Having had a busy tourist filled few days the mammoth had suggested getting away from the city centre and finding a more tranquil place.
Woolly says – I just knew she was going to try and rub that in, it wasn’t my fault that two hundred of them decided on exactly the same plan! As I watched the ferry boat fill I contemplated if the small island of Lokrum would be able to hold everyone.
As we chugged away from the harbour you could hear the gasps from three quarters of the boat as the view of Dubrovnik from the sea came into view, it was pretty good to be fair but I was more focused on the Fort I could see on the highest part of the tiny isle in front of me. Lokrum is a mere 600 metres (1969 feet) from the city of Dubrovnik with the first written mention of it in 1023 when the Benedictine abbey and monastery were founded, it is known for being the holiday paradise of the Austrian archduke (and short-lived Emperor of Mexico) Maximilian it also houses a botanical garden and a fort which was built by the French, though it was later named “Maximilian’s Tower” by the Austrians…today it would become MINE!.
It worried me slightly that my small friend had a rather obsessive glint in his eye
Woolly says – There is also a legend that says Richard the Lionheart was shipwrecked there in 1192 after returning home from the crusades and was cast safely ashore where he pledged to build a church, but at the plea of the Dubrovnik citizens the church was built on the nearby mainland instead. As our vessel docked I hoped back onto shore and led my party past the only eatery (must remember that for later when my snacks run out!) and up the rather uneven footpath to the Botanical Garden. Founded in 1959 it was said to hold a large variety of tropical and sub-tropical plant species, all I could see was some cacti, a few palms and a lavender bush not quite up to the standards of Birmingham Botanical Gardens. Trotting on I glanced back to check on my troops who appeared to have stopped and were cooing over the Islands peacock population that had apparently just added some ‘cute’ chicks to it’s number, I’m cute why do they need chicks!
Our Sargent didn’t seem happy with this development and as he barked out his orders to ‘move on troops’ Zoe and I considered heading in the opposite direction!
Woolly says – You see what I have to put up with! I sighed heavily and prodded them into action, a flight of steps awaited and the isles very green reservoir, hopefully we don’t have to drink out of that. Onwards and upwards we climbed with the sun blazing down I showed no mercy on my soldiers and the moaning I could hear from the ranks, I had to reprimand Jo several times for stopping and trying to get pictures of the ‘pretty’ yellow butterflies, we don’t do ‘pretty’ in my battalion. As we trudged mile after mile I removed the water rations from my men to ease their load and to be fair it did help to quench my thirst! I could see the squaddies were reaching the end of what they could cope with as we mounted the last incline and I screamed ‘CHARGE’.
Would you be surprised to know that we ignored him, his eyes seemed to turn into a rather fetching red and rather than put up with his moaning for the rest of the day we plodded on.
Woolly says – I think I need better recruits! Finally as the last man fell to the ground I took the Fort leaving the weeds shaking in fear at my brute force. The fort has proved useful to a couple of countries, immediately after the occupation of Dubrovnik in 1806 the French army started the construction of it on the peak of Glavica as a vast polygonal battery with bulwarks, a trench and earthen dikes. Having scaled the steps I inspected what was left of their work and found it oddly pleasing that although a bit of a wreck you could view their contributions to this day. As my troops finally caught up with me it seemed to meet their approval as well, apparently the views were amazing…they don’t have time to look at views we have a fort to guard!. As I led them back into the sunshine I was able to take in the work that the Austrian army had done in the 1830’s when they had added further annexes surrounding the main structure, work seemed to be in progress to restore it once more with ladders and cement around so having ordered my infantry to work I sat back to watch them, at this point I realised that they had disappeared!
I could hear him stamping his paw and threatening us with insubordination, Zoe and I however were non plussed and had a plan of our own….lunch by the sea.
Woolly says – well if they had said! The route down to the small harbour was treacherous especially for those of us wearing flip flops…if only they had listened to me before we left this morning! Arriving rather hot and bothered even I was tempted to dip a paw into the clear Adriatic as I demolished my tuna pasty. Having wiped away the crumbs and suffered the indignty of having my face and paws scrubbed we set off along the stony path to the other end of the island. The beautiful greenery gave us glimpses of the sea as we toiled on, lots more butterflies to catch Jo’s attention and as the miles rolled past I considered that it wasn’t a bad way to spend a Sunday.
We appeared to be reaching civilisation once more and as we passed St Catherine’s empty well we sighed in contentment at the dead pool.
Woolly says – there not going in with dead bodies surely! Although I checked and double checked there did only seem to be live swimmers and looking at the girls attempting to walk on the rocks to the super salty water I sat back for a bit of entertainment. Cries erupted at each second as they slithered and slipped into what apparently was a rather cold pool, I started counting…..I think they did well to get to ten!
Once dried out and with the clouds starting to cover the sky I suggested a look at the monastery. The Benedictine monastery was founded in 1023 and had a triple-naved basilica, the monastery were badly damaged in the 1667 earthquake and was then deserted in 1798. The last Benedictines left the island in 1808, local legend says that on their last night the monks put a curse on the island and anyone who tried to seek it for their own in the future. Well as it didn’t apply to the Fort I was ok with that. All that currently remains is a huge room which houses an exhibition from some TV show called Game of Thrones, there was lots of information and videos from people who are no where near as famous as me but who spend their time filming in Dubrovnik and Split, it was all interesting to some extent but as my boredom threshold grew I started to yawn when suddenly I saw it….
I heard the fiend scream ‘Mine’ before watching him barge past a group of tourists taking pictures and kicking the poor unsuspecting person who was sat in….
Woolly says – MY THRONE!!!! I did what any self respecting mammoth would do and got rid of the bystanders to claim my rightful place, forget Game of Thrones I was now retitling the programme Mammoth of Thrones.
It was so embarrassing being asked to leave with the small furry beast attempting to drag the throne out behind him, I was reduced to stuffing the kicking and screaming fur ball into my bag and trying to ignore the curious stares of the tourists on the ferry back as to why my bag was moving and shouting about thrones….not sure if we can go back there in a hurry!
Hello. Great job. I did not imagine this. This is a fantastic story. Thanks!