Linda ordered the seafood platter which was huge.  The air was a bit cool but the waiters provided blankets for anyone feeling chilly and the service was great.  We are off to a good start! 

So, for the next 7 days we will explore this area.  Our focus will mainly be on Dubrovnik but we are planning to do a couple of day trips outside of here to Mostar in Bosnia and Kotor in Montenegro.  Now, would that drizzle stop, please!!