Day 228 - Saturday - 4/28/2012 - Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik, Croatia is about a 2 hour, mostly coastal drive from Kotor. It is a must see of the Balkans, at least that is what we had been told.  I can now safely confirm- IT IS A MUST SEE!

We started our journey in the bay that Kotor is located on, and began our drive, the entire drive was beautiful!

a picture from the drive

Dubrovnik from the highway

Walking to old town

Once you walk down the hill you are greeted by the old town fortress walls. It is pretty amazing to think of how long these walls have stood, makes me think of the saying, if these walls could talk!  Dubrovnik was already proving to be way more filled with tourists than Kotor.  April/May is typically not high season, so I can only imagine what it is like later in the summer!

Old Town fortress walls and bridge

Inside the main gate of the fortress

We got to spend the day walking throughout all of old town, going to museums, and getting in the Adriatic...well our feet :)  The buildings are all stone and built fairly close together and the walkways are made of marble.  I have not yet been to Venice, however, those that I was with have and they said that it reminded them of the streets of Venice.

Dubrovnik (once known as Republic of Ragusa) dates back to the 7th century.  It was a large Mediterranean trade post. In 1667 there was a large earthquake demolishing the city, it was rebuilt then in a baroque style and that is what still stands today.  Part of Dubrovnik's history was under control of Venice, which explains the architecture!  The country of Croatia became part of the Former Yugoslavia but following Tito's death in 1980, the separation of Yugoslavia also began.  During the war with Serbia in 1991, Dubrovnik was attacked bombs and mortars fell like rain. Today there are still remnants from these attacks, but most of the city has been repaired!

A very refreshing fountain

From behind the fountain

Erin and I standing in the main walkway of Old Town

After a seeing the inside of a few amazingly beautiful churches we headed up the fortress walls to the Maritime Museum. As I said above, Dubrovnik and the entire coast has a rich history in sea trade and travel through the Mediterranean so it was no surprise that the museum was filled with artifacts and stories of years gone by.  

Before walking into the Maritime Museum, looking off the fortress walls

Ship anchors sitting outside the museum

One of the cannons protecting the port below

On the fortress walls

Following the museum, Erin and I walked down the fortress wall and towards the water! We walked along the very rocky waters edge and stopped for a few pictures. I touched the Adriatic Sea for the first time here, and put my feet in. It was pretty brisk water, but totally worth it.  There were some swimmers enjoying the beautiful day. One of them was an older gentleman that thought that we should get in... even threatened to push us.  But when all the kidding was over he gave us great advice: "But seriously, take the opportunity when you can because it won't always be there".  He didn't just mean for us to get in, he meant in life...  For me this picture will always signify this.

Erin and I then traveled to the Architecture Museum. It was filled with portions from ruins of churches from the area dating back to the 12th-18th centuries. These churches each had their own stories.  One of them was discovered when renovations were going to be done on an already existing Music School. They had (years before) built on top of the church ruins.

After the museum we met back up with Lizzie and Justin to see the Rector's Palace.  This building is one of the only that remains from before the earthquake in 1667, it was built in 1435 but was damaged twice by explosions caused by the storing of gunpowder. After the second explosion they moved the gunpowder away from the governmental buildings!  This building as it stands today is from 1463.  The inside had rooms still with decor from when it was a residence.  The center was open air... and all stone. It was amazing!  Also on display were photos from the 1991 war.

Outside the Rector's Palace

Where prisoners were kept in the palace!

Inside the palace

To finish our day we made our way to the gondola. The gondola goes up the mountain side outside of the old town. We knew that it was said to have an amazing view, but even those that knew this in the past had no idea what perfect timing we were going to have and what we would get to see. It was the last cart up for the day, and the sun was starting to set... as we went up and up the sun got more and more orange and yellow and we were all able to get the most beautiful view imaginable...

going up

The sun set on the Adriatic

Dubrovnik from above

Another picture of the sun set a bit after the one above.

Yes, I made it up to the top!

We really did have the view of a lifetime and quite the day in Dubrovnik!  It was time to walk back to the car and head back to Kotor....for some dinner where the seafood is much cheaper!

one more shot before leaving town...

It was dinner time again! One of the best times when traveling. We found a place that was still open and sat out on their terrace.  We had garlic cream and toast, then I had a greek salad, with AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS veggies and cheese, and then my main meal was pasta, I had been craving it...seafood pasta.  It was so delicious!

garlic cream and toast

Greek Salad

seafood pasta!

Lesson: "But seriously, take the opportunity when you can because it won't always be there"  -Croatian man enjoying the water of the Adriatic