Today the sun shone all day but overnight there was a very strong wind, this is called the Bora and it marks the end of summer.
Up until now the sea has been incredibly clear but the wind has churned up the sea bed making the water cloudy but more importantly it also mixes the cold water from the bottom with the warm at the top so in the space of a day the seawater temperature for swimming drops considerably.
Yesterday I was complaining about having to climb 131 steps at least twice a day to get to our hotel but today the exercise paid off.
We hired a car and drove up the coast admiring all the little fishing villages and beautiful scenery to a town called Ston, another mediaeval walled city but in this case the walls were rather more spectacular.
When we arrived Gill, quite rightly, said “I’m not climbing up there” but after we passed through the entrance gate and paid our £8 each entry we realised climbing the walls was all that was on offer. Not wishing to waste £8 off we went. It was a very steep climb but the views were worth it and I am sure the exercise did us good apart from the wear and tear on our knees.
Before we set off I thought I had managed to pay for two hours in the car park with my credit card, 16 kn which is about £1.80. Half way round we met an English couple who were moaning about having to pay £20 for the car park!
This worried me as the car hire office had warned us to pay as the local attendants were a bit keen. Had I paid for two minutes perhaps? We hurriedly finished the walls and rushed back to the car to find it had not been towed away or had a fine attached for the windscreen. In the end we think the other English couple had managed to pay the parking fee for a coach!
We also visited a museum about the 1991 – 95 war and got some spectacular views Dubrovnik but I will save them for later in the week when we revisit the city.
Below is a picture of the castle in Ston, a proper castle, the sort I drew as a child.
Tomorrow we are in for a bit of an adventure, details in our next blog.