The Dude Abides

We left Dubrovnik by bus yesterday with our dirty laundry in tow (the laundry mat that we found was actually a full service cleaner and they were unable to wash all of our clothes before we needed to leave). The bus traveled along a (I know i've been using this word alot but it's the best way to describe this place) beautiful coastal road that would occaisionally dip into the mountains and around pine covered slopes interrupted by small vineyards and olive groves. We arrived in an ldylic little seaside town and the entire bus got on a ferry for the short trip to Korcula.

When we arrived in Korcula there were, once again, a gaggle of locals offering sobe (rooms). We approached one lady who showed us a picture of the island and said "my house, center". After the many arduous 25 minute walks down (and especially UP) the steps and hills in Dubrovnik, I was a little skeptical. I think I asked her if it was actually IN the center about 10 times. Finally she said "come, I show you". I decided that if she took us to a car we would say no thanks (partly becuase a car ride means a long walk and partly because this lady was about 85 years old). But thankfully, there was no car. She walked with us into the old town where she handed us off to a guy (i'm guessing her son) who walked us the remaining 200 or so yards to the house. The room cost us about 40 kn (around $7) more per night than in Dubrovnik but it is 100 times better. The rooms are modern and each has it's own bathroom and shower, and the front door of the house opens onto a cafe lined promenade that looks out over the Adriatic and a few small islands off the tip of Korcula.

The view from the door of the house where we are staying.


After unloading our bags and paying for the room we headed onto the promenade and found a place to eat at one of the cafes and watched the Sweden Paraguay world cup game on one of the many flat screen TVs attached to the outside walls of the restaruants. During dinner a scrawny black cat approached the tables in the area where we were sitting. He would walk up to a table, and sit (very statuesquely) at the foot of the diner and stare directly at him for several minutes. If the diner succumbed and dropped him a bit of meat he would almost shiver with excitement as he ate it. After a while at one table he would very methodically mvoe to the next table and repeat the performance. When he arrived at our table he climbed up on the ledge overlooking the sea so he was at eye level with us, and stared. Honestly, we were a little scared that he might pounce on us, so after about 10 minutes of staring we gave him a small piece of steak. Not one to overstay his welcome, he moved on to the next table shortly thereafter.

Shortly after the cat incident, all of the TVs turned off and we heard chanting followed by a long religious procession which contained about 50 men carrying crosses, candles, and relics of different sizes. Behind them marched a dozen or so nuns interspersed with children carrying flowers, and finally the priest walking under a canopy held up by four men and preceded by an insense bearer. He held up a gold bejeweled monstrace with a communion host inside. The priest was followed by a procession of locals in normal dress. After the procession passed the TVs came back on and the happy chatter once again filled the warm breezy air.

Our original plan was for to Korcula to be a quick one night stopover on our way to split, but the place is so "chill" that we decided we wanted to extend our stay (from one night to three). It's the kind of place where it would be perfectly acceptable to spend and entire day sitting in the sun at one of the cafes along the waterfront and take in some white russians (albeit far more likely a litre of the local wine)... And that's not far from how we spent our day today.

We woke up early and asked around until we found a laundry service - we were determined to get our clothes washed after our unsuccessful attempt in Dubrovnik. The woman informed us that it would take four hours to wash and dry our clothes, so we dropped them off, and headed to the internet cafe for some adminsitrative work (checking ferry times, etc). After than we picked up some fruit (the strawberries here are fantastic) and sat down at one of the cafes on the promenade for coffee and breakfast. I think this is the first actual (by american standards) breakfast we've had so far on this trip. We both had an omlet made with the local cheese and smoked ham (which is really more of a cross between what we would consider ham and bacon). After breakfast we played a couple games of chess at our table then strolled around town and snapped a few pictures.

A few shots from around Korčula:


We picked up our laundry at 2:00, and then went back to a different cafe for lunch (really good pizza - second only to the stuff we had with Antonella and Giacamo in Piedimonte Matese), a few beers and a few more games of chess. Around 4:00 pm we picked up a taxi boat to the other side of the island for some sunbathing on the rocks (pretty similar to how Lokrum is set up). Picked up the 6 o'clock taxi back to Korčula town which brings us up to the minute. We need to meet with Zola at 7:00 to pay him for our two additional nights then it will most likely be back to a cafe for some wine, dinner, and world cup soccer.

P.S. Sam, this is one is just for you: "Stuff On My Brother".