We arrived in Dubrovnik with no place to stay. Deciding to be adventurous and not waste time better spent venturing the city, we approached a group of nearly 30 gawking men and women that swarm tourists when departing nearly any mode of transportation in Europe. Completely intimidated and unsure how to handle the situation we stood in horror for a minute or so, like innocent bystanders, but alas we were spotted and a woman ran over showing us pictures of her room, the beautiful terrace and informed us it had a private bathroom. We accepted, climbed into her tiny car and off we went to some unknown room...
Yelena, our host, had informed us our room would be about a 20 minute walk into town. She was in fact correct, but forgot to mention we would descend about 200,000 stairs on the way into town, and yes…that also means we got to climb that many stairs to return home. It felt as though we were on a Stair Master for the entire time we were in Dubrovnik. Our butts and thighs are loving and hating us!
Our room was fine…clean and comfortable…and it did have a lovely view. The decorations were a bit skeptical…with tacky, brightly covered sheets complete with smiling sunflowers. The walls felt as though we had stepped into a catholic church covered with pictures of angles, Mother Mary, and various saints. The terrace looked out over the entire city and far off into the distance. There was also an awning of ripe grapes over head. They were perfectly ripe and a free snack…unfortunately Matt hates grapes with seeds (which is the only thing we have been able to find). We set out on our first descent into town, headed for the beach, only to bestow upon Stari Grad, the Old Town. The city walls themselves are an incredible sight…powerful and protective. According to Lonely Planet, “the entire Old Town is contained within a curtain of stone over 2km long and up to 25m high.”
Upon entering the drawbridge we found ourselves meandering down small streets and alleys...the floor being the most beautiful, shiny marble we had ever seen…it looked like sleek shiny pearls…so (naturally) I was in heaven!
As we walked through town we came across a traditional Croatian folk dancing group with dancers of all ages performing a jig.
Further up the road we heard the echo’s of men singing loudly, chanting, and quite drunk sounding cheering. As we walked closer we came across a large group of people parading through the streets…which in fact was a wedding procession. The men seem to all gather around an accordion, swaying back and forth singing…followed by families…trailed by the bride and groom. We stumbled upon a few other wedding processions throughout the day…all of which followed this same tradition.
The rest of the afternoon was spent at the beach…yet again a very rocky beach…with crystal clear water.
After trekking to and from town again we ate in the Old Town....
...strolled the streets, and ended up going to The Irish Jig Bar for a beer and some lively Irish music…we sang and danced our way up the hill once again...
The following morning we had quite a similar day…taking in the city and the beach. We also had to figure out how we would be getting out of Dubrovnik the next day…which proved to be a great challenge. Everything closes much to our surprise on Sunday around 1pm, so when we tried to rent a car or buy bus tickets that afternoon we were out of luck…and unlike the U.S. one is not able to buy or rent these things online. However…the next morning we did find that when the man we asked where to buy bus tickets told us Kosum (the grocery store), he actually meant the bus station was behind Kosum…fortunately we figured that out the next morning within minutes of missing our bus!
Back at our sobe (guest room) we sat out on the terrace and watched as an intense storm moved our way. We both marveled at the sky…to one side of us was complete sunshine, to the other was a lively thunderstorm, and in front of us the sun was setting.
I have never seen anything like it…I must have taken 100 photos!
Our stay in Dubrovnik was brief but well worth it. It is an incredible place, unlike any other, however Matt and I found it to be extremely touristy. Cruise ships will enter port and load the passengers on buses dropping them off by the thousands at the Old Town. It was very overwhelming. We were there on a Saturday and Sunday but one man we spoke to claimed the ships come through every day just the same as the weekends. I think we were spoiled by the island attitude experienced in Hvar...
We took a 5 hour bus ride from Dubrovnik back to Split where we had 8 hours to shop around the bustling outdoor market...
...go to the beach...
...and enjoy a lovely dinner on the water before boarding a night train to Zagreb followed by a 7 hour train to Vienna…where we will meet up with Matt’s dad for a few nights. Back to the cold we go…
Hvar remains in #1!
Stay thirsty my friends,
Lindsey and Matt
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