The further adventures of Stan -11

Stan, good to his word, spent hours on the computer, researching our potential holiday. His passport, which he can do on line, will take six weeks to arrive, so there is no point in booking anything until that arrives, but he intends to get his photo taken at the supermarket this afternoon, and send the form off tomorrow. He went to see his mother over the weekend, and got his birth certificate, and his father's plus his parents' marriage certificate. He was most amused at the effort they took to prove that he wasn't a bastard. The basic form of passport will cost him £72.50.

He thinks that the cheapest and best place to go in the Dubrovnik area is a little town called Mlini, which apparently means “mills”, as it was a mill town originally, based on the cascading streams. He thinks that the Torkovic Apartments might suit us as they are self catering, and have a two bedroom option. Apparently in mid October, it is still getting temperatures of 20° plus in
the area, and the sea is still considered warm enough to swim in.

I said that maybe we could get a good deal if we wait to book until the last minute, because cancellations sometimes come up, and you can get a place for half the advertised price.

“Did you ever do that?”

“Just once, when I went to Rhodes with a bridge friend of mine.”

“And was it all right when you got there?”

“Actually it was close to the airport flight path, so was very noisy, but the resort itself was pleasant and clean, and the food was good. We did get in trouble, sneaking our own drinks into the restaurant.”

“You know how to live dangerously,” he teased me.

He showed me pictures of the resort he had in mind on the computer. The apartment had a reasonable kitchen area, and a dishwasher, as well as fridge, microwave and two burner hob and a dishwasher. There was a balcony area, and also a barbeque area in the grounds, which looked very attractive. The travel guide said the views were outstanding, but the drawback was a 200 step descent to the beach. But we were young (ish) and fit, so that shouldn't be a problem. Apparently the bus goes into Dubrovnik every half hour and there is also a boat service taking passengers to
the nearby islands, which I really wanted to visit.

Being picked up at the airport was an extra change, but not a large one, and certainly cheaper than a taxi would have been.

I was getting excited about this now.

October 10

Stan is so pleased because his passport came in the post today. He is beaming from ear
to ear.

After dinner, we checked to see if there was still availability for the resort he had chosen, and we were very lucky as the two bedroom flat was available – although all the studio apartments, which were considerably cheaper, were fully booked. So using my credit card for us both, (he promises to pay back his share at the end of the month) we took the plunge and booked flights and apartment, and will be leaving on Wednesday next week.