"On the Island.... We Do It Island Style"

...and that island, one fine day, was Lokrum Island. You might know it from Game of Thrones-- the garden where everyone got betrayed (SPOILER ALERT) is there. I now know it for that, tons of peacocks and rabbits, and a "dead sea" that had live fish in it. I sadly, do not know it for its apparently "famous" nude beach, which I did not have time to visit. #sorrynotsorry

To get to Lokrum from Old Town Dubrovnik, they have a ferry that runs every 30 minutes. It costs about $20 round trip, but the amount of care put into checking the ticket each way led me to think I could use a cheap replica or an old ticket easily.

View of Old Town from the boat. Very nice! [Borat voice]

For your reference, and to battle my eventual senility, here's what Lokrum looks like from afar.

Good from far, but *not* far from good

Maybe 20 minutes later, you arrive at a pretty small dock. If you dodge hordes of tour guide-led groups and other meandering families, you can pretty quickly get past the boring stuff to the fun parts of the island. I made a beeline past the peacocks and bunnies-- which, let's face it, is not your usual critter fare-- because I figured I had about 4 hours here total, and if I was going to take a swim in the dead sea, I'd want some time to dry off.

The "Dead Sea".

Look-- I thought dead sea meant "there's so much salinity in it", that either i) you float easily ii) no wildlife can live in it.

Preach, Charlie Murphy. #rip

Instead, I got to swim around a pretty small pond with some cool caves, but I assure you there were fish in it. And I also assure you, despite my natural buoyancy, it was no easier or harder to float here than in any other body of water.

Anyhow, after about 30 minutes of splashing around, it was time to get out and dry off. I took a quick stroll to see these GOT gardens

I'm no Ansel Adams, but to me, this didn't really look like the GOT gardens. But then again, they probably got to take their pictures from the 2nd floor balcony, which was closed to visitors and festooned with someone's laundry.

I did take some time to eat here-- they actually have a restaurant right outside the gardens, which is a great place to sit your sopping swimsuit bottom down on as the waiter judges you. Food wasn't half bad!

Tasty? Yes. Overpriced? Absolutely. Like many cultures that don't produce "Salt Bagels", they need to up the amount of salt they put on stuff. Yes, even the prosciutto bruschetta on the left.

After leaving a tip and a wet seat cushion for the waiter, I explored the gardens, and glanced at my watch-- last ferry back was in about 90 minutes, but I wanted to hike to "Fort Royal", the highest point of the island. I'm a sucker for views from above.

On the way, as I mentioned, you do see a lot of peacocks and rabbits. Here are some of them... sorry, no flashy "tailfeather" work. But how often do you really see peacocks?! And to a less extent, rabbits?

Anyhow, after a chafing walk with a wet swimsuit, you eventually get to a pretty well manicured road leading to the Fort. Way better than most trails I saw around Dubrovnik!

"The road goes ever on and on"

Worth it though! Though far from a "fort", it did have a great view of Old Town.

Yes, yes, I realize, I too have a nice view of old town right from my front porch. But working for it makes it worth it!

I glanced at my watch, and much like Nedry in Jurassic Park, I was forced to *really* rush so I could get back to catch the last ferry.

Well... Ok then Nedry! I'll move on. Just know it involved running down some unkempt mountain paths.

Why did I have to get back? Well, I had designs of going to watch NFL at Mario's Sports Pub, supposedly the one place you could really watch American football here.

I should have called ahead. But that's not Sam style.

Sam style is "show up and hope for the best". And what came of it? I get there and they have a ton of TVs, but they're all reserved for the Croatia-Wales soccer match. And furthermore, I was informed the *entire* bar was reserved, so while I was sitting enjoying a beer at the moment, I could only do so for about 30 more minutes. Still left me enough time to snag a picture of the Drazen Petrovic jersey they had hung up at the bar.

If you don't know Drazen, you don't know NBA. Well, at least the best non-US player to ever play in the NBA. Ok, maybe the best non-Dirk Nowtizki European player to play in the NBA.

What did I do then? I slunk across the street to a place that actually had a faster feed, so I could continue to have a drink, snack, and listen to the agonized wails and raucous cheers a few seconds after I would watch it. It was highly amusing. The local Croatians present were *way* more tolerant of the vocal Wales guys in jerseys drunkenly supporting their team than I would have been. At halftime, it was 1-1, so I retreated back to my place before something good or something bad happened.

And, Scene.

Now, it's time to jam one more day's worth of stuff in this post so I don't forget. Sorry!

Remember how I said "Sam Style" was just showing up and hoping for the best? That did *not* work out this next day. I decided to go to Konoba Dubrova, a hidden little restaurant on a hilltop that was supposed to have amazing food. Oh, they sat me immediately, don't worry. But, they said I had to wait 3 hours for the food. *3 hours*.

You know, I really could have googled this ahead of time.

I asked my waiter if I could still do it... and he said sure! Most people apparently call ahead. I, sat their like an idiot with a dying phone hoping it would still be alive by the time my food came.

All the food takes 3 hours because it's cooked under an iron bell. My main takeaway: probably not the most efficient way to cook things.

Well, I had 3% left on my phone when my food came to my table finally. Let's ignore how boring it is to sit by yourself at a table for 3 hours, regardless of electronic device entertainment.

You know what? This lamb and veal combo (and I hate lamb, remember) was one of the best things I've eaten this trip.

Ok, verdict-- this place was great. Not, 4 hours of my life great (what is, though). But if you come to Dubrovnik, you should absolutely go here. Call ahead. Enjoy a place that locals and tourists both go to... which you don't really find in Old Town.

What this *did* leave me with was a phoneless walk back to my apartment. I took an Uber here, but that was not an option. And there wasn't exactly a taxi stand in the middle of the countryside. So I hiked back.

No exaggeration, and I'm sorry I can't share, this was the most scenic hike so far. A paved path overlooking the seaside houses and Old Town below. And here I was, cameraless. I just took it in, paused occasionally, and enjoyed myself. This did take about an hour though.

Let's call this a post, I say, here. I should go eat something.

Random Things:

I don't remember when/why I walked into this random church, but I did.

You know, I don't think "Happy Lunch" is catching on.

You'd think I'd have a picture of me on the iron throne. But I was so dissatisfied with the ending, I symbolically left the throne empty. Or, no one was there to take a picture with me sitting on it.

Moment of Zen: