Dan and I had the chance to spend a day in Dubrovnik while we were on our recent Mediterranean cruise. It’s one of the cities I’ve always wanted to visit because of those photos of its stunning tile-red roofs and medieval stone buildings jutting out into the middle of the sparkling, azure blue Adriatic Sea.
Dubrovnik is widely known as the “Pearl of the Adriatic.” Couple that with the fact that CNN included it in its list of the Ten Best Medieval Walled Cities and that it is UNESCO World Heritage Site worthy. Yes, Dubrovnik is most definitely a must-see place.
Our cruise ship docked far from the walled city, which meant we would need a taxi. Fortunately, we’d made friends with another photographer and his wife, Celia and Jim, who suggested we share the ride. When the driver offered to show us the area, we agreed. Heck, who knew when or if we might be back?
Mount Srd
Our first stop was Mt. Srd, a 412-foot-tall mountain that overlooks the city. There’s a Napoleonic-era fort at the top. It was used during the Siege of Dubrovnik, one of the fiercest battles of the 1991-1995 Croatian War of Independence. It gave them a great vantage point from which to bombard the city. One of their main targets was the terminal for a cable car that ran to the top. It’s been reopened and is now a major tourist site. The spectacular views from the top make the trip worth it.
One one side, of course, is the lovely view of the old town, Lokrum Island, and the coastline along the vast and gorgeous blue sea. On the other side it’s a different world of mountains as far as the eye can see. The landscape seemed rather desolate from where I stood, but it’s a Mediterranean climate so I think it’s an illusion. It might be greener in the summer; we were there in mid-October.
As usual they have a gift shop and small restaurant at the top. I walked in to check it out; it’s very clean and bright, surrounded by glass and was really tempting to sit and refresh myself while taking in the fantastic view. Oh yeah, and there’s a nice restroom in there, too.
And of course there are vendors up there as well.
Tourist and religious medallions for sale!
If you have the inclination and the energy you can walk down to town from the top. (You can climb up, too, but unless you’re craving a serious workout, it’s probably not the best use of your time if you’re only in Dubrovnik for one day, I’m thinking.)
Kupari
We had the rare chance to glimpse a bit of Croatia’s stormy recent history when he took us to Kupari, a once-thriving tourist destination nearby. Doesn’t this look like an inviting resort?
Get a little closer, and you’ll see what Croatia’s independence cost her.
Cavtat
After the bombed out buildings we had time to visit Cavtat. It’s a typical Dalmatian town and worth the drive or the 30-minute bus ride from Dubrovnik. We enjoyed our time in the town a lot, though it meant we had less time in Dubrovnik itself. Tradeoffs. Anyway, I’ll tell you about it in a future post. If I forget, please remind me.
Dubrovnik itself
Finally … back to Dubrovnik. Our driver dropped us off at the city gate and agreed to pick us up in time for us to get back to the ship. The entrance not only had a gate but a bridge as well.
We heard a cacophony as soon as we entered. Children were everywhere, obviously participating in some event, because there were film cameras everywhere and a “director” of sorts in a window high above. So we hurried through, to avoid both the swirling crowd of munchkins and parents and the incredible noise. We preferred to return to this part of town later.
Dubrovnik has been a major seaport since the 13th century and even survived severe damage from an earthquake in 1667. They managed to restore their beautiful Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque churches, monasteries, palaces and fountains, which to my mind only adds to its appeal. I’m a sucker for medieval walled cities, old churches, and cobbled streets. And so is Dan. He has a “thing” for interesting old doors and windows and has the copious photos to prove it.
He also never misses a chance to photograph interesting locals, so he was a happy puppy.
Unlike Cuenca, which shows its half-millennium of use, Dubrovnik wears its age well. Its streets were polished through centuries of use, its people were friendly and polite, the buildings were in good repair, and there was no litter to be seen, anywhere, even though the place was crawling with tourists.
Lunch
Somewhere on the other side of the city, we got hungry. Dubrovnik has more than 60 sidewalk cafes and restaurants, so it was no problem finding a place to eat. The hardest part was deciding where. Everything looked good.
We agreed that we’d prefer to sit outside, but wherever we chose it had to serve local food and we had to see locals eating there. They also had to accept Euros, because Celia and Jim didn’t have any of the local currency.
Although Croatia has its own official currency, many hotels and restaurants will accept euros as a courtesy to foreign patrons. We’ve learned that their exchange rates usually aren’t very good, so when we entered the city we stopped at an ATM and got some Kuna. We’d be back in Croatia when our ship docked at Split, so we were pretty sure we’d use them up.
Anyway, we soon found ourselves outside a little cafe on a narrow side street just like the ones above. Like most restaurants in a tourist destination, ours had bilingual menus. (Well, actually they were multilingual; besides Croatian and English they were also in French and Spanish.) And yes, they were serving the local cuisine.
What is the local cuisine?
Glad you asked. Croatian cuisine differs depending on the region. Dubrovnik lies on the Dalmatian peninsula, the little sliver of Croatia that runs south along the Adriatic coastline. So of course there’s a Dalmatian cuisine, which includes the best of the Mediterranean diet: fresh seafood, flavorful olive oils, fragrant herbs, local red wines. Being a seaport, it’s also adopted elements of other regions’ cuisines, but it’s still unique. Celia and Jim ordered an octopus dish and we ordered grilled fish, served with the traditional side of boiled potatoes drizzled with olive oil. Swiss chard is also a traditional accompaniment, but alas, all we got was a salad.
Dan didn’t get any photos of our meal, so I’m borrowing this photo from Food Sparks’ blog post “Seafood in Croatia.” I hope they don’t mind making your mouths water.
Photo courtesy of FoodSparks.blogspot.com
Beautiful Orthodox churches
This part of the world is Eastern Orthodox and everywhere we turned it seemed there was an Orthodox church. Religion is a huge part of Eastern European culture. Celia is Greek Orthodox and explained that most Orthodox churches have the same setup, regardless of which country they’re in. There’s a picture of Jesus in the dome overhead, surrounded by his disciples, and there is always an Iconostasion (the golden front wall) between the congregants and the sanctuary.
The Iconostasion always has three entrances: a Deacon Door on either side, and the center entrance which is called the Royal Door. On the right-hand side of the Iconostasion you’ll always find the icons of Christ and John the Baptist. On the left-hand side are always the icons of Mary and the patron saint of the church.
I really appreciated the beautifully crafted ikons and intricately painted portraits I saw in the churches … but I have to confess that, as beautiful as it was, the phrase “graven images” kept popping into the back of my mind. Go figure. Still I was quite impressed by both the excellent craftsmanship that was used and even more by how much silver I saw. This was surely a testament to how much the people desired to demonstrate their love for their god in their offerings of talents and wealth.
Walking Dubrovnik’s Walls
What’s really cool about Dubrovnik is that you can walk all along its walls and see the city from some 80 feet above ground level. Let me tell you, it makes for spectacular views of both the city’s interior and the Adriatic waters.
If you go in the hotter months, be aware that it can get very hot and bright up there at midday, so try to go early in the morning or later in the afternoon. It will be less crowded then as well, if a cruise ship is in town.
Been there, done that?
Not only do they have a pretty, history-filled city, they also have their own beaches. If you are tired of UNESCO sites, you can spend the day swimming in the warm Adriatic waters and lying on the soft sand, soaking up Adriatic rays. Just don’t forget a towel and your sunscreen!
All too soon we had to head back to the ship. Our driver was waiting for us at 3:30 as we had agreed and got us there in plenty of time for departure.
There’s a lot more to see in our Dubrovnik photo gallery than I can show you here and I have to confess that I cut this post short. I wanted to show you more of Dubrovnik from a bird’s eye view (i.e., from on top of the city walls), but this story would have been twice as long because of all the great pictures. The entire place looks different from up there. Maybe I will, if someone asks me to in the comments….
Have you ever been to Dubrovnik? Would you like to go?
Read more about why the old city of Dubrovnik is a UNESCO Site on their website.
Or if you prefer, you can read about our own visits to UNESCO sites on this blog. (Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)Be sociable, share!Twitter0Facebook0Google+0LinkedIn0
