18. Dubrovnik Sunsets

Dubrovnik was the city of incredibly friendly people and we discovered this as soon as we landed. We were clearly on the last flight of the evening and when we got back to the terminal we were literally the last to leave! Arriving on the Dash 8 a squad a five big Croatian men arrived with a tiny metal chair with straps rather that seat and back! Dickey transferred on to it with a little apprehension and without a word three of them picked the chair and him up carried him down the stairs and secured him in a waiting Ambulance. Along with a lovely assistance man we were taken to the terminal, assisted with our baggage and escorted out the front where they had a cab waiting. It was five star service, and we felt awful not yet having any Croatian money to tip with. Our helper assured us it was part of his job and we were fair-welled and sent on our way with Mateo the cabbie.

Over the 25 min journey from the airport to our hotel Adria just north of the old town of Dubrovnik Mateo told us about the amazing Croatian sites and did his best to upsell us to a day trip to Montenegro and Bosnia but we politely declined his 'special price of just 400 Euro's'. 

We were finally checked in to our hotel by 10.30 pm after a mammoth day. The night view was stunning out over the harbour, we couldn't wait to see it in the morning.

Our first day in Dubrovnik had always been planned as a chill day (hilarious I know that I even need to schedule these when on holidays!). Lucky this was the case because it was time to start sharing our secret and this turned out to be a lengthy process! There were Facebook calls made to our families and the story repeated over and over. It was so amazing to have everyone share in our excitement and to hear the genuine happiness expressed from home. That done it was lunch and vino on the balcony taking in the view and sunshine. Not surprisingly, but of course frustratingly the pool was inaccessible for Dickey so the bars balcony was set to become 'our spot' for the week. Subsequently we got to know the head barman quite well!

Dubrovnik was a stunning city and Hotel Adria was positioned directly above the 'new town' up on the hill. Making our way down to explore we found the most epic winding road that Dickey had great fun trying to descend with control. When I tackled this road on a run later in the week, this time going up, I discovered the 25% gradient sign. No wonder it felt steep! The hills and stairs in Dubrovnik provided awesome running that week and I would have loved to spend a month training there, between cocktails and beach time of course! 

New town was a quieter part of Dubrovnik but very 'cruise ship terminal'. The layout, laundromats, souvenir shops and restaurant prices all brought back memories of my few years working on ships. The shops know how to cash in on the tourists, but equally provide the important little things for the crew, like an internet cafe and laundry! Apparently it was a quiet week for ships, but the passengers still seemed to be flooding the streets headed straight for Old Town with their tour guides. 

One of our fave finds in New Town was SKAR the uber cool winery/ bar shop front. We were lucky to meet the owner and hear the story of their traditional wine production techniques and that they still celebrate and harvest together as a family over a weekend, prior to bringing the grapes back to the small shop front to produce. It was very cool. 

Old town Dubrovnik was polished and pristine. Very beautiful but almost too clean we felt, all care of HBO and the money they have paid to have a big portion of Game of Thrones filmed within the walled village. Pushing the chair around Dickey's hands get filthy and on European cobbles they had been getting trashed. He had even given in and been wearing gloves to help protect his palms. In Dubrovnik Old Town his hands stayed clean. They must spend some serious time and effort keeping those stones spotless! 

The walls and the lines of shops really are stunning and coming in via the old draw bridge adds to the experience. We jumped on to a hour long walking tour and had a great time as our guide pointed out the sites. The 'Placa' or Main Street was once a channel but was later filled in to help make the city safer. The intact walls are 2km around, amongst the best preserved in the world and some of the most attractive on the planet. The really are pretty awesome! Further proof that I read the tourist brochure... They were built between the 8th and 16th Century, were strengthened with myriad towers and bastions and were almost 6m thick. They were a successful means of defense for the city and were never breached. The two fortresses just outside the gates are still in use one being Revelin a famous club and concert venue and host to some of the best European Dance parties. Unfortunately we missed one by a week! The old Quarantine building from the times of plague is also now a club, Lazareti. Croatians do love to party!

St Blaise is strongly featured throughout Dubrovnik and there are statues of him everywhere, apparently about 17 in total. The locals worship him and daily we would see people laying flowers at the feet of the statues around town. I had no recollection of what he was famous for, but google tells me he is the "Protector of Dubrovnik and Patron Saint of Throat Illness". Its true, I read it on the inter web....

Another statue that was famous was Orlando's column outside the church near Ploce. Orlando, aka Roland (?!!) has stood in position since 1418. The story goes that he used to be used as a flag pole given his position at the main entrance to the city. His right forearm was also put to good use and for hundreds of years it was used used as the official unit of measurement in Dubrovnik. People supposedly used arrive and measure their goods by his arm length only. Today his is little more that a meeting point and prop for a good story. The force of the winds caused so much pressure on the flag pole that Roland's base now features a large crack and the pole and flag have been released from his hold. His forearm has also been retired from use as Dubrovnik over time discovered and graduated to the more widely accepted metric system!

There is so much Game of Thrones through the city that it does become a bit to much. Merchandise stores where everywhere and they are either certainly cashing in. You really cant blame them as it is keeping their city alive and has helped in making the entire city an official UNESCO protected site. The locals really do seem truly grateful and were so happy to welcome tourists to show off their city. I'm pretty sure most people have now seen Game of Thrones, now at six seasons of grim brutality and medieval porn. Walking through Dubrovnik it was a bizarre seeing some of the famed backdrops with 21st century tourists, as opposed to medieval dress. In particular the Jesuit steps that Cersei Lannister was forced to descend in her walk of atonement. Walking the streets really highlighted how incredible the cinematography is in the series and why Dubrovnik was so perfect for the role.

We loved spending time around the old port and looking back over the city walls. The best view is most definitely from the water and we were able to get a great view from the ferry when we headed over to Lokrum island for an afternoon. I had emailed ahead to confirm accessibility and was assured that the ferry would be no problem, that most of the paths were accessible but they were sorry there was no access to water, but a chair lift was on the agenda for installation in 2017. No problem. The ferry guys were fab and it was 2 for 1 for us, bonus! The island was lovely and we enjoyed the bit we saw but the paths proved to be a fair challenge. They were mostly rough gravel and the further you went from the ferry terminal the worse they got. In the end we wandered what we could access, enjoyed watching the 100's of lyrebird's and the fact they can actually fly when they want to, found the famed 'dead sea' pool (Game of thrones again) and then propped ourselves in the cafe bar with a wine overlooking the monastery & Maximilian gardens. It was a quiet and relaxing place, also UNESCO protected and largely untouched. It was good to be surrounded by trees and water and the sound of birds rather than squawking tourists!

The Dead Sea Pool

The beaches around Dubrovnik were also very cool and are more like the beach clubs that I had seen around Mexico when I was working on ships. Unlike Australia where we pick a patch of sand and settle in, there is no sand, just rocks and man made decking and bars. You hire your own area, chose your seating buy comfort (and price), hire an umbrella and get waited on all day. It is the ultimate lazy beach experience! For us finding an accessible beach was a priority and we spent some time doing reccy's to find the right one. This involved some extensive pushing around the point from New Town and getting off the beaten track on to some more rough trails but we got to see another party of the city in doing so. Copacabana Beach Club ended up being our choice and it actually had a chair lift in to the water. It was the ultimate and we were beside ourselves with excitement! Not only did we get to lie back on our lounge chairs in the sun all day reading our books and drinking Rosato, we could pop off for a swim in the Adriatic Sea anytime we liked, just like everyone else could. It was bliss!! 

Hotel Adria had proved to be a brilliant find and we loved our time here. Being propped up on the hill overlooking the harbour and the headlands behind it also offered the most magical sunset view. We soon discovered the dining room food was great and our days became a race to make it back to see the sunset from the balcony. By total coincidence friends of Dickeys happened to be staying at Adria the week after us and he received a funny message from him telling us how little we had missed them by. In the bar on his first night he barman at Adria told him ... 'we had Aussies here last week, a young happy couple and the guy was in a chair. They were great people'. Steve realised pretty quick it was Dickey and the connection was made. It was nice to know we were leaving a good impression behind us!  

Dubrovnik was sunshine and bliss but it was now time for Spanish culture.... and more wine! Barcelona next stop

Dubrovnik 29th May - 4th June