Dubrovnik OldTown

Dubrovnik is an incredible vacation choice mid-september, for any cat lover – and this is mandatory, as cats are everywhere: on the streets, on the beach, under your dinner table, in the bushes, on the Old City stairs, even your host my have a few (and you must carefully check your luggage before you leave, so they don’t come along) – anyone who likes to indulge, from once in a while in freshly prepared sea food dishes, anyone who is ready to spend a little money (it is a pretty expensive city) and anyone who is ready for some powerful epiphanies as they begin to unravel “hidden” treasures, listen to locals’ stories and experience everyting through their own eyes, even get some different perspective on their life.

 

But everything takes time and mine is only one point of view. So I suggest a little research before deciding upon visiting Dubrovnik. I would also suggest you go there prepared for a little bit of physical exercise, because both the old and the newer city are built on steps. We had to climb 377 steps from the Old City Ploce gate to our home and we’d do that at least three times a day.

  

Some people think it’s too much, but for others, seeing the view from the top is worth the muscle pain that follows (and it will most certainly follow).

 

We arrived in the middle of the night, after our trip has been postponed for a few hours due to heavy winds. The first experience was adrenaline-rising to say the least, as an old bus transported us from the airport to the city gate and had we known that one wrong move of our driver’s could have thrown us straight into the gulf, we probably would have thought twice before deciding to go to Dubrovnik. But it was dark, we were extremely tired and we couldn’t wait to go to sleep, so our senses were not as in the moment as they should have.

Whenever we go somewhere, we like to play the “Amazing race” game and learn about ourselves, each other and the kind of team we make, leave home as unprepared as possible and come up with solutions as problems arise. Needless to say that upon ariving there was no internet, the streets were empty and we didn’t have any clue on how to find our host’s address. Thankfully, after heavy wind blows and street names that sounded anything but familiar, she called and explained everything. By the time we met her, it was three o’clock in the morning, we were exhausted, but stopped to sniff the salty water air and lose ourselves in the lights of the Old Town, quietly resting at our feet. It was absolutely beautiful and all our tiredness miraculously vanished. Not to mention our surprise when, upon arriving, our fridge was filled with cold drinks, on the house.

In the morning, we jumped out of bed, ran out of the room and to the terrace and this was the first thing we saw:

We got hungry, got dressed and realized that we had to change some pounds, as they don’t accept any other currency but their own kuna. We headed towards Banje Beach, which is ten minutes  from the Old City. In professional photos, it seems much wider; in reality, it is nothing like that. In all honesty, we were both a little disappointed when we got there. And as we would later find out, all beaches are pebble, but we were not picky, we just wanted to dive in the clear, salty Adriatic water, get some tan and relax.

This was the first and last time we came to this beach, as we later discovered Sveti Jakov Beach, a mile away from the Old Town, a somewhat secluded place that promisses breathtaking views and dramatic sunsets as soon as you start descending the 160 steps.

It will not be long before the mascot, a Russian blue cat comes to sit on your towel.

You might want to consider special shoes for going into the water though, as the pebbles might easily hurt your feet.

As you begin to settle in, you realize how many things are to be done and how little time you have. I would suggest at least one week of vacation.

 

There are organized one-day trips to Montenegro, Bosnia-Hertzegovina (that I will talk about in separate articles), boat trips to Lokrum island or the Elafites, there are museums to be seen and you absolutely have to witness a sunset from the top of Mount Srđj and you can get there either via cablecar, or by hiking. If you decide to hike, under any circumstances don’t wear sandals, like I did, but at least a pair of sneakers. And you should bring something warm, for after the sun has set, as it gets really cold up there, especially if you decide to visit the Homeland War Museum or have something to eat in the restaurant and you haven’t checked the time the cable car closes. You might find yourself standing in the pouring rain, waiting for an Uber, whilst freezing to death. Yes, it happened too. But then, again, the view from above is worth everything.

 

Actually, the Homeland War Museum is something that you need to see in order to understand what people of Dubrovnik have gone through and, perhaps, this might explain their not very friendly attitude. They are rather cold and they don’t care very much about tourists or customer service. At some point, we actually took it very personal and shouldn’t have. It could be  London having spoiled us with smiles, promptness, impeccable service, mystery diners, or it could simply be that croatians are more honest and don’t feel like faking respect or servitude because they have been through so much and, as we later found out, life is far from easy: rent in the Old Town can even go as high as 7000euros/month, so the majority of people can’t afford to live there, so in order to keep a job, they have to move to cities in the vicinity and travel every day to work. And since their rocky soil doesn’t allow and trainlike development, they have to travel by bus which, as I mentioned before, is a dangerous, time and energy consuming experience.

Of course, Dubrovnik is an amazing place for Game of Thrones and Star Wars fans and there are organized tours that take you to the key points throughout the Old Town, but since I am not one, I just admired the beauty and timelessness of the city walls and the original monuments without relating them to anything else.

There are a few regrets for not having had enough time to see everything and the biggest is that we didn’t get to visit any cemetery, but one of the most wonderful experiences was walking on the city walls and seeing the city from different angles, not to mention the pistachio-melon-banana ice-cream with a view we had. With all the picture taking, the whole experience lasted for around four hours.

 

Foodwise,

 

we found a great place where we had juicy, meaty, fresh octupus burgers and perfectly seasoned tuna salads at reasonable prices, called Burger Tiger. We would usually take our food away and have it on the pier, or the steps of the Old Town, watching people pass by or taking a glance inside the “Apartmans” through the open doors. We waited until the last day to go to Mimoza and try a traditional cake we read about in a magazine, called “carob cake” and even though I would have expected it to be the highlight of the trip and have a more memorable taste (and unfortunately wasn’t), we still had to have two slices – just to be sure.

One night, on a romantic dinner, we chose a small place in the Old Town, where we had fresh calamari. And I don’t know about you, but I love my calamari with garlic sauce. In this area, they serve it excusively with tartar sauce. So when I asked for garlic, they brought me spring garlic in…oil, as you can see in the photo beneath. But the calamari were amazing!

We also witnessed more than a few Old Town weddings, because the nearness of the sea is always romantic.

 

Our last night there was the warmest, so we walked the Old Town streets up and down and down and up like there was no tomorrow until they started to go empty, lit up only by suspended street lamps.

 

But before that, we accidentally discovered a local artist/singer/actor’s studio and that, I think, was the highlight of my vacation, as I contemplated boats made out of recycled wood and match boxes, lamps and messy desks, layers and layers of old containers, cutters, pencils, everything accompanied by a bluesy croatian song played on an old radio. It was  “Putujem” by Marko Tolja. And the artist/singer/actor’s name is Igor Hajdarhodžić.

On our last day, we visited the Franciscan Monastery and the Pharmacy Museum (a 14th Century architectural gem and the third oldest functioning pharmacy in Europe, in business since 1317) – both connected through a small courtyard and a garden where orange and palm trees grow peacefully next to an array of healing herbs such as sage and mint.

The museum also keeps a collection of liturgical objects and relics, paintings, gold jewellery and chalices, not to mention that, on one of the walls you can spot bullet holes dating from the 6th of December 1991, the night Dubrovnik was viciously attacked by the Yugoslav Peoples Army.

Our vacation was an emotional rollercoaster, with blissful sunsets and moments of sadness for everything the Pearl of the Adriatic and it’s people have been through, with sudden urges to adopt every stray cat, the best weather possible and the experience of an incredible storm that lasted a whole night followed by the clearest blue sky, we laughed a lot, then got terrified by the prospect of having to climb all those stairs over and over and over again and then it started to get easier.

One thing is certain: one way or another, no matter the reason, this vacation will be impossible to forget.

Putujem!

Green Eyed Kisses,