Dubrovnik

Monday July 25th 2011, Dubrovnik
On our last night in Split on Saturday, we went out to a good, sort of traditional restaurant called “Sperun” that was recommended in one of our guidebooks. Good food and not too expensive. After dinner we walked up the main pedestrian street in the old town to a gelato place for our 2nd of the day. The Hajduk - Barcelona game was starting at 8 and was on big screens on the Riva and in a lot of bars. It looked like there would be a pretty rowdy street party. We were tired and weren’t that interested in participating so we went back to our room for a good sleep before the next day’s travel.
On Sunday morning we bought some breakfast stuff, ate in our room and were at the bus station by 8:45. Our bus left as planned at 9:15. We had another good trip down here - very scenic and interesting. A lone traveller from Seattle on a 6 month tour sat behind us and beside him was a young woman from Dubrovnik who had just finished university in Zagreb. She told us lots of interesting things as we travelled.
One part of the trip that she didn’t like was having to pass through a few kilometres of Bosnia and Hercegovina in order to continue into the southern part of Croatia. There are still some unresolved feelings about the war.
She told us that although she was a small child, she still remembers having to leave Dubrovnik during the siege that started in October 1991 and lasted 8 months. The Serbian-Montenegrin army shelled Dubrovnik for that long from the mountains above the city, the worst night being December 6th. Her grandfather refused to leave and lived without power and water for a long time. He’d immerse his meat in olive oil to keep it from spoiling and found other old-fashioned ways to survive. Her cousins south of Dubrovnik had to flee and their houses were looted and burned. When we mentioned that we planned to visit Mostar in Bosnia and Hercegovina, she said she would never go there.
Naturally, this is only one point of view and the situation is far too complex for us to grasp in a few days. However, Dubrovnik has had a history of freedom and autonomy, which they often paid for to whoever threatened to swallow them up, whether it was the Hungarians, the Austrians, the Venetians or others. At one time Dubrovnik had one of the biggest navies on the Mediterranean. They were among the first nations to recognize the United States in 1776. There are “Libertas” signs or flags all over the place.
The guy from Seattle was also interesting - a software developer who had travelled widely. We talked about lots of different places in the world.
When we got to the main bus station in Dubrovnik, near the ferry terminal, it only took us a few minutes to find the local bus that would take us to the Pile Gate of the old walled town. That took only 10 or 15 minutes travel and after a few minutes we found our room. We’re in a great location, about 100 metres from the walls of the old town and about 50 metres from the sea. We can see both out our window. We’re just below one of the outlying forts used to protect the town. The reception guys were very helpful and gave us some tips on sights, restaurants to try and to avoid, which grocery store was cheapest and so on.
After we got settled we wandered in the Pile Gate and took a stroll down the Stradun or main pedestrian street. There are no cars inside the old walled city; it’s all pedestrian streets. They’re more or less at right angles to each other so navigating around is easy compared to what we’re used to.
Last night, we tried a pizza and pasta restaurant in the old town that had been recommended. It was great and not too expensive. The places right around the Stradun are tourist traps but if you know where to go in the back streets, it’s pretty reasonable, although everything here is a bit higher than in some of the last towns we’ve been to.
This morning we got up early, had breakfast in our room (there’s a fridge in the hall) and were at the ticket booth for the main wall walk at 8:10. If you start early there’s hardly anyone else on the walls. After about 10:30 the tour groups start arriving at the Pile Gate by bus. Many of them are from cruise ships. At least 3 cruise ships a day dock in Dubrovnik. (We’re sitting on our bed sipping wine and beer and out our window can see the steady stream of people walking the top of the walls right now.)
It cost 70 kuna each ($14) but was well worth it. We walked all the way around the top of the old town walls. It took us about 2 ½ hours but we could look down on the town on one side and onto the sea, for half of it anyway, on the other side. On the landward side, the back half of the old town is right at the foot of the mountain range. During the siege, the Dubrovnik people only held one small part of the mountain ridge top which is how the other army had a good place from which to shell the town.
It was unbelievably scenic. There are a few roofs in the old town that are the old faded brown but most of the roofs are orange, indicating that they’re new. Most of the roofs in the old town were hit by shells during the siege. People sought shelter in the old battlements. We’ve read that the Serb-Montenegrin army lost the battle for world opinion by shelling such a beautiful city, the “Pearl of the Adriatic”. We can see why. This is one of the most beautiful old towns that we’ve seen.
This afternoon we climbed up to the top of the old fort just above our room. We also got some great views of the old walled town from there.
Tonight we have reservations at another recommended restaurant on a back street of the old town. Tomorrow we have booked a daylong mini-bus tour to Mostar and another little town in Bosnia and Hercegovina. This seemed like the most efficient way to see them.
All of the guide books are right when they say that Dubrovnik is the one place in Croatia that you must see. It’s great.