Advertisement
Published: September 10th 2013
Edit Blog Post
Dubrovnik
Entry to Old City.
The cold virus I caught laid me low the first few days back in Dubrovnik. Fortunately we had four full days and by day three I was well enough to do some sightseeing. We caught a local bus up to Old City and were amazed at its size. We thought it would take just a few hours to walk through but we could have been not be more wrong. We didn't have a lot of information on the history of the city and also didn't know the significance of the buildings within it so decided we would return the following day and join a walking tour. We have found that city walking tours, in particular the ones where you just turn up and pay on the day, are a wonderful way of ensuring that you see significance landmarks and learn their history. You're not locked in to the tour so if you turn up and decide the group is too large you just don't join in. Although we were returning the following day we continued to stroll through the city but decided against walking the walls until the following day. On our return home we passed by the restaurant we
Dubrovnik
Big Onofrio's Fountain had dined in before the cruise and stopped for afternoon tea. The weather was fine and warm so we sat upstairs on the terrace and watched the boats moving in and out of the Port. It is such a lovely little restaurant we booked in for dinner and when we returned in the evening we were given a table in a prime viewing position. The sparkling lights of the boats in Port reflected off the water and made for a stunning view.
We returned to the Old City the following morning and joined the walking tour. It was just a small group and Markos, our guide, had loads of personality and a mischievous sense of humour. He turned out to be one of the most knowledgeable walking tour guides we have had so far. Markos is one of the just 4,000 people who live in the city, a population he says is decreasing rapidly. His great fear is that Old City will become a 'dead' city if the Croatian and local Governments don't provide economic incentives to encourage people to live within its walls. It is a remarkably well preserved medieval city which has endured many wars and earthquakes
Dubrovnik
Saint Blaise Church through the centuries. Most recently the city suffered massive destruction during the Yugoslav wars of the early 1990's. The restoration of the city is unbelievable. If you were to see the photographs of Old City after the destruction it suffered just 20 years ago you would not think it possible that it could have been rebuilt and so authentically. It is incredibly beautiful. One of the more significant landmarks we were shown was Big Onofrio's Fountain, designed by 15th Century Italian architect Onofrio della Cava. The complex aqueduct system still brings cold, clean water to Dubrovnik. We also visited the Church of Saint Blaise, the Franciscan Monastery of 'Friars Minor', the Dukes Palace and the house of famous Croatian playright Marin Drzic, all important landmarks but certainly not an exhaustive list of what we visited.
In spite of the heat we decided we would walk the city's walls. The bulk of the existing walls and fortifications were built in the 14th Century but they were continually added on to up to and including the 17th Century. They are approximately 1940 metres long and reach a maximum height of about 25 metres . . . and there are one or
Dubrovnik
Enjoying a cup coffee in a side street cafe . . . underneath someone's washing! two steps to climb. We started off at a leisurely pace but you do reach the point where you just want to finish, in spite of the breathtaking 360 degree views. The heat made the walk a little taxing but compared to the fortress in Kotor this was a piece of cake. After we had walked the city walls we headed up to the cable car just outside Old City. The cable car takes you to the top of Srd Hill and on a clear day like the one we had you can see up to 60 kilometres. The views of Old City, Adriatic Sea and the numerous islands are spectacular.
We both absolutely love Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik's summer is not unlike Perth's summer, sublime. There is so much to see and the countryside and beaches are magnificent. It is high on the list of places we would definitely return. Another gorgeous European destination. There are just sooooo many!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.097s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 8; qc: 56; dbt: 0.0542s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb