Croatia

Inevitably, a week at a conference, staying in a huge concrete monstrosity of a conference hotel involves quite a bit of sitting in windowless rooms and drinking bad coffee. At least, though, on this trip those coffee breaks spilled out onto a sunny terrace under blue skies & overlooking the even bluer sparkling waters of the Adriatic.

The conference was taking place in Cavtat, just down the wiggly Croatian coastline from Dubrovnik, and it was a gathering of around 250 lexicographers, most of them academics attached to universities across Europe, plus me, a jobbing lexicographer on commercial dictionaries feeling distinctly the odd one out, but still joining in enthusiastically with some of the nerdiest conversations imaginable.

I did manage to arrive a day early to grab a free day in Dubrovnik before the conference kicked off. I took one of the handful of small boats that ply their trade between Cavtat and Dubrovnik, chatting to an Australian woman travelling around Europe on the 45-min crossing. The Old Town of Dubrovnik was busy, touristy & full of Game of Thrones references that went right over my head, but none of them to a degree that couldn't be escaped by veering off down a quiet side street. I spent the day wending my way around the streets mostly happily, only getting a bit hangry and frustrated when I couldn't find a good spot for lunch. I ended up with some mediocre squid in a shady backstreet squeezed slightly too close to the neighbouring tables. But otherwise, I wandered with my camera and stopped for coffee in a couple of good spots for people-watching, even getting my second coffee on the house because the waiter was so pissed off with a noisy group of Americans at the next table who he clearly felt had spoiled my experience!

Through the week, I managed to grab a couple of short local walks. Cavtat is a village that consists of two tiny sheltered ports separated by a narrow peninsular, typical of the fingerlike coastline.

I also managed a dip in the sea. It turned out to be on a rather grey, windy afternoon and the hotel's 'beach', actually a concrete quay with steps leading down into the water, was almost deserted. Even though the sea was lacking its characteristic sparkle under overcast skies, it was warm, crystal clear, and to my joy, teeming with colourful little fishes.  I happily floated face-down for as long as my breath would allow!

The conference ended at lunchtime on Saturday and there was an organized hike in the afternoon.  We were told that the path would be steep and rocky, so to wear appropriate shoes and bring water. About 40 of us set off, led by some of the locals who were part of organizing the conference. We headed up out of the village and onto a rocky trail leading up the hillside. We carried on up and up for about 3 miles. I was fine with the walking and the path, but with bright sun and no shade at all, I could feel myself getting hotter and hotter, and my water was soon going down. So, when we reached a point where one of our guides offered to take a group back down, I decided that wisdom was the better part of valour. Almost as soon as we turned round, I started to cool down and feel better. When we got back to the hotel, we'd only covered 5.6 miles, but it'd still taken us 3 hours and felt like double. Later, on my way out to dinner, I bumped into a small group of those who'd carried onto the top, just arriving back at 7 o'clock, an hour after sunset and 5 hours after they'd set off!