Dubrovnik

We booked a one bedroomed apartment with private bathroom and a terrace. What we were shown was a bedroom (scruffy with watermarks running down the walls). A hallway with a washing machine (I know am usually I am jumping for joy at this, but this machine is piling high with dirty laundry). A shower room I would not wash a dog in. And a seperate toilet room (seat up) with a stained and damp looking mat. `perfectly clean` our host kept saying. Then he could hold back no longer! I said its not what we booked. Wham!! Light blue touch paper and retire immediately. `I offered you nice apartment in old city, but no, you ring booking.com and cause trouble for me` He is right in my face, spittle flying. I explain my contract is with booking.com and of course I ring them for confirmation if there is a query. He then blamed booking.com saying he advertised it as an apartment and they made him downgrade it to a guesthouse. (Hostel is too nice a word!) He was aggressive and abusive. He offered me the room for 150 kuna (about £15) for one night and would speak to me in the morning. To get rid of him I gave him the money.

Once he was gone I rang booking.com again, explained what was happening, took a load of photos, had a closer look around. There was another room with bunk beds in, we could see four beds from the hallway but couldnt snoop further as the `wesidents` were there. These were not backpackers, they were working men. They might have been very nice guys but I wasnt prepared to find out.

We left. It is high season, Dubrovnik is a hot destination, but I would have slept rough rather than slept in that room. It was a hideous journey down to the edge of old town. Hundreds of stone steps. We found a bar with wifi, and sent the photos to booking.com, they agreed it was not suitable and did not comply with what we had booked. They sent us a list of available accomodation, I found one that looked nice and booked it.

How booking.com works is:

If you as a customer dont show up you will get charged. Depending on the arrangement the host has, it could be the total of the booking value or just the room tax.

If the property is not as described. The customer can be reallocated a suitable accomodation and the `host` foots the bill.

Obviously as a customer you need to have good reason to not accept the accomodation. You cant just say `I dont like it`. In our case it was simply not a one bedroom apartment and it had no private facilities.

I should not have given him 150 kuna, or at least should have got a reciept. But, given the circumstances, his aggression, his big friend, I was happy to lose it. You dont ask a rottweiler for his signature if he is likely to bite you.

So, here we are hot and sweating at the bottom of the hill in a bar with two large beers. The lovely barman tells us we are minutes away from our new room. Its an en suite room in a guest house in the heart of the old town. Beers drained we head off. I am feeling a bit faint, tiredness, stress, no food. Beer, heat and dealing with Mr Angry. But we soon find our `door`.

A quick call to our hostess and she is on her way, but says find somewhere for lunch or coffee and I will meet you there. Just so happens `Ponto` restaurant (michelin stars) in right by our door!!! So, like a pair of sweating vagabonds we are, we choose from the menu. Oh, come on, we deserve this!!!! Amazing lunch. Norman had scallops with asparagus, pea puree and potato mash. I had pasta with shrimps and truffles. Norman had an `old fashioned `and I had a `negroni`. Flawless. Bloody fabulous. Amazing.

Our hostess arrives. Glamorous! (I feel like a bit of tat thrown up on the tide!) She is so lovely, she knows all the waiters, she knows everything and everybody. We talk, explain what happended, show her the photos, she is horrified and angry. This sort of thing is a slur on the reputation of Dubrovnic! We even got an extra drink on the house from the restaurant.

While we finish our lunch, she personally takes our bags to our room.

Our room; on the top floor of an ancient building overlooking the main street down from the pile gate. This area is where it is all happening. Our room is an oasis of calm, beautifully decorated and furnished. The lady who furnished this has style and class. The ancient thick stone walls are pale blue, the huge bed has soft, smooth covers. The towels are soft and plump. This is all about comfort and indulgence but in an understated way. It is elegant, classy and not at all brash. There is a little fridge and corkscrew (I love this lady). Tea, coffee, soap, Air con` tv..........come on, this is heaven. Love it! Love it! Love it! The power sockets work. The shower is fantastic. On the deep windowsills of the landings are all the tourist maps and brochures you could want. Our host gave us a potted history lesson and a `5 things to see in Dubrovnik`, before she left us. Wow! I wish she hadnt seen me looking like an extra from `Les Miserables`!

Showered and refreshed, off we go to explore. Dubrovnik is stunning. Lots of steps, narrow little alleyways, tiny shops selling lovely things. We even found Dubrovniks own Christmas shop, oh how I desperately wanted to buy something, but we would have to post it home, would it survive the journey? There is a photo opportunity around every corner. It is very busy and when the cruise ships are in and regurgitate thier thousands of passengers it gets even busier. But its a nice kind of busy, perfect people watching place. Find a cafe (and there are plenty) and watch the world go by. Drink in the atmosphere.

Our hostess recommended we visit D`vinos. This is a fabulous celebration of all that is wine. The atmosphere is great, tucked away up a side alley you could easily walk past and not caste it a second glance. Inside it is cool and dark, bottles line the walls, comfy seating at the back and stools pulled up to barrels. Wine related items all around. We decide to have the Croatian wine tasting menu. Norman has the red, I have the white. Three glasses of each and our sommelier explained each one, what grape, the history, the region it is grown, the terroir, the climate and the taste we should be experiencing. This is great. They also serve tapas and we determine to go back as it looks great, sadly we ran out of time (another excuse to return!).

Our hostess also said to take the cable car up to the viewing point on the mountain. We can see the mountain from our room! It is extremely hot and more steps to climb to the lower boarding station. But, oh so worth it. Its like being a bird, the sea and sky blend as one in the distance, islands shimmer in the sea. But the view of the old city down below is truely breath taking. A jumble of terracotta roofs, church spires and city walls. I could watch the harbour for hours, little boats busy in and out, fishing, sightseeing vessels, all manner of small boats. And outside of the harbour jet skis doing mad crazy stunts leaving silver trails in their wake.

The mountain side is virtually vertical, rocks and shale with brave herbs and flowers anchored into impossible little cracks.

There is a restaurant and bar, and despite only wanting a beer, our waitress finds us a table with a view to die for. We drink it all in, including the beer. The beer is cold and the glass is covered in condesation. Memories of the film `Ice Cold In Alex` spring to mind. (Normans claim to fame is that he has driven the ambulance that was in that film - name of Katie). A lady came and sat at the next table, we exchanged pleasantries, she is travelling alone and its nice to share the moment with other people. Before you know it she has joined us at our table, more beers are ordered and we are chatting and laughing like we have known each other for years. Amy is a primary school teacher from London. She is full of life and fun. She too is going onto Albania, so we might get to meet her again there. I hope we will be seeing more of Amy. If you are reading this Amy, please mark me kindly for spelling and punctuation. Xx

Dubrovnik is not a cheap destination. Expect to pay a little bit more than, say, Split. But, wow, does it deliver. We tracked down a restaurant called Gatsby. Its a few alley ways back from our street. We started off with a few oysters, then I had beef cheeks cooked slowly in red wine with roasted veg and potato puree. Norman had lamb chops with roasted asparagus, garlic pureed potatoes and carrots. We didn`t want wine (what?) But opted for a cocktail before we ate, Norman had a rum old fashioned, I had an esperol spritz. Normally desserts just dont do it for me, but pannettone was chefs special of the day. With a puree of blueberries. I couldnt let chef down could I? The guy has taken trouble to make this. But our waiter gave us a beautifully presented coupe glass of something delicious, made with honey and alcohol, icy cold, very alcoholic. He refused to tell us what is was, just said old recipe, typically Croation. I usually shy away from local delicacies of an alcoholic nature, but this was very nice. I ended up sharing my panettone with Norman as he said he didnt want dessert. (Grrrr) But my half was lovely.

I loved Dubrovnik. I will forget about Mr Nasty. We had wonderful experiences that out weighed that unpleasant man. Every barrel has a rotten apple. Just hope he doesnt do it to a couple of youngsters too scared to stand up for themselves.

I couldnt get direct bus tickets to Budva (Montenegro) although they are advertised online. The bus station lady insisted we had to travel to Zotor, then catch a local bus to Budva. The station was hot, crowded and we had queued for ages with irritating backpackers trying to jump the queue because they were late for their bus. (Get up earlier guys, and dont pretend you dont speak English when you have been heard conversing perfectly well in the queens English).

Our bus leaves at 8.30am, so its early to bed for us.