The Colours of the Adriatic

People say that the Adriatic Sea has a certain colour about it and stands out ... definitely it is clean and crystal clear (thanks to the current, which goes anti-clockwise and any "pollution" ends up on the east coast of Italy!).

Calamari Season

Out at sea you can now see lots of little boats bobbing around, many staying overnight and shining strong lights into the water. This indicates it is calamari season. Brits don't tend to eat "squid" but I love it. Edin has been asked by his friends to go out overnight, but he can think of nothing more boring than staying out in the cold night air, with a rod, waiting in silence (even though there are a few cases of beers onboard). Our friend today gave us half a kilo of his last night's catch. Edin spent 50 minutes gutting the calamari ... great, there was black ink all over the kitchen! After the preparation, dipped in a little flour and fried ... delicious!

Perfect October day

Can the weather be more perfect than this? For 29th October our Dubrovnik weather is glorious with warm fresh air and sparkling seas. The Adriatic is certainly the place to be during Autumn and days like this. Ana (in photo) who is our Croatian/Australian colleague celebrates her 21st birthday today - so pink champagne all round.

Cunard ship in town

We got a great view of the MS Queen Victoria this morning coming into Gruz Harbour, as we drove along the highway to work. Stopping at a good vantage point we saw her sweep easily into the dock. Fantastic October autumn day, so the passengers and crew will surely have an excellent day exploring Dubrovnik's Old Town. As Edin knows some Croatian crew (formerly of QE2, Dynasty and Princess) he was off to meet his old mates for coffee! Cunard's red funnel and waterline stripe does set their ships apart from the other cruisers.

We await the arrival of Queen Elizabeth in the coming days. At 92,000 gross tons she is larger than the Queen Victoria, so hope she is able to dock too rather than be at anchor.

Multi-coloured Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik had an outdoor showing of the film Invictus this summer, with a visit by Morgan Freeman who brushed past me after making a speech. To watch the film in the open air with the Old Town as the backdrop was amazing. This year's spotlights on the ancient stones was very colourful and ingenious.

Memories of Dubrovnik in the summer

Good to see these photos with the swarms of tourists around the Old Town ... before the autumn truly sets in and less people are around. The cruise ships are still arriving, though less in numbers. I believe MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Co.) will be having a ship visiting the town every week on its way from Venice over the winter, which will be good for tourism.

Agro-tourism restaurant in the mountains

We had an excellent meal last night up in the mountains ... at an agro-tourism restaurant. Very authentic and run by the owners who prepared an excellent meal of lamb under the bell ...
We were greeted by the owners wearing traditional Croatian costume ...
The meal of lamb and potatoes is cooked under "a bell" surrounded by hot ashes for approx 3 hours. Delicious!
Care and attention throughout with the restoration of the mill ...
Starting the evening with a grappa, cherry liqueur or my favourite "Orahavica" which is walnut liqueuer. Fresh figs, sugared orange peel and sugared almonds. All drink made on the premises and all food either homemade or locally sourced.
Not a vat of red wine which I originally thought, but a vat of liquid fermenting for making the liqueurs .... slowly bubbling ...
The shed had an assortment of barrels of wine
More barrels and wine bottles ...
The restaurant with old black and white family photos, adding to the nostalgia of the area.
The bar
Modern vats of wine ... with the friendly cat
The cat followed us everywhere
Following a full meal of prosciutto ham, cheese, lamb potatoes, cod risotto, sardines, salad, rozata (like an egg custard desert) and copious homemade wine ... it was time for dancing
Jelka the owner has won an award for being one of the best Croatian business women ... she certainly has the flair for being a great hostess and entertainer for our small group.

More information and photos on this restaurant see here

Where I would like to be now

I took these images a couple of weeks ago ..... crystal clear waters of the swimming pool with the Adriatic and the islands behind ...... very tempting now to look at the photos, on this drizzly day.

Autumn Sunset

Autumn is my favourite time of year especially on clear crisp days with azure blue skies during the day and gorgeous multi-coloured sunsets leading into twilight.

Last week in Dubrovnik!

It's hard to believe that these summer-like photos were taken (by very talented Angeline Vincent!) only last week here in Dubrovnik. I say this as we endure strong north winds and rain now. Amazing how the weather can change. I firmly believe the weather will improve again ... it has to ... one of my colleagues insists she will go swimming again before the year is out ...