Dubrovnik, Croatia

July 2011, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia
When I heard that our Egypt trip had been replaced with Croatia, I admit I needed to look up exactly where we would be headed. Croatia is the yellow Adriatic country and Dubrovnik, at the southern tip, was our first stop.

The Jewel of the Adriatic

Dubrovnik is a gorgeous place. The water is turquoise blue due to the rocky sea beds. Our hotel was amazing and we enjoyed the pools, both a traditional chlorinated pool and a sea water filled pool just off the rocky shore. The weather was amazing and we were so delighted with this view from our room.

I'd heard that the food in Croatia was excellent, so I was prepared to try some new seafood and other delicacies. At Restaurant Eden the muscles were really nice and the tuna was a bit overcooked. I enjoyed the greens we had throughout the trip and every meal we had was served with vegetables which was nice. Dessert was gelato....We ate our weight in gelato this trip. Excellent!

The sunset from our hotel room...gorgeous!

The next day we visited the heart of the city. This is Stradun, Dubrovnik's main street.  

We had a group lunch which consisted of a delightful soup and some fairly standard chicken and fries. The Europeans love serving fries! The grilled zucchini and eggplant was a nice addition.

Dubrovnik is probably most famous for it's 7th century stone walls. They have been considered to be amongst the great fortification systems of the Middle Ages. They are of the largest and most complete wall structures in all of Europe. We walked the entire 6,360 ft and I had to fight my extreme fear of heights for most of the walk.

The Minčeta Tower was built in 1463 and is the highest point on the wall. Paul took the camera up there as I stayed below, held on and got my nerves back.

Our tour guide recommended eating dinner at Moby Dick so how could we pass that up? We had a nice meal, but the thing I want to remember from that night were the people. A delightful couple to one side ordered a large order of tiny fried fish (which I read is one of the favorite things among locals) and offered us some. They were yummy! The family to our other side was from South Africa and we had a great conversation about our travels and lives. It was a really relaxing, nice time!

Paul enjoyed his calamari as you can see!

We also enjoyed a few other famous Dubrovnik sights. A medical service was introduced in 1301, with the first pharmacy still operating to this day, being opened in 1317. This is a picture outside of the pharmacy gardens where special plants and herbs are grown.

Dubrovnik's most beloved church is St Blaise's church, built in the 18th century in honour of Dubrovnik's patron saint. Dubrovnik's baroque Cathedral was built in the 18th century and houses an impressive Treasury with relics of Saint Blaise. We only got a glimpse because there was a wedding mass going on as we entered. Here is a long shot of the bride and groom outside afterwards. I love that!

This is Onofrio's fountain. It was constructed in 1438 as the end point in a water supply system that began in a well 12km away. Five and a half centuries later it was still working so well that it supplied Dubrovnik residents with drinking water during the bombings of 1991.

The Rectors Palace is a Gothic-Renaissance structure that displays finely carved capitals and an ornate staircase.

 We were excited about the upcoming places on the itinerary, but this jewel of a city was hard to leave. The next morning we were on our way to Kotor, Montenegro and we stopped for one last look. Just amazing!

I hope to share a bit more about the history and culture of Croatia, Montenegro, and Bosnia as I go along in the next few posts. One note if you are planning a trip: Croatia depends on tourism for about 80% of it's industry. They cater nicely to the tourists, especially those from other European countries.  We felt very welcome and most people speak English or help you get by on a few words and phrases.

dobar dan = hello, good day

hvala = thank you

kupaonicu=bathroom