Day 1 - Early Mornings, Red History and a Statue of a Man

It was up early today, or rather up late since neither Mum nor I went to bed last night. We were being picked up to be driven to Gatwick at 1:10am – who on earth invented that ugly hour!!  The journey to Gatwick passed with Mum and I cat-napping in the back of the car which was one of those fancy Teslas. Mum was really intrigued by the sat nav (on a large screen) especially since it showed the traffic we passed and the traffic that passed us.

We arrived in Gatwick around half four in the morning. After getting checked in and through security we arrived in the departure lounge where we got seats whilst we waited the hour or so for our gate to be shown on the departure boards. I’ve not much to say about Gatwick, neither Mum nor I had travelled from here before, but it was much like other UK airports – nothing like the airport at Singapore!!

We all got onto our flight on time only to be delayed by that old British tradition - a queue. However, we were up and away by 8am. Although it was misty, and none too inviting on the ground, once we had cleared the cloud level it was blue sky, sun and fluffy clouds! The view as we crossed the Alps was lovely – all the jaggedy peaks, deep v-shaped and u-shaped valleys – I even saw snow! Though it was a bit dirty.

We arrived in Dubrovnik just after 11am local time and it was a quick march to the passport checks and baggage reclaim, with a stop to the toilets on the way. As usual, our suitcases seemed to be amongst the last off the flight – I blame Tigger and Polar. It’s their jumping around that’s moving the suitcase. After we finally got our suitcases, we met our “meet-and-greet-er” and got on the taxi to the yacht.

There were 5 other guests who arrived on our flight – one from near Perth in Scotland, two from near London and two from Melbourne (who had been visiting the couple from London).

Dubrovnik airport is about 16km from the town of Dubrovnik and the route took us round the hills above the coast. The countryside is very different from the UK – rocky arid outcrops interspersed with small trees and bushes. As we approached Dubrovnik we had some wonderful views of the old town with the walls and fort.

Approaching Dubrovnik

We weren’t allowed to board the yacht until 16:00. However, the taxi driver asked if we could store our bags on board and we were allowed to do so. This was really fortunate as it was very, very hot and lugging around heavy suitcases for the next 4hrs was decidedly unappealing!

Once our luggage was stored away we, and the others who had arrived on the same flight, decided to go to a local restaurant, once again kindly recommended by our taxi driver, for lunch. The restaurant, Restoran Zrinski, had a nice outside terrace which had a slight breeze. Mum and I had a chicken sandwich which was amongst one of the nicest I’ve had. The bread was lovely. After lunch the group split up and Mum and I headed out to explore a bit more on our own.

The yacht is moored in Luka Gruz (Port Gruz) which we thought was a bit far from the old town to walk, especially in the day’s heat! Luckily Google, the fount of all knowledge, came to our aid and we found a museum just around the corner from the restaurant.

The Red History Museum was founded in 2018 and aims to “explore, valorise and emphasize social, design, architectural, artistic heritage and political and economical system from the period of socialism in Croatia as well as its interpretation in the contemporary context through temporary exhibitions”. It is located in the ground floor of the former ‘TUP’ graphite products factory, a factory that was kept alive by its workers until there was no longer the high demand for graphite, when they sold the factory and retired (which I thought was quite a nice story).

It was an interesting museum, especially as it gave a bit of historical context to where we are. For a small museum it was really good with interactive displays and lot of information. There was even a VR tour of the TUP factory! There was a temporary exhibit of Cuban posters and a small café out the back of the museum.

Mum and I didn’t take a lot of it in unfortunately, just too tired. We had been up for over 24hrs! We sat in the café for a while before deciding that it was time to make our way back to the yacht. When we stepped out of the museum, which did have lots of air fans going but was still a bit stuffy, there was a lovely, lovely breeze!

Mum and I meandered back to the ship, going through a wee park opposite and admiring a wooden block statue of a man sitting on one of the benches.

Statue

By the time we arrived back at the yacht they were letting people on board so we went and got settled into our cabin. Before we got there however we got told the news….the air con had broken the night before. HORROR!!! We were assured that the repair men were onboard and working to fix it.

After refreshing in our cabin (a cold wash never felt so good!) we returned to the lounge and got drinks before going upstairs to the lounge deck as we were told that it was cooler up there. It was…slighty, but there was a nice breeze.

Just before dinner, which was scheduled after the safety briefing at 7pm, we were asked to move as they were setting up the lounge deck so that we could have dinner up there. So mum and I went downstairs to sit on the seating at the stern of the yacht just outside the inside lounge.

At 7pm we had a safety briefing that was preceded by champagne, canapes and a red rose each for the ladies – what a nice gesture! And now I know why there was a small vase in our cabin!

Dinner was at 7:30pm. That’s the one main downside of these trips – they have dinner so late! I’m usually finished eating and dishes washed by then. It was a nice dinner, grilled halloumi followed by duck and orange sauce followed by poppy seed cake. I had never had halloumi before but I’ll definitely consider having it again in the future. And I love duck.

After dinner it was time for bed – and about time too! By this time Mum and I had been awake for 36hrs!