Croatia: Dubrovnik

We were relieved to have yet another day without early tours and one more day to sleep late. At least until 7:30 when Joe called about breakfast plans. 

After breakfast we disembarked at the pier. We had no tour scheduled for the day so we were in the market for one. The old city was a good 2 mile walk from the pier so we were looking for a ride. We were quickly provided three options: 

The cruise line offered a bus for 20€.

A hop on-hop off bus for 25€.

A private tour for 30€.

We chose the latter.

The private tour was put on by a group called Horizon tours, and they offered exclusive visits to places only accessible by a small van. Plus they had rides back to the ship every 30 minutes from the old city. 

To make a long story short, they ran out of vans and drivers and were off schedule and did not have people available where or when they said. Others waiting with us started leaving for other options, and Bryan got frustrated and went back to the ship. 

The tour director scrambled to keep from losing the rest of us. We ended up on a van with only 2 others, a couple of guys from Phoenix, and the tour turned out to be a really great experience from that point on.

Joe and Alan had been to Dubrovnik before and decided to skip the tour and just visit the old city. 

Our tour guide was a guy, maybe in his 40s, named Ivo. He did a great job. He first drove us to a large spring rushing out from the base of the mountain. This was the source for all their drinking water, and as Ivo said, it was being provided to them by Bosnia, which was on the other side of the mountain.

Next he drove us the long way around and up a one lane road towards the top of the mountain that loomed over the old city. The road was barely wide enough for the van and he was moving at a pretty quick pace. 

I asked Ivo, “I guess this is a one way road”. He replied in his thick Russian sounding accent, “you guess wrong”. Shortly after that we started meeting others heading toward us and it quickly became a long game of chicken from that point on. The road at times was literally right on the edge of the mountainside and still somehow vehicles knew how to play the delicate game of death pass. I kept my eyes glued on my phone to keep from being nervous on that road.

At the top of the mountain there was a building that housed the cablecar station, a restaurant, and gift shop. The panoramic views from the top were incredible and from there we could see the entire old city directly below us. 

The other end of the cablecar was inside the old city. John was trying to figure out if there was some kind of safety mechanism to stop the car in case the cable broke. 

We determined that there was-it’s called the ground.

On the drive back down ‘death drive  mountain’ Ivo gave us some history of the area and explained the current living situation.

According to him, Dubrovnik is one of the safest places in the world to live. He claims there is no crime at all, and the only income for the police is from traffic violations. The last murder that happened there was 18 years ago.

He also said there are no homeless people at all, not one; everyone is provided for, even though the cost of living is quite high.

The main economy for this area is tourism. He said no one in the world knows anything about Croatia and no one has even heard of the capital city but the whole world knows of Dubrovnik and wants to visit.

Dubrovnik is often referred to as the "Pearl of the Adriatic". This stunning city is located on the southern coast of Croatia and is renowned for its well-preserved medieval architecture and beautiful coastal views.

Dubrovnik's Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, featuring Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque buildings.

The city walls, which date back to the 16th century, offer breathtaking views of the Adriatic Sea and the surrounding area.

the old city was used at filming locations for prominent shows such as Games of Thrones and Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Ivo dropped us off at the old city for the next few hours. We met Joe and Alan leaving as we were going in. 

The main street in the Old Town is lined with shops, cafes, and historic buildings; it is a lively and charming thoroughfare. The street is large and paved in marble, making the common street look regal. It was indeed elegant and spotless. 

The Croatian War of Independence was an armed conflict between Croatia and the Yugoslav army controlled by Serbia that took place from 1991 to 1995. The outcome was a Croatian victory, with which they were able to declare their independence from Yugoslavia.

During that time the old city was bombed and most of it was destroyed. The city underwent historic reconstruction and the damaged buildings were rebuilt.  The result is a fascinating mix of old and new construction and stonework.

We visited a gallery that had an exposition titled “War Photo Limited” that featured powerful exhibitions showcasing the impact of the war on the region and honoring those that were killed.

Exiting the city, we visited with our tour leader while waiting on the next bus.

We asked for her perspective of American politics and boy did she have a mouthful. She said the general consensus is that Trump is not normal and they are afraid of him getting back into power. 

They think he is dangerous and they think he is too close to Putin and if he gets back in power it could mean them getting into another war. 

She said she does not know even one person that has a favorable opinion of Trump. The whole country dislikes him.

We returned to the boat, tired as usual from a day of walking and exploring.  We met up with the others and went directly to the buffet for a late lunch. After that we retired to our cabins for a short rest before returning to the buffet for dinner. 

Our entertainment for the evening was a magician and his wife from Spain. They had a very entertaining and mystifying show. We were so amazed we decided to talk about it while going back to the buffet for desert. 

During the night we would be entering a new time zone so we had to move our clocks forward, losing an hour of sleep. 

Our next day would be our first of several in Greece.