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Published: October 21st 2012
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Dubrovnik Office
as you can see - no rest for the wicked... We have heard a lot about Dubrovnik and how beautiful it is and everyone was right - it was just gorgeous. It is an historic and beautifully picturesque town known mainly as a major tourist resort facing the sea at the base of the rugged limestone mountains. Its medieval double walls and fortifications make you feel as though you have stepped back in time.
For the history buffs - it was founded in the 7th century by the Romans, and under the protection of the Byzantine Empire, of Venice, of Hungary until 1526, and of the Ottoman Empire until 1806, but it governed itself as an independent republic. In the 16th century, Dubrovnik had one of the greatest merchant fleets in the Mediterranean. Napoleon abolished the city-republic, and in 1815 the Congress of Vienna gave the town to Austria. Following World War 1, the town became part of the newly created Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia) and was occupied by the Italians and the Germans during World War II. When Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, Serbian militias laid siege to and bombarded Dubrovnik, destroying many sites of historical importance. Residents were forced to
View of old fort from top of mountain
The steep walk & ride on the cable car was worth it - the views are amazing. flee, and tourism was virtually wiped out. Since mid 1990s, Dubrovnik has re-established itself as a major tourist destination.
We arrived and saw a cable car so headed to the base - which was a lot further away than we anticipated and stopped a few times on the way up the steep streets to get to where you purchase tickets and then had to keep climbing to get to it. It was worth it to see the views from the top where the cable car station was. Also a restaurant and of course a souvenir shop but nothing else but what views!! Totally amazing.
After that we headed into the old city which is completely walled and above the sea on a mountain. We spent most of the day there and John walked up some very steep stairs to get to the top of the walled city to walk around the walls. He took about 45 minutes and came back very hot and wet from perspiration but said it was very worthwhile... so were the shops although didn't buy anything other than an ice cream.... believe it or not...
Lunch was in a back street in the
walled city and was massive - I think the caesar salad would have been enough food for 4 adults for lunch - it was incredible. The European meals generally are large but this one was ridiculous!
After lunch we wandered around Dubrovnik and found the city park, and University and took some more photos. Very scenic and overlooked the sea all the time. While at the park we saw people swimming in the sea and something else there as well a bit further out from the rest... it was a man and his two dogs swimming out to a tiny island.
After boarding we just crashed for a couple of hours and then went to a casual dinner at the Lido restaurant and headed off afterwards to see the show - Kenny Smiles who is listed as a mad Welshman who is a good singer and an even better comedian. We grabbed a drink each and enjoyed the show and laughed our heads off as did everyone there - was only glad we weren't in the front seats....
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