If I can tell you anything about exploring Dubrovnik, it is this: start early! We were extremely fortunate that we decided to catch the 7am boat from Sipan back to the mainland of Dubrovnik. Half an hour, so we were back in Dubrovnik by 7.30am. Another bit of advice is this: take the bus; do NOT attempt to hike your way up the steep stone staircases to your accommodation which is at the top of a huge hill by the bypass. TAKE the bus. It was like the favelas in Brazil!! I almost died at the top!
Once we had stored our bags at our very nice, cheap accommodation, Rooms Tomas (found on Bookings.com -£30 a night), we caught the bus into the Old town. There are no cars allowed into the old town, so the pavement is super shiny and polished and incredibly picturesque. We ate breakfast in the main square in a café and then decided to climb the city walls. This cost about 90Kn which seemed a lot but is worth it for the views. As we were early, it was very easy to stand and take photos leisurely but by about 11.30am, the place was really busy with masses of people all surging along those high stone paths and staircases.
You can see out to sea to Lokrum, the nearest island and see down over the beautiful red/orange roofs of the houses and strangely, you don't tire of taking a myriad photos of what is essentially the same thing, at slightly altered angle.
Watch out for going into some of the little towers to look. I walked straight into a ceiling and smacked my head exceedingly hard. I was not impressed at the annoying Japanese girl in the overreacting white face mask who laughed when I did this and didn’t help as I staggered around dizzily as I tried to recover my footing without pitching down some stairs or over a wall whilst CBC tried to get past her to assist me. Luckily, I recovered after a few moments to continue the journey. We spent a good hour and a half up there. Luckily, there are some places to buy refreshments, should you need them.
Eventually, we finished the tour and headed back down to ground level. There are many museums and places to visit, such as a naval museum and a musical one, but we didn't really fancy museums as our time was limited. We sought a place for lunch and had a really great cup of tea in a bar by the edge of the old town who actually gave you a pot for once, instead of a cup with hot water and a tea-bag!
In the old town, there are a plethora of shops of all sorts; tours galore are offered, catering for all tastes: fancy the Game of Thrones 3 hour walk, fear not, this is available. Or why not go canoeing- certainly sir! An interesting feature of Dubrovnik is the fact that none of the shops had signs, presumably to fit in with the architecture, so you had to peer into the shops to find out what they sell; that's quite a good sale tactic! There are many tiny winding and steep streets leading off the main thoroughfare which are labyrinthine and highly intriguing. A great many restaurants are available and it was hard to find somewhere for our lunch, incidentally salads, since they seemed to offer largely the same fare. Our choice was delicious but I'm not sure we'd have gone far wrong with what we had.
After a while, the heat really became too oppressive and we longed to find somewhere by the water, despite both of us leaving our swimming attire in our suitcases out of town. We walked in search of a beach. Be warned, there is very little beach in Dubrovnik and what there is, is very overcrowded and not very comfortable. A beach club commandeered a large proportion of the tiny beach and then the other-half was covered in occupied beach loungers. The sand was shingly and uncomfortable and since the tide was largely in, was quite hard to paddle in comfortably. A pity. We climbed up onto the main road again, determined that surely there must be something a little less crowded that we could lay claim to. Many expensive hotels dominated the edge so it seemed nigh on impossible until finally, we found a winding path around rocks which led to some rocks where people were swimming by jumping off. By now, roasting from the intense glare of the sun, we sought sanctuary by the rocky cliff. After a while of sitting, we moved a bit further down to a now unoccupied spot, wishing we could swim. Mysteriously, the weather started to turn and it began raining a bit, the sea turned very choppy. A large shoal of sea-kayakers floated along and sought shelter in a large cave, all except for one errant chap who couldn't seem to control his steed and had a massive tantrum and had to be rescued by a very strong instructor.
Soon, we decided to head back towards town, ready to seek dinner. After cake and tea in a café, we climbed to the fortress on the rocks which had JUST closed.
Dinner, many restaurants were very busy, and we found a place where I had what was called Hunter's Chicken. I am used to this in UK pubs but they said that this is a misplay on what the original recipe is, which is chicken pieces in a sort of cassoulet with plums and beans. It was extremely delicious and quite different to anything I had eaten in my time in Croatia.
Finally, after seeking a place to listen to music and have a final drink, we decided to seek the bus back to our accommodation, since we would have to wake very early in order to catch the bus to the airport.
Our room was very comfortable and incredibly had a huge bathroom with a washing machine in it!
That night, there was an almighty thunderstorm which woke us. Since our room had a balcony that overlooked the sea, we could see this all so clearly.
Our final day in Croatia had once again been an exciting one with new experiences to treasure.
And that, is all I have to say about Croatia.
xx
