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Published: April 26th 2011
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The Old Port
Where the boats for and from Lokrum depart from Sunday, April 24th 2011, was one special day for us. Not only that Kiki turned 28 on that day, but also it was Easter, that of course was followed by the Easter Monday, a national holiday, left us with a long weekend. We had decided to visit Dubrovnik for that, which was a decision we had made quite a while ago, when we accidentally found a very good offer for flight from Zagreb to Dubrovnik for less than 40 Euro one way for each. Kiki has a colleague in Dubrovnik who kindly offered us her flat for us to stay in, so we didn’t even think twice to go. We flew from Zagreb on Friday evening after work, and our flight was delayed for half an hour, making us reaching Dubrovnik quite late because of the slow and rare connection from Dubrovnik airport to the city.
The first day on Saturday we dedicated the time for the famous old city inside the magnificent city wall. We started to explore the area around 9 o’clock already, giving us the whole long day to admire the town. We walked along the main street of the old city called Stradun, which is flooded
The Cruise and The Wall
The view of the old city and the famous wall from the hill across the sea by souvenirs shops and restaurants that are overly priced for cheap travelers like us. I remember in Pula or Zagreb, the magnetic souvenir should cost around a Euro or two, and it costs at least five in Dubrovnik. But again, it’s not the fridge magnet that you pay for, it’s the memory. As well, it’s not the cup of coffee that you pay for a seat in the street coffee shop there, it’s the view. There are bunch of buildings you’ve got to see inside this whole open museum. We started the journey from the main gate, welcomed by the big Onofrio’s fountain that promises you to come back there if you drink the water from it. There are monasteries to visit, and lots of museums and exhibitions to see, including the one inside the Rector’s Palace. There are also many churches with St. Blaise’s church as the most famous as St. Blaise is believed as the protector of the city. There is his statue at the entrance and exit, holding the city of Dubrovnik on his left hand. This church is located at the far end of Stradun, across the Orlando’s Column with Croatian flag on it, and the
smaller Onofrio’s fountain from which people don’t really drink the water.
We kept going to the left exit, leading us to the beautiful old port where tourists could also embark with public boats to sail to the closest island, Lokrum. We spent the afternoon napping by the sea at the far edge of the port and eating our lunch there. The sea water was way too cold for bathing, although the air was perfectly warm in already. The water was flawlessly clear and you can see lots and lots of fish swimming in it, inviting people to fish, which you can do by paying the annual fishing fee for around 70 Euro per year. We got back inside the wall, wandering around the city, along the narrow passages and steep stairways in the tiny town. You can also walk along the wall surrounding the city for around 10 Euro. We spent the evening enjoying coffee and sunset along the coast on the treat of some other Indonesian-Croatian couple living in Dubrovnik.
The second day, on Kiki’s birthday, we had a simple Easter breakfast in the flat. I prepared some French Salad, hard boiled eggs, turkey hams, and spring
Clear Water
The clear water exposes the fish in it onions. We departed to the old town taking the local bus that was working perfectly on the holiday (considering that all shops were closed). This time we didn’t go inside the city wall. Instead, we climbed the hill across the old city to find a better view to see the whole city. Besides, we were also trying to find the house of Kiki’s old family friend who happened to be literally on top of the hill with a spectacular view toward the sea and the old city. We had nice family lunch of lamb and chicken at their place and spent some time enjoying the scenery of which Kiki had called ‘a million dollar view’ from the balcony of the house. Plus, the house is located underneath the station of Dubrovnik cable car, so we enjoyed looking at the busy cable cars going back and forth packed with the tourist who had to pay for around 10 Euro for a ride.
We got back to the old town afterward, meeting another couple friends from South Africa who also are living in Dubrovnik at the moment. We spent the afternoon having a nice chat over a cup of coffee, later a cone of ice cream. After another farewell with them, Kiki and I decided to wait that it got dark so that we can see the town at night time. It was a bit chilly then, since it was not as sunny as the first day was. However, we made it to stay and enjoy the city with its elegant street lamps.
On Monday, we were out of the flat quite late, because we were quite exhausted of the walks and hikes from the previous days, plus we had to already been packed when leaving the flat since we were going to the airport directly afterward. We enjoyed the last day lying down on the rock at the port under the sun with the company of the Indonesian friend we'd met two days before. We had another ice cream and just looking at the busy boats loading and unloading passengers to Lokrum. It was a pity that we really didn't have time to sail to Lokrum, because I really wanted to see the lake and botanical garden on the island, plus the fortress with its mystical legends of the tragical death stories of the previous owners.
Well anyway, we had one great trip under the sun last weekend. Although I tend to always say 'this was my favorite trip ever' at the end of every trip Kiki and I have made, but this time I really mean it! Seriously. Although I might say that Dubrovnik is overly priced, but I have to say that it really is the pearl of Adriatic, and that it isn't over rated like many other places in the world.
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