It’s time to go home!

Today is a very sad day! We have to leave this amazing place and return home. This place has been absolutely amazing and has exceeded our expectations a thousand-fold!

Our flight is scheduled for 10 am so its another early start. I have already packed most things the night before! If you know me, I can’t leave anything until last minute. Obviously, the toiletries we need for today can’t go in until last minute, but you know what I mean!

I’ve pre-booked our pickup. They have confirmed they will be here at 7.15 am, and they are punctual.

I take a last look across the old town from our balcony. I’m going to miss that view!

This morning I made sure I was up early enough so I could sit one last time on the balcony, drinking my tea, taking in the view! I wanted to make the most of every minute here!

As we travel in our taxi to the airport, I get one last chance to look back and see the view from above of Kings Landing and the Red Keep – aka Dubrovnik! The sun is shining on the orange roofs below. The sea is clear and bright blue. This place certainly has some magic!

It is only a short trip to the airport. Getting through security is very quick and easy. We have 2.5 hours to kill. There isn’t a lot to do here but as we are early, we decide to grab a drink and something to eat. Whilst small, it is very comfortable.

After a while we decided to head down to our gate to wait to be called for our Easyjet flight home.

Just before we board, I decide I should pop to the ladies! I have a middle seat so its not always easy to get out on the plane, without disturbing the person next to you! Plus what if they are sleeping, do you wake them? I’m not sure if you should!

I pop off and do what ladies do. I’m walking back to the gate. I’ve seen a man looking out across the runway looking at the planes and think nothing of it. Suddenly he turns and gets his leg in front of mine! There is nothing I can do. I’m falling at a pace. Ahead of me I can see the edge of the lift and metal bollards, they are heading towards my head at speed. I can’t stop myself. I quickly put my arm up to try and protect me. With a thud I hit the floor, bollard and lift!

At first, I can’t move. I’m somehow wrapped amongst the bollard. Thankfully I didn’t hit my head, but my leg, arm and hand really hurt. The man has rushed to me so apologetic. He knows he was completely to blame and is mortified. I’m suddenly aware of a lot of people around me waiting for their flight home!

The man wants to call for help but I assure him I’m fine. I need to get my flight home and its boarding soon! He helps me up! I’m trying hard not to cry. The pain is horrendous. I can’t show the man how I’m feeling, he feels so bad as it is, and it was an accident. These things happen.

As he helps me up, he apologises again and asks if I need anything. I say I’m fine and not to worry. I slowly walk off trying to put a brave face on it.

As I walk back to my seat, I don’t know what to rub first. I think I’ve broken a finger at least! I quickly mention to my hubby that I’ve had a fall but then our flight is called so we board the plane!

I travel home feeling very bruised and battered.

After a horrible drive home in the pouring rain we relax and unwind! As I take my coat off, I see the extent of the damage. A beautiful bruise on my right arm. My right hand is also swollen, and I can’t move my little finger. The pain is horrible. Bruises start to appear on my leg and knee too! My hubby suddenly realises it wasn’t just a little fall after all!

I soldier on for 10 days now. The bruises are starting to fade a little, but my hand is still in pain. I decide that maybe I should have got it checked out sooner, so book an appointment with my GP.

After checking it he confirms that yep I have a fracture!

It is amazing how in a split-second things can change. I’m not cross at the man. It was an accident. I’m sure he is still feeling mortified about it. And if anyone knows me, if an accident is going to happen it has to be me who will have it!

At the end of the day, it was still the most amazing holiday. It isn’t goodbye Dubrovnik, it is until we see you again! We will be back!

Day 2 – Game of Thrones

Today I’m so excited. We have booked on the GOT walking tour. It’s scheduled for 2 hours and promises to show us where some of the episodes were filmed.

I’d booked the tour through a company called – Get Your Guide. I’ve used them before and find their website really helpful. At only £17 per person it is very reasonable.

We met our guide Boska at the meeting point. Today was an unusually large group – around 19 of us, so we were given headsets so we could hear him fully.

To say Bosko was passionate about GOT is an understatement. In fact he auditioned to be an extra and was successful, but for personal reasons he couldn’t take it!

Funny enough, our taxi driver from the airport was an extra. He showed us very proudly a photo of him waking behind Cercei when she did the walk of shame!

We started our tour by walking up to the old fort! As with Dubrovnik it’s a bit of a steep walk, but the views are really worth it!

The entrance fee to the fort isn’t included in the tour price so you need to factor another 50 Kuna per person (approx £6).

Once inside the fort the magic of GOT unfolds. You do need a little bit of imagination due to the fact that on the set the fort has more levels due to special effects, but Boska has plenty of pictures to help you visualise it better.

Filming was done in July and August mainly, when Croatia is at its hottest! Can you imagine how the actors and extras coped in that heat in their costumes! It apparently got a little bit smelly as the weeks went on with long days and no time to wash the costumes!

I was amazed at how many different scenes were filmed from this small location. It was mainly used as the Red Keep, but other locations were also filmed there!

The view of the old town from the top is spectacular. If you are not a GOT fan it’s worth going up for that alone!

It was reassuring to see the local cat keeping guard for us !

You can also see the park where Joffrey and Sansa were married! Hubby and I had walked through it the day before completely unawares.

You learn all about the tricks of filming including using mirror image to move islands ! How do you tell? Check how many left hand people are in the scene!

Next stop was the harbour where Jon Snow said his good byes along with other scenes.

We then walk back into the old town. Thursday and Saturdays are cruise ship days so the town can get very busy. To avoid the crowds we were led down some lovely old alleys until we reached the steps where the walk of shame was filmed.

I was stunned at how much they compensated residents to move out or close businesses down to allow them to film. Even paying per window for them to keep their shutters closed!

All in all this was an amazing tour. I would certainly recommend it as a must do.

The tour ended with a photo opportunity in the iron thrown!

At the harbour was a lovely restaurant which we visited for lunch. Such a stunning setting and a perfect end to the morning.

As we finished lunch the rain started. Not hard but enough to send a lot of the people from the cruise ship back so the town wasn’t so full.

We decided to visit an exhibition on Photography of War. The Entrance fee is about 50 Kuna but worth it.

It’s not a joyful experience. Very humbling and heart wrenching. Photos over 2 floors on wars in Iran, Yugoslavia’s, Croatia, Afghanistan, Bosnia etc. The truth behind war! I’m so glad we went but it brought tears to my eyes.

It’s hard to imagine that Dubrovnik was in a war zone not that long ago. You would never know today.

After a relaxing walk around another part of the harbour we headed back to our apartment to get ready for dinner.

Tonight’s restaurant was called 1838. It’s right on the waters edge by the main entrance to the old town.

This restaurant is an absolute must.

The food is amazing. I had the mussels (89 Kuna) with a side salad (35 Kuna) and shared a litre of their house white (140 Kuna).

As with the previous night we were greeted with a complementary starter and plenty of bread.

When we paid the bill we were given the best drink I’ve ever tasted! Prosecco, lemon sorbet and vodka! OMG, I loved it!

It had been another great day. Tomorrow had more surprises to come !

Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss when I start uploading my videos next week. Here is today’s : https://youtu.be/niVu4o0xHdw

GOT is almost over!

So last night we sat down to watch the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones! To say I was disappointed would be an understatement!

When GOT, as everyone calls it first came out, we weren’t really interested. Everyone was raving about how fantastic it was, but hubby and I weren’t even curious, so it passed us by!

Then last year, with news of a final series we got curious. We decided that perhaps we should see what all the fuss was about.

We borrowed the box set from a colleague at work and set aside some time.

The first series was difficult. Not in the usual sense, but in an interesting sense! There was so many things going on, different lands, characters etc that it wasn’t easy viewing. This said, we were still hooked.

As we got to learn who was who, who was linked to who etc, we were hooked.

We don’t have much free time as you know in the evenings, so told ourselves we would only watch 1 episode a night during the week! Yer right!

We would have great intentions, then as that episode finished there was no way we could go to bed without knowing what happened next!

We were totally hooked! GOT had taken over our lives. Sleep no longer mattered! I think in a few weeks we blitzed 7 Series! OMG! It was amazing. We couldn’t wait for the final series to start!

As the time drew closer, we decided to revisit series 7 again just to remind us of everything that had happened before!

Series 8 started and we were so excited. It was due to be shown at 2am in the morning so we had to record it, but Monday night was now our GOT night.

If you haven’t watched it, don’t worry I won’t do any spoilers!

The final series is made up of 6 episodes. I have to say, this series isn’t a patch on the first 7. Don’t get me wrong, there are still some twists and turns that you don’t expect.

Last night though, while there were plenty of them, it didn’t feel right! Things happened that shouldn’t! It certainly wasn’t what I expected! I finished watching feeling disappointed and cheated!

Next week is the final episode. I have no clue what will happen. That is probably a good sign as the script writers have really kept the plot creative. My only hope is that they don’t rush the ending.

Based on the series so far, I can see this will be the last one, so I hope I don’t end on disappointment. Only a week to find out!

If you haven’t seen GOT yet, definitely watch it, but from the very beginning!

If you have seen it, I’d love to know your thoughts too.