Carousing in Croatia
Slithering south, Rovinj to Dubrovnik
Ah, the wolves Ahooga! But we'll get to that later After we skin the cat Unravel our travel Update the state Of where we been These past weeks In a bus we landed In old Rovinj Walk a few blocks We're all checked in Cozy little place Salty cool air A swinging chair A skip to the beach A scenic reach Of a fine old town We amble-ramble down The cobblestone Testing our Croatian hellos
The architecture's sweet The skinny streets No parking, no cars In the heart of the city Why can't we do this at home Flowers and art A seashell collage Adorn the doors and stairs While over there A harbor full of boats Then a peach of a beach Where I dunk like a lunk In the blue Adriatic But something's erratic Oh, oh There's a cell phone In my pocket Oops Two days in It's time to move To get in the groove Of Dalmatia So off we go To drive the Istrian coast A stop in Opatija Where a walk on the water To some murals we dodder Celebs who've been to this place Einstein, Joyce, Lumiere And Douglas (Kirk) And Deniro (Robert) Well, well, well
Thence we follow the shore To make our way Around the bay Over the mountains And on to the fountains Of Plitvice National Park Splendid blue lakes Where all it takes Is one spilling into the other Mahvelous A good long hike To a vertical cave A natural nave And falling water everywhere
Then on to Sibenik Cuz a try we givin' it To ogle it, we google it And Goog leads the way Over the hills Around the bend To grandmother's house and more But another hill, another bend And another? Where the hell are we? Somewhere in the boonies We're the loneliest loonies Out in Nowhere's middle Cuz the dot on the map It ain't the right Sibenik We're not sure why The Goog took us awry Nevertheless, we aim for the coast Still it's beauteous out there And our mistake we repair And aim for the correct Sibenik The sun heading low Another hill, a bend, a row A flash of a dash We see with our eyes What the heck is that? Just ahead, on a rise in the road Two large animals Deer? Lions? Wild boar? They move in unison Left to right Whoa, they look like dogs! Wild, huge, muscular dogs The shape of shephards But larger than any we've seen Wolves! Not the lanky kind With the skinny behind No, these guys are are buff Graceful and sprightly More regal than frightly Later we find That wolves are making a comeback In conservation-conscious Croatia A few ranging packs In the Velebik outbacks About where we saw them T'was quite a sight Just before night For a lost pair of gringos So savor we do The wolves of Croatia, yahoo! With thanks to the goof of the Goog Sibenik rocks I can wash my socks But first we must find our digs Minus a cell phone And no luck with wifi We park in a lot Tied up in a knot But saved by the attendant Who offers to call Our amiable host For directions A jibber, a jabber He soon points the way To the place where we'll stay A smiling Jurica meets us half way Splendid, walkable, old and tidy A treat to our feet With good things to eat A night on the town Up alleys and down We like the vibe Of this Croatian tribe Next time we gotta stay longer
Now onto Split For a visit too quick Not enough time for the park But omelets they serve With coffee and verve Ere we strut to the ferry for Korcula And wow, what a place Kris lights up her face Breathes in the air Never leaving, she swears Old and glorious And somewhat notorious For the vibe that's hard to describe We stroll atop the wall Overlooking it all And a welcome and warm blue sea In a scant few minutes Our room we are in it The balcony looks down To a sliver of beach That's well within reach
Three nights we stay Transfixed each day Could easily stay here a month Gelato's my new best friend The swimming is fab With shoes not too shab So ya don't be lurchin' for urchins The rest of the brine Entirely benign I can float like a cork on a slab To Kris I soon prattle We must do a paddle A skosh down the island At sunset no less With a guide who's the best More history and zest Than I can possibly digest But the gist of it all Are the olives in fall We must return to help with the pick Sadly we leave Though we don't really grieve Cuz we're itching to get To Dubrovnik A two hour ferry Chugs fifty miles And we're met by our host and a smile He drives us a mile With nary a rattle To his comfy hillside home Debriefed and desaddled We descend to the depths Down 200 steps Just me and my mate To the guarded gate Of this grand legend of a city Surrounded by walls The architecture enthralls We're stunned by the scale of it all So much to explore Stonework galore The fascinating doors Alleys in a maze You can spend days Fountains to fill your bottles Church bells, spires Baked goods and buyers Cuddly cats keeping watch Over thousands of tourists No worse than us I suppose We get off the main street To inspire our feet The stairs they steepen And up we be creepin' The crowds much thinner up here For two more days we'll be here The stones are speaking their prose As we imagine this world long ago
We explore the cliffs See ferries and skiffs More stuff we be seein' At the Maritime Museum Making friends over lunch We've experienced a bunch At night with a light We find our way To an enchanted evening concert Then early we rise Under more blue skies To walk the great walls of Dubrovnik Three hours it takes For the memories we make And the photos we'll share back home Signs of a war we all abhor Wishing peace forevermore It's hot by now We're a little bit pooped After hiking our loop Nothing a gelato can't fix Then I hike to the summit And try not to plummet The old city now far below Then down, down, down I return to the town To get ready to leave For tomorrow we fly to Genev-a For our next Swiss journey of the leg
Next and final stop: Swiss Alps to Paris