I knew that Dubrovnik was another beautiful walled city perched on an outcropping of rock. I had heard that is was bombed to bits by the Yugoslav Peoples Army in the war in the 1990s and restored to something of its former glory. I had read that “Game Of Thrones” has scenes shot here. That perked my interest!

Dubrovnik has a recorded history stretching back to the 7th century. Read all about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubrovnik.
There is no safe anchorage bear the town of Dubrovnik, just an exposed area in front of the tiny old town harbor, which is filled with small local, mostly fishing boats. Ferries and daytrip boats run in and out of the harbor frequently, making anchorage near the harbor entrance very choppy and dangerous. Some boats anchor out, as the conditions allow, for a day trip to Dubrovnik, but since we had to pick up Mauro we went to Cavtat, and town nearby and took the bus (#10).

Walking down a hill in many old European cities involved descending stairs entwined between buildings.

We walked down into Dubrovnik and went to the tourist office to buy the day pass that lets you into most of the museums only to find out that they are all closed on Tuesday, or whatever day it was. So we just bought tickets to walk on the fortified wall around the town. This is the only must do activity in Dubrovnik, as you see the whole town inside the walls as you amble around it. I say amble, because there are so many tourists, that even walking a reasonable pace is impossible.

It was so packed with humans that there is really nothing about the city I can comment on.
It was a beautiful warm day, perhaps the last day that would feel like summer. The restoration of the town, which was recent due to the war in 1991, leaves most of the red tiled roofs the same color, which timestamps them to the same year or so. The roofs with faded tile or tile with moss growing in it, are older and provide little contrast, sadly, as much of the town was destroyed.


A certain sign of the end of the season is that I was walking around Dubrovnik, the Jewel of the Adriatic, voted one of the best preserved medieval cities in all of Europe, and finding faults. Jam packed with tourists inside a walled city with few escape gates is one. Looks brand new in that- recently patched up UNESCO funded medieval town way- is another. But I could imagine that without all the human sweat, the ambiance would be sublime. The cathedral and Rector’s Palace looked beautiful (from the outside as it was closed), the Stradun, or main street was filled with people, so we wandered the smaller streets, and found a nice dress shop of local Croatian designers right across the narrow street from the Orthodox church. We visited the church, and then found 3 Croatian-designed dresses. Score!