Oscar's Place
After the open coastal road, the streets are far busier and I've no idea where to go, but fortunately the one-way system actually helps as by accident we emerge at Dubrovnik Gruz (harbour) without any sense of location but spy the Budget Car Hire offices nearby. After parting, sadly, with Twiggy, I need to to find non-mobile accommodation and set off towards the centre. 47 steps later, perhaps 48, I hear a voice 'Hello!', and shuffling, a door opens in the wall and a stocky guy, jeans and bomber jacket, emerges, "do you need somewhere to stay?", "yeah I'm looking for a hostel", "just wait a minute I'll get my friend..." Inside there's a small courtyard with apple blossom trees (I think) and an apartment, with a homely bedroom, welcome to Oscar's Place, I think I'm gonna like it here...
Oscar is the owner, a really friendly guy sporting 'Police' sunglasses and his pal Sanil was the 'doorman'. I'm wondering how he spotted me but it becomes clear as they show me the roof terrace overlooking the street and has a fantastic view of the harbour. It's early afternoon and time to "take a coffee". We're driven in Oscar's older model BMW to Lapad, a relaxed part of town with plenty of coffee-shops, and fashionably-dressed, sunsplashed young people attempting to look cool without trying. Here Oscar explains the equip...
The 'Equip' - is basically a group of friends who always hang-out together and look out for each other. Despite appearances, Sanil explains the average income here is around 3,000 kuna, (274 pounds) so these social kinship networks are important. Their Equip includes as its core, Oscar and his younger brother Mario, Sanil, Marky, Perica, and Oscar's girlfriend Anna-Marie, (ages 21-30). We would like to have more girls says Oscar earnestly!
Walls
In the evening I'm invited to join them in the Old Town, a walled city which is Dubrovnik's prime tourist attraction and rightly so. There's a small bar outside the west-facing wall, and Oscar, perhaps betraying his romantic side, engineers to show me just as the sun is setting on the horizon, "this is a good place to bring someone special" he winks, it's hard to disagree.
Marky advises to get up early and walk the walls as this is the best time to experience the old town. Next morning, after waking up and washing the pots from last night's pasta meal, which gives me a warm-sense of home (don't know why, it wasn't erm the most frequently undertaken task, sorry Dave!), I set off in a cheerful mood to explore. It's a gorgeous day, 9am and about 22 degrees, only me and a couple of guys using taking measurements of the walls. There's a spot where staring out across the sea the sun glitters on the waves creating a mirage golden highway towards a nearby Emerald Island, I'm humming "follow the yellow brick road" to myself for the next few minutes.
After the open coastal road, the streets are far busier and I've no idea where to go, but fortunately the one-way system actually helps as by accident we emerge at Dubrovnik Gruz (harbour) without any sense of location but spy the Budget Car Hire offices nearby. After parting, sadly, with Twiggy, I need to to find non-mobile accommodation and set off towards the centre. 47 steps later, perhaps 48, I hear a voice 'Hello!', and shuffling, a door opens in the wall and a stocky guy, jeans and bomber jacket, emerges, "do you need somewhere to stay?", "yeah I'm looking for a hostel", "just wait a minute I'll get my friend..." Inside there's a small courtyard with apple blossom trees (I think) and an apartment, with a homely bedroom, welcome to Oscar's Place, I think I'm gonna like it here...
Oscar is the owner, a really friendly guy sporting 'Police' sunglasses and his pal Sanil was the 'doorman'. I'm wondering how he spotted me but it becomes clear as they show me the roof terrace overlooking the street and has a fantastic view of the harbour. It's early afternoon and time to "take a coffee". We're driven in Oscar's older model BMW to Lapad, a relaxed part of town with plenty of coffee-shops, and fashionably-dressed, sunsplashed young people attempting to look cool without trying. Here Oscar explains the equip...
The 'Equip' - is basically a group of friends who always hang-out together and look out for each other. Despite appearances, Sanil explains the average income here is around 3,000 kuna, (274 pounds) so these social kinship networks are important. Their Equip includes as its core, Oscar and his younger brother Mario, Sanil, Marky, Perica, and Oscar's girlfriend Anna-Marie, (ages 21-30). We would like to have more girls says Oscar earnestly!
Walls
In the evening I'm invited to join them in the Old Town, a walled city which is Dubrovnik's prime tourist attraction and rightly so. There's a small bar outside the west-facing wall, and Oscar, perhaps betraying his romantic side, engineers to show me just as the sun is setting on the horizon, "this is a good place to bring someone special" he winks, it's hard to disagree.
Marky advises to get up early and walk the walls as this is the best time to experience the old town. Next morning, after waking up and washing the pots from last night's pasta meal, which gives me a warm-sense of home (don't know why, it wasn't erm the most frequently undertaken task, sorry Dave!), I set off in a cheerful mood to explore. It's a gorgeous day, 9am and about 22 degrees, only me and a couple of guys using taking measurements of the walls. There's a spot where staring out across the sea the sun glitters on the waves creating a mirage golden highway towards a nearby Emerald Island, I'm humming "follow the yellow brick road" to myself for the next few minutes. Pasta Pals
In the evening, the equip are round and it's Sanil's turn to show his flair for cooking with a delicious carbonara dish and a chicken pate and fresh bread hors d'oeuvre (which he can't claim credit for, it was out of a tin, but still tasty!) The conversation shifts between Croation and English and in the background 'Robin Hood Men in Tights' is showing on TV with Croatian subtitles, from which I'm discretely trying to learn some phrases, it doesn't really work although I do recognise 'znam' meaning 'I know'.... "znam..., znam...., znam.............. oooh znam" if you know then why's she bloody well bother telling you... you're right Basil it works better in English!
Good morning sunshine!
It's the low-season and this loosely translates into Oscar and Anna-Marie waking up at midday. I'm up at 8am and on the roof terrace, a chance to relax in the sun, play guitar, write my journal, and read a Misha Glenny's book on 'The Fall of Yugoslavia'. Hours pass without noticing and around noon a bed-headed Oscar emerges. I pass him a freshly made Mancunian cappuccino, a Mancuccino - nescafe (urgh!) with whisked milk and lots of sugar, I'm on about my 4th and feeling tingly!
Baby you can drive my car...
It's a unique experience, one which I'm betting very few visitors to Dubrovnik have, cruising round the town early evening, in a BMW, borrowed sunglasses, windows down, a sound-sensitive ultra-violet light flashing rhythmically to Europop medley remixes of Abba, Elvis and the Beatles, at decibels to turn heads... "I'm all shook-up, I-I-I'm all shook up, uh-huh-huh!"
Landmine landscape
We swop the BMW for Marky's pride and joy, a Citroen convertible modelled on the VW Beatle, and together with Oscar and Mishu drive up to the cenotaph monument overlooking the old town. Mishu guides us to a spot where you can get a terrific view of the city and islands in the distance but warns mischievously to be careful where you tread as there are scattered landmines everywhere, remnants of the war. It's only after watching him skip across the fields and pointing out in fake alarm "there's one!" that I realise he's referring to cowpats!
In the evening, the equip are round and it's Sanil's turn to show his flair for cooking with a delicious carbonara dish and a chicken pate and fresh bread hors d'oeuvre (which he can't claim credit for, it was out of a tin, but still tasty!) The conversation shifts between Croation and English and in the background 'Robin Hood Men in Tights' is showing on TV with Croatian subtitles, from which I'm discretely trying to learn some phrases, it doesn't really work although I do recognise 'znam' meaning 'I know'.... "znam..., znam...., znam.............. oooh znam" if you know then why's she bloody well bother telling you... you're right Basil it works better in English!Good morning sunshine!
It's the low-season and this loosely translates into Oscar and Anna-Marie waking up at midday. I'm up at 8am and on the roof terrace, a chance to relax in the sun, play guitar, write my journal, and read a Misha Glenny's book on 'The Fall of Yugoslavia'. Hours pass without noticing and around noon a bed-headed Oscar emerges. I pass him a freshly made Mancunian cappuccino, a Mancuccino - nescafe (urgh!) with whisked milk and lots of sugar, I'm on about my 4th and feeling tingly!
Baby you can drive my car...
It's a unique experience, one which I'm betting very few visitors to Dubrovnik have, cruising round the town early evening, in a BMW, borrowed sunglasses, windows down, a sound-sensitive ultra-violet light flashing rhythmically to Europop medley remixes of Abba, Elvis and the Beatles, at decibels to turn heads... "I'm all shook-up, I-I-I'm all shook up, uh-huh-huh!"
Landmine landscape
We swop the BMW for Marky's pride and joy, a Citroen convertible modelled on the VW Beatle, and together with Oscar and Mishu drive up to the cenotaph monument overlooking the old town. Mishu guides us to a spot where you can get a terrific view of the city and islands in the distance but warns mischievously to be careful where you tread as there are scattered landmines everywhere, remnants of the war. It's only after watching him skip across the fields and pointing out in fake alarm "there's one!" that I realise he's referring to cowpats!
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