No Regrets!

It was obvious as soon as we arrived that Dubrovnik is the most heavily touristed city in Croatia. Hordes of poorly dressed, camera-toting sightseers fill the old city, which has become even more popular in recent years as the setting for the popular TV show “Game of Thrones”.

Instead of taking a “Game of Thrones” walking tour or visiting any of the numerous Game of Throne souvenir shops, I settled for a walk along the city walls, offering panoramic views of “King’s Landing”.

A few of us also took a day trip over to the nearby island of Lokrum. It’s small, forested, and filled with peacocks and cicadas. It’s easily walkable, but crappy maps and signposts make it a bit of an effort finding your way around. The island’s highlight was a layer of cloud cover that rolled in to give us some shade and much-needed relief for the second half of the day.

The other highlight, of course, is the actual Iron Throne used in “Game of Thrones”.

The women of Croatia continue to be gorgeous. I’ve probably seen 20 drop-dead gorgeous women in a week, while the ratio at home is more like one every few weeks. Croatia might take top spot for me over Argentina in the female hotness rankings. There are lots of stray cats here, too.

My G Adventures trip is actually two separate tours that are scheduled one after the other, with some people doing both and others doing only the first or last part. The first part, with Gabo, ended last night. At dinner, we said goodbye to Gabo and all the others who won’t be continuing on with us. It’s too bad, because this was a great group, and after a week, everyone’s true personalities were just starting to reveal themselves. Wilson can eat and eat and eat, Anthony can walk and walk and walk, Matthew can tell story after story after story, and Kasia is a true selfie expert. I really enjoyed Gabo, in particular. As a former tour leader with Trek America, I was able to chat with him about the business side of things, and we developed what I think might be a lasting friendship. Overall, a great trip.

This morning, we met Mandy, who will be our CEO for the second tour through Montenegro, Albania, and Greece. Mandy is young and bouncy and Flemish, though she speaks fluent English with an almost Canadian accent. It’s weird. Also met a new batch of people who will be joining us.

It’s amazing how quickly the vibe of the group has changed. With a new CEO and new travelers thrown into the mix, the old jokes don’t work anymore and it’s taking new effort to build up the rapport again. It’ll just take a little time, I guess.

Now on a bus bouncing over windy and cliffy mountain roads to Montenegro. Interested to see what Montenegro is all about.