Dubrovnik - a beautiful town

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DUBROVNIK 4th May 2015
I wonder if there is a more beautiful harbour to write a blog than Dubrovnik's.

. We sailed in at 07.30 this morning and unfortunately we depart at 14.30, so not really enough time to truly appreciate the stunning beauty of this town. We did get an extra hours sleep as the clocks went back last night (we still have time changes to go yet!)It was going to be busy as the P & O Oceana followed us in and will do again in Venice tomorrow (Happy days!)

The Croatian poet and writer Jure Kastelan wrote 'If there were several Dubrovniks in the world only one of them would be the real Dubrovnik, the genuine, authentic and only city made of stone and light'.

Croatia finally became an independent country in 1991 following the break up of the old Yugoslavia. Not before a pointless war that killed thousands of innocent people, where homes were deliberately destroyed and countless massacres and atrocities occurred.Dubrovnik did not escape the war, the Old City was specifically attacked in 1991 and was subjected to a 12 hour continuous bombardment by land sea and air. This UNESCO World Heritage listed city suffered horrific damage, some 63% of the buildings in the city were hit and the siege of Dubrovnik lasted 238 days ending in May 1992. Amazingly, most of the war damage has been repaired to UNESCO guidelines but you can see some of the damage to walls but the bright orange roofs higher up in the city show how many buildings were destroyed.

The shuttle bus took us the couple of miles to the Old City, and dropped us by the Pile gate. No vehicles are permitted within the city walls. There is so much to take in, so we walked through the Pile gate to the Main Street Placa. The large Onofrio fountain marks the start of the Placa a lovely wide street, but too crowded for us. All the alleys and narrower streets run parallel to the Placa and we're quieter. The organised tours were concentrating on the wide street. At the far end is the Ploce gate and Cathedral opening up to the City harbour with St. John's fortress and the Aquarium.We would have liked to walk the city walls from here, however looking up all you could see was a line of people moving slowly like ants around the wall ( all the tours were up there). Another time!!!

I don't think the photographs will capture the true buzz and culture of this place, the locals were really friendly, the coffee was good and after two to three hours walking, it was time to head back to the ship.

We have two stops left, Venice and Split, they are going to have to be something special to beat this!!!

By the way, Lins already looking at return cruises to here, with longer time in port!!!

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