Advertisement
Published: August 30th 2012
Edit Blog Post
The Pool On The Ship
Can you find the overweight senior who is dressed inappropriately? Day one on our Mediterranean cruise and we decided to leave the comfort of our deck chairs to explore our first port of call.
Dubrovnik is located on the Adriatic coast of Croatia. The city is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic. Its population is over 40,000. In 1979, the city of Dubrovnik became a part of the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
According to Wikipedia,
the prosperity of the city of Dubrovnik has always been based on maritmime trade. Supported by its wealth and skilled diplomacy, the city achieved a high level of development, particularly during the 15th and 16th centuries. Dubrovnik is among the 10 best medieval walled cities in the world. Although Dubrovnik was demilitarized in the 1970's to protect it from war, in 1991, after the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was besieged by Serb-Montenegrin forces for 7 months and received significant shelling damage.
Now that we have the history lesson out of the way...
We decided to walk into town from the ship. They told us it would be approximately one hour to walk into town. Laurie & I agreed that we would do a ton of
walking on this trip. It was time to live up to our commitment. The cruise offered day tours at every stop, but we decided that we wanted to explore the places on our own. The purpose of our trip was to spend time with each other and have a relaxed holiday. The average temperatures during the trip were close to 90 degrees every day, so needless to say, I was sweatin like a "June Bride". The walk in town was uphill but we were determined to get exercise during our time away. We arrived at the walled city where there was a ton of tourists. We walked through the old city, trying to get our bearings and taking in the sights. A gorgeous city.
Like Venice, we wandered the main streets, the back streets, ducked into shops, bought post cards, and were awestruck that we were in a place that had so much history.
After walking through Dubrovnik, it was time to walk high above it. The one thing everyone told us to do was the City Walls Walk. I wasn't sure what was in store but quickly agreed to the adventure.
Friends from Ancaster, George and
Cathy Munro, sent money with Laurie for us to have a drink on them when we were on the ship. We decided to put the money to better use and we paid the admission for the Wall Walk. Thanks so much, it was a memorable gift, Cathy & George!
After paying the admission, we started to climb up the steep steps...
The most recognizable features of Dubrovnik are its city walls, which run uninterrupted for 1940 meters encircling the city. This complex structure, one of the most beautiful and strongest for system in the Mediterranean, consists of a series of forts, bastions, casemates, towers and detached forts.
The walls were built in the difficult times of permanent danger to the City and the Republic. They have been preserved and are still functional. The history of the fortifications goes back to the early Middle Ages. The average thickness of the wall was 1.5 meters, and it was built of stone and lime. To increase the strength of the walls and ensure better defence, 15 square forts were built in the 14th century. The main wall on the landside is 4 to 6 meters thick, but narrower on
the side facing the sea-1.5 to 3 meters thick. Its height reaches 25 meters in some places. Today, the city walls are protected additionally by 2 round towers, 12 quadrilateral forts, 5 bastions and 2 corner towers.
The walk is not guided so you are free to wander at your own pace. It is approximately 2 km in length so it took us close to 90 minutes to complete it. There are ramps and well as hundreds of steps to encounter on the walk. Our calves and thighs were screaming by the end of it.
In the 1990's, the city was shelled by the Serbs. The Wall Walk allows you to see how some of the restored tiled roofs on the buildings look like a patchwork quilt.
After the walk, we descended the stairs back into the Old City and rewarded ourselves... Laurie had gelato. I had a beer.
From there is was another one hour walk back to the port as we all had to be back on the ship by 7PM in order to set sail to our next stop... Kotor, Montenegro.
Advertisement
Tot: 1.726s; Tpl: 0.139s; cc: 9; qc: 56; dbt: 0.2304s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
nerene and al
non-member comment
Dubrovnik
I just like saying the word!!