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Published: June 24th 2012
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K – We were excited to get to Dubrovnik, which is probably the best-known destination in the Balkans. We were staying in a private room in Lapad (or "new" Dubrovnik) but were only a 10-minute bus ride to the Old City (henceforth referred to as Dubrovnik).
Knowing that Dubrovnik is the major destination for coach tours and cruise ships we got up early to beat the crowds. Our guidebook told us that the battlements opened at 9am so we decided to get to the town for 8am to stroll around and then be first in line. However when we got there we found that the battlements opened at 8am and we were therefore the first and only people up there! I can’t describe how great it was to walk around the 2KM of famous walls with no-one else in sight. Truly we were Kings of the Castle!
Dubrovnik is a beautiful place – marble pavements, old buildings, beautiful churches, and ancient alleyways. The view from the battlements is all blue sea, terracotta roofs and a network of stone houses, alleys and squares. It has recovered well from the damage inflicted in the 1991/2 conflict and there was little sign
of the bullet scarred streets which we later saw in Sarajevo. It was however weird overall traveling in an area of the world, which I mainly recall from news reports in the early 1990s and this feeling only exacerbated as we progressed in to Bosnia & Herzegovina later in the week.
There is no way Dubrovnik should be excluded from a trip to the Balkans. It really is beautiful. However, it did feel a bit like Disneyland, or more specifically, Epcot. We did not see a supermarket (there may be one, but we did not see one) and every house seemed to be a hotel, shop, café or restaurant. And it was of course very busy with tourists - as we climbed down from the ramparts at 9am we entered a completely different town, swamped by tour parties. Our host confirmed our impressions– he described Lapad as “21st Century” Dubrovnik and the Old Town as “Museum Dubrovnik”. He summed it up perfectly.
The tourist crush we saw was minor and is nothing compared to July / August where apparently there are often over 11,000 tourists in town but for us it was enough. Following another tip from our
hotel owner (he is used to tourists running back to their room because it gets overwhelming!) we instead took a 15 minute ferry to the island of Lokrum. It is a typical rugged, Dalmatian island and we hiked over to some secluded rocks next to the blue sea and read our books. Mark actually ventured in to the sea via the ladder provided on the rocks which I think was pretty insane – he says it was “refreshing” but I would put it way closer to freezing. But he still smiled for the photo!
We arrived back to a quieter Dubrovnik and had a very average lunch. This is the issue I have with tourist places – I can (just about) deal with tourist prices but tourist quality is another issue altogether. Overpriced, average food makes me mad especially when I think of all the great tavernas and local restaurants we have searched out in our travels.
Next step was watching Chelsea win the UEFA Champions League which is an event that shall never be referred to again by anyone who loves me. Or even wants to live happily again. Anywhere.
So – onwards and upwards we
got on a bus to Sarajevo. A city which most people equate with the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in 1914 and the start of WW1; the 1984 Winter Olympics and of course most tragically in recent times the hideous siege between 1992 and 1995.
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