Dubrovnik

Arrived in Dubrovnik yesterday by Croatia Airlines (A320 Airbus) – a 45 minute flight from Zagreb.  At the Tourist Info booth they said we should take the bus from the airport to the bus terminal in Dubrovnik, which we did.  Turns out the bus terminal is a 50 Kuna (about $10) taxi ride past where we needed to go.

The picture below shows the bridge to the gate that starts the old city of Dubrovnik. We were dropped of by the taxi beside the entrance to the bridge because no vehicular traffic is allowed inside the old city (except service vehicles during certain hours, and emergency vehicles). Once inside we found ourselves on the main street of the old city, which we dubbed the ‘shiny street’ because over 1,000 years of foot traffic has polished the stones to a marble-like finish, to the point where it actually looks wet.

We were looking for the fourth street to the left once we got on the ‘shiny street’, but found the side streets aren’t actually streets at all.  They are the narrowest of passage ways that consist of a series of stone steps going almost straight up. The third photo shows what it looks like from our room at the Vicelic Guest House.  The wash you see hanging on the line above belongs to the residents in the apartments along the ‘street’.

We tried to check in, but the door to the Guest House was closed and locked.  A nice brass plaque on the wall gave a phone number to call if the door is locked, but we don’t have phone access with the iPhone.  We went down the steps to the next landing (another side street), where street cafes are set up.  The maitre de at the first one offered to call the Guest House number on his cell phone for us.  Within 10 minutes the proprietress, Anke, showed up and set us up in the room.  She’s Croatian, with a pretty good facility with the English language. But somewhere she has learned the British endearment, ‘dahling’,  which she pronounces ‘da-ahlink’ – and uses it in every single sentence of her speech, in place of your name.  Cute at first, but after a while – not so much.

Ok, so we weren’t expecting this mountain goat climb to our room, but we made the most of it.

We went to the cafe with the helpful maitre de and had a nice dinner of a variety of Dubrovnik meats – pork, veal, chicken, a local roll of spiced ground meat called ‘civapceci’ (sp?), and various sausages.  Very good!

In the evening we walked the ‘shiny street’ and saw the sights, including the impressive bell tower, and the Dubrovnik harbour.

Dubrovnik – Day 2

After some debating about whether two folks (seniors) with knee and hip/leg problems should do this or not, we decided to buy tickets to tour the wall of the city.  It involves a steep climb up a series of stairs to get to the top of the wall and then walk around the complete perimeter of the Old City with lots more steps up and down.  We’re really glad we did because it was an awesome experience.  We just had to take it easy with lots of breaks and drinks of water to stay hydrated in the 35 C temperature.

After the wall tour, we had a rest and a drink in a shady 0utdoor cafe and tried to get our faces to go from the scary beet red to normal, which was quite difficult in the oppressive heat.  None of the eateries we could find were indoors with air conditioning.  Anyway, we managed, and then headed back to the room for a cooling shower – then lunch.  At 2:00 pm we went to a History of Dubrovnik 3D film presentation, and then visited the Dubrovnik cultural history museum.

It’s an awesome place, this Dubrovnik.  A great spot to sit and ‘people watch’.  They’re from all over the world in all sizes, shapes and age groups.

Tomorrow we’re off by bus to Split, Croatia.  Stay tuned!