Split, Croatia to Dubrovnik, Croatia (day 61) - March 8, 2023)
We made it to our bus on time!
Day 61
Waking up bright and early we jumped on our bus at 5:15am and headed for the city of Dubrovnik a few hours drive to the south. It was a nice ride along the coast as the sun started coming up over the hills that run parallel to the coast. There are small towns along the way, each with that Mediterranean look, the orange roofs spread out along the coastline and hillsides.
From the bus stop in Dubrovnik we took an Uber to the place we planned to stay for the next three nights, Heritage Villa Nobile. A nice little gated courtyard and old home beyond just outside the old city walls of Dubrovnik. There are only six or eight rooms here, each themed with information about different important figures from people from the city and region. Our hostess is a really kind lady, named Beri, who has a good sense of humor and quickly made us feel at home. Upon arriving in our attic room, out of breath, she says to us, “welcome to Dubrovnik, city of stairs.” This turned out to be very true, as we later found out when we went out to explore the city :D.
Two minutes walk from our attic room is the Pile gate through the old town walls of Dubrovnik. It is a beautiful spot right along the water. The walls wrap around the entire old town area and you are able to walk along the top of the walls and explore the towers of the fortress. I highly recommend you pick up one of the Dubrovnik passes so you can get access to a lot of the museums and other attractions for much cheaper than if you went to each individually.
Inside the walls are a number of churches and other old structures. The town is situated along a hill, so there are lots of stairs to climb throughout the town. There are more tourists here than any of the other places I have been in Croatia so far. Even more of the locals speak English here, though you can get around just fine in Croatia as there is usually one person at the restaurants, cafes, and museums that speak English. Otherwise Google Translate does the trick.
After walking the streets of the old town for a bit, we found a spot we could start climbing the wall and did the walk all the way around the city. The sun was was shining, making for some great scenes of the town below. I highly recommend coming to the city of Dubrovnik, easily my favorite place here in Croatia so far. Wherever you turn in the old town, there is something interesting to see. Sea views, church buildings, the orange rooftops, boats in the small harbor, the people watching from atop the walls all give you something to enjoy.
By the time we had circled the walls we were both ready for some lunch. We went to a restaurant just outside the city walls called Dubravka 1836. The restaurant is in a sweet location! The outdoor patio sits on a high wall overlooking a small inlet of the sea which has the city walls on one side and another fortress on the side opposite the walls. Below the blue waves crashed against the rocks. I had the salmon with dill sauce and highly recommend that. I was worried that the dill flavor of the sauce might be too overpowering, but they made it with the perfect amount of flavoring. I left thinking I wouldn’t mind eating that again.
After a short break at the villa, we decided to climb the hill overlooking the city. At the top of the hill is an old fort turned into athe Homeland War Museum which explores the time Croatia gained its independence. The museum was closed by the time we reached the top of the hike. We hadn’t planned to go into the museum, we just wanted to see the views of the city below. We were not disappointed :D
One kind word can change someone’s entire day.
The first 26 days of my trip can be found at: https://jwworldtour2023.blogspot.com/