We're Off & Running

The only downside to our Jet 2 flight was that it left from Manchester and not our favoured departure point of Leeds Bradford airport, a mere 20 minutes from home.  The problem was overcome though with a decision to stay overnight on airport in Manchester and with the kind assistance of our very own Uber, son Richard, we arrived in time to enjoy a pre-bed snifter which didn't actually get the holiday off to the best of starts!
Our hotel choice, the Radisson Blu, is very nice but still being a naive 65 year old, I wasn't expecting the bill for a small beer and a similar small glass of wine to be £19.70!  They did sucker me because actually, they served the opposite of what I asked for in the form of a large glass of each and I didn't have the balls to complain.  I have genuinely become more grumpy as I have aged and am not particularly backwards in coming forward but on this occasion, I let it ride. 
The beer did help me to sleep though and early morning, bang on time, we lifted off into the wide blue yonder on what looked like a very new Boeing 737 for the perfect flight to Dubrovnik.  I said previously that I liked Jet 2 and having commented in a previous Blog regarding South West Airlines in the USA, I do feel that they model themselves very successfully on this highly regarded American company.  The crew make you feel happy to be on board and that almost certainly guarantees you a great start to your holiday.  If only Avis had filled me with similar Joie de vivre!
I had booked the hire car through BA, paid the required price including an extra £50 to drop the car off in Zagreb and thought that was that. "No sir" they said, "if you intend driving into Bosnia Herzegovina, you will require a Green Card and that will be an additional 80 Euros." 
"Bloody hell" I retorted, "I want to drive through it not buy it!" I am classed as an Avis Preferred Plus customer.  For any of you reading this, a customer of Avis branded in this way is supposed to be very special.  Special?  You must be kidding me.
It's a bummer really because heading from Dubrovnik to the rest of Croatia, you have to pass through a 5-10 minute section of Bosnia which splits the country in order that they, Bosnia, could maintain a connection to the sea!  It's a money making scam I reckon but if I wanted to take my upgraded Avis car, this fee could not be avoided and so I agreed and off we went.  I really am getting very soft in my old age.
Immediately, Croatia strikes you as being beautiful although it does help when you are driving along a dramatic coastline with dazzling waters on one side, stunning mountains on the other and the clearest of clear blue skies.  Happiness is and this was compounded when we reached our accommodation to be met by the lovely Ivana and Gigo.  We struck lucky once again with our Airbnb hosts.
The perfect location.  It's all downhill and only 15 minutes to the historic walled Old Town Dubrovnik.  Getting back up the hill is easy with the use of Uber.  Very cheap as well despite the high cost of fuel here.
Before heading into the Old Town, we did a mini detour to take the cable car to the top of the mountain which overlooks the City and it very quickly became evident just how busy this relatively small place is when we saw the queue!  Worth it mind you, to get this spectacular view of the City.
Your return ticket price of 150 Kuna - approximately £17.50 - is just that, there and back and it was unfortunate that when we returned to base camp, we discovered that we had missed visiting the museum which detailed everything about the conflict of the early 1990s which saw Dubrovnik being bombed!  No way was I paying another £35 to return to the top and instead suggested that Google might provide some of the information.
It was a brief visit late in the day to the Old Town and boy oh boy was it busy.  However, this was nothing compared to the experience awaiting us on Wednesday and so more of that in my next post.
Some photos attached to provide a pictorial record of the day.

Our Transport to Dubrovnik

Old Town Dubrovnik 

Just to Prove We Are Here

Main Street in Old Town

A Nice Place to Dine

Nice Pizza as Well

Let's Try Again!

For anybody who has been an unfortunate party to my musings over the years, you might well remember a Blog called Croatia or Bust.  It was written in 2014, in fact September of that year, the same as this new Blog and if you want to refresh your memory as to exactly what happened, then have a look at https://coysinthecaravan.blogspot.com
In fact what did happen and despite Croatia being featured in the title, we never actually set foot in the country!  That was entirely down to a site warden in Salzburg taking a very deep breath, shaking his head and saying in his best English, "I wouldn't if I were you" when I answered his initial question, "where are you heading?"
We had long promised ourselves a caravan holiday in Croatia and Slovenia but 2014 just happened to be the year when these two countries experienced the worst rain and flooding for a century and so instead of going south, we took a right turn into Italy, ultimately arriving in France where we basked in glorious sunshine for the rest of that particular trip.

And so it has taken another 4 years before trying again and even this has only come about due to the disastrous hurricane that has decimated both North and South Carolina in the USA!  Yep, we were planning to cross the pond to add another couple of States in our quest to have set foot in all 50 but that plan is going on the back burner, at least for another year.

So at the last minute, the choice was Croatia and a decision on how best to organise getting there and back had to be made.  It was fairly easy really with the slight difficulty of flying into Dubrovnik but then coming home from Zagreb which via our planned route was some 800km to the north!

Easy.  No not that airline but Yorkshire's very own and may I say, excellent Jet 2 to Dubrovnik and then British Airways back to Leeds Bradford airport via London Heathrow.  Sorted and booked and the only thing remaining was to find somewhere to stay.  A side note to the flights was just how cheap our one-way excursion to Dubrovnik was on Jet 2.  Coming back with them was nearly four times as much!

Back to accommodation.  A click on one of my new favourite Apps, Airbnb, which to date has proved a real winner in our travels and most of our beds for the night were fixed.  It is unusual for us to work to a set itinerary but we decided that on this occasion it was the right thing to do and so the plan is as follows: 

Dubrovnik - 3 Nights

Korcula - 3 Nights

Split - 2 Nights

Zadar - 2 Nights

Plitvice - 2 Nights

Zagreb - 1 Night

I might has well have called this a whistle stop tour of Croatia because 13 nights is almost certainly not enough to discover everything this country has to offer and I will reflect on this at the end of our journey.

Enough for Blog Post 1.  No photos but this will change in the next update.

Incidentally, if anybody has any questions regarding Car Hire, Airbnb, flights or anything else, please leave a comment and I will try and answer it.