Alan S - When we were there a few weeks ago, the bridge was packed and yes, the local divers were hustling for tips to make the jump. We were told that it is a pretty tight "club" and a visitor is required to pay something like 30 euros to the Mostar Dive Club located nearby for instructions and some practice jumps off a diving board on the cliffs prior to the jump. The water is frigid, fast current, and there have been some past fatalities. Upon completion, the visitor is given a certificate and name put in the club record book.
No Taucktarians, actually only 2 other people walked to the bridge, but there was a guy in a speedo collecting money from the tourists to jump, I couldn't see if he jumped as I had to meet the group, other in the group saw a couple of jumpers while sitting in a Cafe terrace.
So Alan you need to get a speedo if you don't have one already
We went to Old Town and visited what's left of the Palace of the Roman Emperor Dioclatian built in 283 AD according to local guide the Emperor thought he was Jupiter and so handsome that whoever looked at him would go blind because of his beauty.
We took a ferry to Brac Island, visited the studio of an sculptor and had lunch at Zizs restaurant, hers a picture of the Brac Island coastline
We took the ferry back to Split and went for a walk along the board walk. Split coastline from the ferry
I'm just going to have something light to eat tonight , lunch was late and like all Tauck meals very fulling.
May 31st
A note about Hotel Park which we left today:
The hotel itself was nice, the bathroom was beautiful and almost as big as the room, it was very hot during the night, breakfast was a buffet and you could also order off a menu but you aren't told there's one, the menu was standing on a small table by a wall. Food was OK.
Today was a Croatia's National Holiday celebrating their independence however they opened the Mestrovic gallery' just for us, beautiful sculptures by Mestrovic a Croatian artist
From there we took a long ride to Krka Natinal Park with beautiful waterfalls and scenery
From there to took a boat to along the Krka River to Skradin and dove to Roca a restaurant and pig farm where we were treated to delicious food and entertainment by the villagers
Then another long bus ride to Split airport to take a very short ride to Zagreb Croatia's capital, arrived at The Esplanade hotel at 9:35.
Rainbow during drive to hotel
Sam look at my last posting, there are some pictures of the park.
May 31st
Esplanade hotel is very nice, big room, lovely bathroom, excellent food, their chef was the best chef in Croatia last year.
This morning we had a talk by the former Minister of Tourism a lady who had bad encounters with the communists while running a business and had to flee Dubrovnik for fear of being arrested, very interesting.
It rained all day and it was chilly.
We toured Zagreb with its magnificent buildings and visited the indoor and outdoor markets where we were treated to cheese and wine
We took a funicular for a very, very short ride to the top to walk around old town, here's a view of Zagreb after we came out of the funicular, a picture of the Parlament building and a demonstration of the old time soldier's
After a very nice lunch at Nico's with wine I returned to the hotel and walked to the Botanical Gardens which after the one in Singapore was a terrible disappointment, mostly overgrown bushes and weeds, these pictures are the only somewhat nice part of the Gardens. There are many museums in Zagreb so I suggest if you come please bypass the Gardens.
June 1st
We visited Trakoscan Palace together with more than 600 children which made it difficult not only to take pictures inside but hearing our local guide, we were greeted with a glass of champagne and ladies wearing dresses from different centuries. The castle dates back to the 13th century, King Maximilian gave the castle to Jura Drakovic so it became the family's home. The castle is surrounded by beautiful forests, we had lunch there.
We left the castle, had along ride and crossed the border to Slovinia, then another long ride to Ljubljana a city in Slovenia and checked in the Intercontinental hotel, very, very nice. After an hour we met up with a local guide and walked to Old Town around 15 minutes from the hotel, after the tour we had an included dinner at a local restaurant with typical Slovenian food.
Pictures of the castle and grounds
Pictures of Old Town
June 2nd
We visited Ljubljana Castle situated in Castle Hill overlooking Ljubljana city, we had a Time Machine tour of the history of the castle from 6 decisive periods in the castles history from 4th century AD to the 20th century with actual people dressed and talking about each Era,
Views of the castle and Ljubljana city from the tower
Then we went to the Medieval city of Radoljica, with quaint buildings and stopping at Lectar a gingerbread bakery where we had a great lunch, mushroom soup in a bowl of bread and apple ice cream on an an apple, and views of the Austrian Alps
From there we went to Bled Castle with beautiful views of Bled Lake with catfish that can beas big as 6 feet
Gladys - I love the bread soup bowl and the apple ice cream in an apple. I've never seen the apple ice cream in an apple before. We got served lemon sorbet in a frozen lemon one time, but never done the apple thing. How was it to eat?
It looks like you had a bit of rainy weather one day, but for the most part the weather seems like it's been pretty nice.
Sam I had the ice cream, basically they took a slice off the top, put the ice cream on the bottom part and covered it. I didn't take a bite of the apple
June 3rd
We went to the Postojna Caves in southwestern Slovenia, the caves were created by the Pivka River, they're 79,860 feet long and were first described in the 17th century, they became a tourist destination in 1819, electric lighting was added in 1884, in the 20th century a gas locomotive was added with electric version in 1945. We had a private tour before it opened and it was incredible. See pictures below
We were treated to some operatic singing at the end.
From there we left Slovenia and crossed the border back to Croatia, had lunch at Prodn Tartufi a truffle farm in Istria , where they train dogs to find truffles, we had scrambled eggs, salad, pasta and it all contained truffles.
We left the farm and drove to Rovinj a Mediterranean seaside town where we toured the old part of town before checking in Grand Hotel Park with beautiful views of the water and the old town from the rooms. Dinner was at the hotel.
Alan, when I did the Adriatic Treasures tour, the locals did jump off the bridge in Mostar...and I believe that colleagues of the jumpers solicited the tips. No one from our tour did it, and, unlike you, I would NEVER do it.
June 4th
Today was a very short day, we drive to Pula to visit the Great Amphitheater of Pula dating back to 27 BC where we had a guided tour
We had a walking tour of Pula where we saw other buildings by the Roman's a temple and City Hall which was actually built on top of another temple which you can see from the back
We went for lunch at the Chiavalon family olive oil farm and after to the press where they make the olive oil.
Came back to the hotel and went for a walk around the beach.
We took a boat for a sunset sail around Rovinjs Old Town, had dinner at Spacio Matika with fish specialties caught today, entertainment by a group singing fishing songs, lovely the place was small and the kitchen very tiny, one lady doing all the cooking, another washing dishes and another serving. Incredible food
We went on this trip just about one year ago after cancelling twice due to worldwide COVID. All in all it was a great trip. The weather was extremely hot but it didn't interfere too much with the planned actiivities.. Our guide was Gabby also. Yes, she was very precise about timing and a little bit impersonal especially at the beginning of our trip but relaxed a bit as she got to know our group. We started out with 21 travelers. The group lost 2 to Covid travel quarantines after 2 days, another 2 a few days after, and then another couple due to an accident at the Diocletian Palace in Split. So our final count was 15. As afar as we know, Gabby was very proactive in securing hotel accommodations for the quarantined couples and then flight arrangements home for all that needed them. Our tour group included some singles, both late adolescents and their mothers and/or grandmothers and couples with ages ranging from 18-86. All things said it wound up being a great trip for all (except for the ones who had to return home. One aside for those who are interested in Judaic sites: there is an centuries old synagogue/museum inside Dubrovnik oldtown and another one hidden, but a few blocks away from the Diocletian Palace in Split. The one in Dubrovnik has posted tour hours. We "happened" upon the one in
Split but arrived after the official hours. We climbed the staircase and were greeted by the resident caretaker who invited us inside for a private tour. It was on of our special moments of the tour.
June 5
Last day of the tour. We drove to Italy via Slovenia, the bus parked in Torcello and we boarded a water taxi to Venice, arrived at hotel MetroPCS after 12, after light snacks we went on tour of the Doges Palace (this was my 4th time in Venice)
Pictures of Venice and the Palace
Thr Bridge of Sighs
St Georgio Maggiore and St Mark's
Our wonderful group and Gabby on the left
This tour is wonderful and very active, the 5th was the only day with an entire afternoon free. The rooms at Grand Hotel Park has beautiful views but the doors to the bathroom were really heavy. The Metropole in Venice is a very old hotel, a bit dark and in the room there were 3 steps to go up to bed and down to the bathroom.
The flightshome were on time unfortunately I had a very long layover in Atlanta and didn't sleep until I got home after 11 PM.
Happy to be home.
Great pictures and information. Thank you. We leave next week for this tour and very excited. Two questions - (1) my husband gets sea sick on small boats, were you on any boat for an extended amount of time or does the boat bob slowly along the shore? He'll bring patches just in case but it's good to know ahead of time. (2) - you mentioned the weather - some hot some chilly. Any clothing recommendations? I've checked the forecast for Dubrovnik and it's high 70's to low of 60 at night. Can we get away with long pants and a jacket (at night)? I appreciate your help. Thanks again for posting.
Joyce
Joyce I suffer from motion sickness so I take the non-drowsy Dramamine pills with me any time there is water involved, the taxi water ride from Torchello to Venice was rough, I've used the patches but did not like them, otherwise the other boat rides were not bad.
I did pretty well with a windbreaker and sometimes a sweater, it's pretty cold in the caves so you may want to do layers. For the most part the weather was great.
I did this tour in Sept. 2021. It's tied for #2 on my favorites list. I like the Metropole much better than the Danieli, where I needed bread crumbs to find my way back to my room!
Comments
I have seen the jumpers jump off that bridge. It looks absolutely frightening.
Alan S - When we were there a few weeks ago, the bridge was packed and yes, the local divers were hustling for tips to make the jump. We were told that it is a pretty tight "club" and a visitor is required to pay something like 30 euros to the Mostar Dive Club located nearby for instructions and some practice jumps off a diving board on the cliffs prior to the jump. The water is frigid, fast current, and there have been some past fatalities. Upon completion, the visitor is given a certificate and name put in the club record book.
i thinks you are nutts Alan. That looks higher than the flight deck. I’d never jump off of that thing unless it was on fire.
It is also very very very slippery when walking across the bridge.
No Taucktarians, actually only 2 other people walked to the bridge, but there was a guy in a speedo collecting money from the tourists to jump, I couldn't see if he jumped as I had to meet the group, other in the group saw a couple of jumpers while sitting in a Cafe terrace.
So Alan you need to get a speedo if you don't have one already
We went to Old Town and visited what's left of the Palace of the Roman Emperor Dioclatian built in 283 AD according to local guide the Emperor thought he was Jupiter and so handsome that whoever looked at him would go blind because of his beauty.
We took a ferry to Brac Island, visited the studio of an sculptor and had lunch at Zizs restaurant, hers a picture of the Brac Island coastline
We took the ferry back to Split and went for a walk along the board walk. Split coastline from the ferry
I'm just going to have something light to eat tonight , lunch was late and like all Tauck meals very fulling.
May 31st
A note about Hotel Park which we left today:
The hotel itself was nice, the bathroom was beautiful and almost as big as the room, it was very hot during the night, breakfast was a buffet and you could also order off a menu but you aren't told there's one, the menu was standing on a small table by a wall. Food was OK.
Today was a Croatia's National Holiday celebrating their independence however they opened the Mestrovic gallery' just for us, beautiful sculptures by Mestrovic a Croatian artist
From there we took a long ride to Krka Natinal Park with beautiful waterfalls and scenery
From there to took a boat to along the Krka River to Skradin and dove to Roca a restaurant and pig farm where we were treated to delicious food and entertainment by the villagers
Then another long bus ride to Split airport to take a very short ride to Zagreb Croatia's capital, arrived at The Esplanade hotel at 9:35.
Rainbow during drive to hotel
Gladys - Did you get to visit Krka National Park. That was a highlight for me on the Venice and Dalmatian Coast tour.
Sam look at my last posting, there are some pictures of the park.
May 31st
Esplanade hotel is very nice, big room, lovely bathroom, excellent food, their chef was the best chef in Croatia last year.
This morning we had a talk by the former Minister of Tourism a lady who had bad encounters with the communists while running a business and had to flee Dubrovnik for fear of being arrested, very interesting.
It rained all day and it was chilly.
We toured Zagreb with its magnificent buildings and visited the indoor and outdoor markets where we were treated to cheese and wine
We took a funicular for a very, very short ride to the top to walk around old town, here's a view of Zagreb after we came out of the funicular, a picture of the Parlament building and a demonstration of the old time soldier's
After a very nice lunch at Nico's with wine I returned to the hotel and walked to the Botanical Gardens which after the one in Singapore was a terrible disappointment, mostly overgrown bushes and weeds, these pictures are the only somewhat nice part of the Gardens. There are many museums in Zagreb so I suggest if you come please bypass the Gardens.
June 1st
We visited Trakoscan Palace together with more than 600 children which made it difficult not only to take pictures inside but hearing our local guide, we were greeted with a glass of champagne and ladies wearing dresses from different centuries. The castle dates back to the 13th century, King Maximilian gave the castle to Jura Drakovic so it became the family's home. The castle is surrounded by beautiful forests, we had lunch there.
We left the castle, had along ride and crossed the border to Slovinia, then another long ride to Ljubljana a city in Slovenia and checked in the Intercontinental hotel, very, very nice. After an hour we met up with a local guide and walked to Old Town around 15 minutes from the hotel, after the tour we had an included dinner at a local restaurant with typical Slovenian food.
Pictures of the castle and grounds
Pictures of Old Town
June 2nd
We visited Ljubljana Castle situated in Castle Hill overlooking Ljubljana city, we had a Time Machine tour of the history of the castle from 6 decisive periods in the castles history from 4th century AD to the 20th century with actual people dressed and talking about each Era,
Views of the castle and Ljubljana city from the tower
Then we went to the Medieval city of Radoljica, with quaint buildings and stopping at Lectar a gingerbread bakery where we had a great lunch, mushroom soup in a bowl of bread and apple ice cream on an an apple, and views of the Austrian Alps
From there we went to Bled Castle with beautiful views of Bled Lake with catfish that can beas big as 6 feet
We stayed at the Intercontinental for the past 2 days, wonderful room and bathroom, great food and a great Executive Lounge.
Gladys - I love the bread soup bowl and the apple ice cream in an apple. I've never seen the apple ice cream in an apple before. We got served lemon sorbet in a frozen lemon one time, but never done the apple thing. How was it to eat?
It looks like you had a bit of rainy weather one day, but for the most part the weather seems like it's been pretty nice.
Sam I had the ice cream, basically they took a slice off the top, put the ice cream on the bottom part and covered it. I didn't take a bite of the apple
June 3rd
We went to the Postojna Caves in southwestern Slovenia, the caves were created by the Pivka River, they're 79,860 feet long and were first described in the 17th century, they became a tourist destination in 1819, electric lighting was added in 1884, in the 20th century a gas locomotive was added with electric version in 1945. We had a private tour before it opened and it was incredible. See pictures below
We were treated to some operatic singing at the end.
From there we left Slovenia and crossed the border back to Croatia, had lunch at Prodn Tartufi a truffle farm in Istria , where they train dogs to find truffles, we had scrambled eggs, salad, pasta and it all contained truffles.
We left the farm and drove to Rovinj a Mediterranean seaside town where we toured the old part of town before checking in Grand Hotel Park with beautiful views of the water and the old town from the rooms. Dinner was at the hotel.
Alan, when I did the Adriatic Treasures tour, the locals did jump off the bridge in Mostar...and I believe that colleagues of the jumpers solicited the tips. No one from our tour did it, and, unlike you, I would NEVER do it.
June 4th
Today was a very short day, we drive to Pula to visit the Great Amphitheater of Pula dating back to 27 BC where we had a guided tour
We had a walking tour of Pula where we saw other buildings by the Roman's a temple and City Hall which was actually built on top of another temple which you can see from the back
We went for lunch at the Chiavalon family olive oil farm and after to the press where they make the olive oil.
Came back to the hotel and went for a walk around the beach.
We took a boat for a sunset sail around Rovinjs Old Town, had dinner at Spacio Matika with fish specialties caught today, entertainment by a group singing fishing songs, lovely the place was small and the kitchen very tiny, one lady doing all the cooking, another washing dishes and another serving. Incredible food
Loved that dinner in that tiny restaurant! Adriatic Treasures is one of my favorite tours.
We went on this trip just about one year ago after cancelling twice due to worldwide COVID. All in all it was a great trip. The weather was extremely hot but it didn't interfere too much with the planned actiivities.. Our guide was Gabby also. Yes, she was very precise about timing and a little bit impersonal especially at the beginning of our trip but relaxed a bit as she got to know our group. We started out with 21 travelers. The group lost 2 to Covid travel quarantines after 2 days, another 2 a few days after, and then another couple due to an accident at the Diocletian Palace in Split. So our final count was 15. As afar as we know, Gabby was very proactive in securing hotel accommodations for the quarantined couples and then flight arrangements home for all that needed them. Our tour group included some singles, both late adolescents and their mothers and/or grandmothers and couples with ages ranging from 18-86. All things said it wound up being a great trip for all (except for the ones who had to return home. One aside for those who are interested in Judaic sites: there is an centuries old synagogue/museum inside Dubrovnik oldtown and another one hidden, but a few blocks away from the Diocletian Palace in Split. The one in Dubrovnik has posted tour hours. We "happened" upon the one in
Split but arrived after the official hours. We climbed the staircase and were greeted by the resident caretaker who invited us inside for a private tour. It was on of our special moments of the tour.
June 5
Last day of the tour. We drove to Italy via Slovenia, the bus parked in Torcello and we boarded a water taxi to Venice, arrived at hotel MetroPCS after 12, after light snacks we went on tour of the Doges Palace (this was my 4th time in Venice)
Pictures of Venice and the Palace
Thr Bridge of Sighs
St Georgio Maggiore and St Mark's
Our wonderful group and Gabby on the left
This tour is wonderful and very active, the 5th was the only day with an entire afternoon free. The rooms at Grand Hotel Park has beautiful views but the doors to the bathroom were really heavy. The Metropole in Venice is a very old hotel, a bit dark and in the room there were 3 steps to go up to bed and down to the bathroom.
The flightshome were on time unfortunately I had a very long layover in Atlanta and didn't sleep until I got home after 11 PM.
Happy to be home.
Great pictures and information. Thank you. We leave next week for this tour and very excited. Two questions - (1) my husband gets sea sick on small boats, were you on any boat for an extended amount of time or does the boat bob slowly along the shore? He'll bring patches just in case but it's good to know ahead of time. (2) - you mentioned the weather - some hot some chilly. Any clothing recommendations? I've checked the forecast for Dubrovnik and it's high 70's to low of 60 at night. Can we get away with long pants and a jacket (at night)? I appreciate your help. Thanks again for posting.
Joyce
Joyce I suffer from motion sickness so I take the non-drowsy Dramamine pills with me any time there is water involved, the taxi water ride from Torchello to Venice was rough, I've used the patches but did not like them, otherwise the other boat rides were not bad.
I did pretty well with a windbreaker and sometimes a sweater, it's pretty cold in the caves so you may want to do layers. For the most part the weather was great.
I did this tour in Sept. 2021. It's tied for #2 on my favorites list. I like the Metropole much better than the Danieli, where I needed bread crumbs to find my way back to my room!
Gladys, I loved your photos. Many are the same as mine and additionally probably from the same viewing spot