The Old City in Dubrovnik became a UNESCO heritage site in 1979 and, even though it was targeted and bombed during the Yugoslavian wars in the 1990s, is still considered one of the 10 best preserved walled cities in the world.
We arrived in Dubrovnik around midday, after being "stow-always" on a boat from Korkula; the unfriendly and chaotic transportation systems in Croatia forcing us to embrace some creative and unusual tactics to cut out 24 hours of travel time. Perhaps karma, we were both quite under the weather when we arrived and, as such, had a quiet lunch at our hotel, the Grand Villa Argentina, before heading to our room for a much needed rest.
To celebrate Geoff's birthday, we had made dinner reservations at a beautiful boutique hotel in the Old Town, known for its delicious food and stunning views of the sunset. The views lived up to their reputation but the food experience was less commendable because they forgot to arrange our special vegetarian meals and had actually run out of one of the two vegetarian dishes they regularly offer. Although the bread and dessert was delicious, we left unsatisfied!
This proved to be an unfortunate foreshadowing of our eating experiences in Dubrovnik, where there were few vegetarian options and even these were often unavailable even though advertised on the menu. We still cannot understand why they have hundreds of restaurants in the Old City and they all offer the exact same menu. There is a real opportunity for a food entrepreneur to dominate here.
Food rant aside, the city of Dubrovnik is gorgeous. The beaches are exquisite and the water warm and clear. The city itself was built using gorgeous cream limestone, and has a wide Main Street and beautifully preserved palaces and communal buildings. Since becoming a heritage site, most of the residents have moved away and daily shops have been replaced with tourist shops and restaurants. Nonetheless, for only 900 residents, they still have 40 churches!
Dubrovnik's recent claim to fame is that it serves as the backdrop for Game of Thrones scenes and also has become a wedding hots pot, attracting wealthy families such as the Hearsts to get married there. We know which one the city values more, however, as it is willing to close off sections of the city to film the tv show but less willing to honour the incredible request by the Hearsts to close off the city to outsiders on for its' wedding day.
One day, we took a gondola to the top of he hill to visit the Fort Imperial, the key fort that was used by the Croats to fight off the Serbian-Montenegrin army during the wars in the 1990s. The Fort is now home to a museum honouring those who fought to preserve the city. The hilltop also offers spectacular views of this walled city that sits so elegantly out in the water.
In the end, while we suffered some frustrations while visiting, we actually wished we had enjoyed an extra day there to really experience the picturesque beaches and all of the great water activities. Although we had spent some time down at the hotel's pool and ocean space (which surprisingly offered the only reliable wifi connection), we should have carved out more time to really soak it all in. As many other travellers discovered much more successfully than we did, this place really should be enjoyed from the beach!
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