Grand Hotel Park, Dubrovnik, Croatia

(Ed. At some point the links to the pictures in this post got broken. Rather than trying to remember which picture went where, go to the Dubrovnik Photo Gallery to see all the photos I took in Dubrovnik)

On Friday the agenda was for a 7:00am wakeup call, with the group leaving around 8:15 and heading to Korcula. There would be a brief tour of the town, followed by the group going to see Vela Luca, another dance group that apparently performs with knives. The kids would be performing around 9:00pm, and everyone would then have to high tail it in order to make it in time for the boat back. Best case we’d be back by 2:00am.

Since everyone told me that if they had the choice they wouldn’t go, I decided to stay back in Dubrovnik, and attempt something I’d had my eye on since I’d seen it on The Amazing Race: going to the cross high on the hill above Dubrovnik. The plan was to take a picture from there, with the old city in the background, for my Christmas picture. I was really looking forward to being lazy like everyone else and picking a picture as a Christmas card instead of doing each one myself.

The problem was getting there: our bus driver was with the group so I was on my own. I went to the front desk this morning and asked the not unattractive lady the best way, and she told me to take the number six bus to old town. She said walking to the top was pretty difficult, but I could take a bus to the top of hill and then walk down if I had to. Unfortunately, there are only two buses that go up there, at 11:30 and 5-something, and there was no way to make the early bus in time.

As I was leaving I ran in to another couple that stayed back - I think the three of us were the only ones that stayed - and they were going to old town too so we decided to take the bus together. We both had a map to the bus, so no problem, right? Well, maps are extremely useful in most cases, but they tend to be less so when the city doesn’t have any actual street signs. By the time we found the bus stop we had probably walked about a mile, and when it was all said and done it had taken us an hour to get to old town.

Once we got there Greg and Cheryl decided it was too hot to walked around the wall (that was their plan), so they decided to stop and get something to drink and cool off. I grabbed a large water, put a small water in my camera bag and looked up. Somehow I had to get from here to there on my own two feet:

I looked around, saw a stairwell (you can see it in the pic above) and just started walking.

Every time I’d get to the top of a stairwell there would be another one.

Sometimes it was kind of hidden.

I tried the one on the left first and it went to someone's residence, so I tried the one on the right and sure enough, it led to another stairwell

At one point I was walking down an alley and came across a terrace just kind of sitting there, hidden amongst the homes on the hill, so I stopped to take a couple of pictures (and cool down and catch my breath):

Eventually a stairway ended in a driveway, which when I walked up it was on a highway. Looking across the highway I happened to notice an unmarked trail that led in to the woods, so not knowing any better I decided to check it out.

It was really, really rocky, with hard red clay. Very hard to walk on it, but it went up so I thought I’d just keep going until I couldn’t go any more either because of fatigue or because the trail ended.

Part-way along I thought this might not be such a great idea since I had no idea where I was, if there were animals to worry about, etc., but after stopping for a while I just decided “Hey, I may never be here again, and if I am it’s very unlikely I’d be able to even think about doing something like this, so go for it.” So I kept on walking with no idea where I was headed.

As I got close to the tree line I came across another person heading back down the trail, the only person I saw here the entire day. It was a Japanese tourist. We stopped, and I asked him if this trail went to the top. He shook his head and said “One kilometer”, which I think meant that either it was one kilometer to the top, or he had to stop one kilometer from the top. I asked him again, and he just repeated it, and then smiled and said “Very hot”. I smiled and said “Yes, very hot” and wished him well.

Just a few feet after I passed him I came across what I thought was a memorial for someone that had died or something.

Then, just above the treeline, another one, this one with “II” on it. At that point I figured it out: these were stations of the cross. They had to be connected to the big one on top, so I must be on the right trail! Here's the fourth station, and you can see at least one other cross higher up on the hill to the left, as well as the main cross up at the top. Getting closer...

I wish I could say that I made it to the top, but I had to stop. Once you got above the tree line it got much hotter in the direct sun and I was running out of water. Worst of all I was getting a blister on my foot, and with two more weeks left and a lot of walking to do I didn’t think it would be wise to make it even worse.

As I was trying to talk myself in to going to the top I hit the switch back between stations four and five. There was a steep drop off, but there was also a little flat area, and a great backdrop. I set up my tripod, put it on self-timer, and got my Christmas picture.

(BTW, in case you didn't know, you can click on the pictures to see a larger version)

No, you can’t see it - that would spoil the surprise. But for those of you that get a card from me, remember when you see it that I’m baking in the sun, my clothes are completely soaked through with sweat and I’m completely wiped out from carrying all that equipment on my back. So that’s why I’m not smiling. I’m definitely happy though.

Once I took the picture it seemed to get cooler and I just stopped there for a while to soak in the view. I also took a picture of the cross at the top of the hill. I thought about making the title of this post “Paul Fails The First Time” in honor of the stations of the cross, but I don’t really think I failed. I did something not many people would do and got pretty darned close. And how can you look down from there and not be thrilled at having made it that far and being there at all?

I did get close though:

I packed my bag, walked all the way back down and got back on the bus. I missed my stop and had to back track (the driver just laughed and said “Vait ten minute” and let me get back on for free), and when I got off the bus I saw the entrance to a promenade about twenty yards away. Turns out we went the wrong way in the morning; I walked down there about a block and was at the entrance to my hotel.

I wasn’t upset though. I was actually pretty happy.