Medieval Dubrovnik

Getting to Dubrovnik from Split

The only direct way to get to Dubrovnik by car from the north of Croatia is to drive through Bosnia. No train service exists for this purpose probably due to the complication of going through this neighbouring country. We travelled the 4.5 hour journey from Split with a friendly Croatian guy, whose mother owned the apartments that we were staying in. The police on both sides of the border didn't bother looking at our passports, so we never collected another stamp in the book.

War and peace

Dubrovnik was an independent republic for 700 years until that was abolished by Napoleon in 1806. Since then, it has had a turbulent history with occupiers before, during and after the world wars. Croatia declared its independence in 1990 from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (with Dubrovnik a part of that) and shortly after, in 1991, the Yugoslav People's Army shelled the city causing considerable damage. This group was loyal to the Serbian government led by Slobodan Milosevic, whose government declared that Dubrovnik would not be permitted to remain in Croatia because they claimed that it was historically part of Montenegro. This was in spite of the large Croat majority in the city and that very few Montenegrins resided there, though Serbs accounted for six percent of the population. It is a very safe place now and so we had no issues with visiting this beautiful city.

Dubrovnik today

Adhering to UNESCO guidelines, local efforts and international aid have repaired the city in its original style. The old town was completed in the 13th century and remains virtually unchanged to the present day. It has walls that run around the old town that are up to six metres thick in some sections with a system of turrets and towers that were intended to protect the vulnerable city from attacks before the invention of artillery.

Enjoying the old town

On our first evening in town, we went on a 1 hour walking tour to introduce us to the main sights of the old town. Afterwards, we wandered around to find a restaurant to eat at and found a little place on the corner of a back street. There must have been a mussel festival on as we were given 2 huge pots of mussels to share between the 4 of us for free. 2 litres of Croatian Grasevina wine, house grappa and some Prosek (Croatian dessert wine) later, we wandered into a bar that was packed with locals and tourists alike to spend the rest of our evening chatting to some people from Turkey. A 3 am bedtime didn't help us get up early the next day for our exploration efforts, but we managed to be out and about by 10:30 am for brunch before we decided to walk the 2km circumference of the wall. We had lovely views of both the old town and sea from the top, but the boys were thirsty for beer by the time we made our descent. After a week sailing, they had acquired a taste for the local Croatian beer.

We walked down the touristy Placa, which is the main pedestrian street. It was once a channel that separated the two settlements upon which the city was founded in the Middle Ages, but it was filled and is now a lovely limestone walkway. After some trinket shopping and gelato, we visited the Franciscan Monastery/Museum, which has one of the oldest functioning pharmacies in Europe. It has been in operation since 1391. Unfortunately since it was a Sunday, the pharmacy was closed early, so we all missed out on buying the famous moisturiser that has been in production for hundreds of years. Our guide from the previous night recommended it, but now the boys had to come up with another idea for a gift for their gals. The Franciscan monastery library was hit by guided missiles during the attack in '91 and they have left one of the holes in the walls for you to see the damage. The shell of the unexploded missile is there for viewing as well.

The problem with starting your day late, is that the day finishes early. We fit in some more beer time, and sleep time for Gavin, before having our last seafood feast of the trip. Being a coastal country the seafood is superb and the locals know how to cook it well. Tourist prices unfortunately, but the food and service are good.

We had a 4am start to catch our transport to Dubrovnik airport the next morning, so an early night to finish it had to be.

Rae

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