Dubrovnik Day 2

What is the best time to wake up on your first day in Europe, when you had one hour of sleep in the prior 24 hours you were traveling?

4 am, of course!

Why I consistently do this, I'll never know. But I decided to make the best of it. :)

Dubrovnik was a merchant town that hit its peak in the 15th and 16th centuries. Then an earthquake destroyed much of the town in 1667. My guidebook says that much of the town was rebuilt following the quake, in Baroque style, however, there are some Gothic-Renaissance buildings which survived from the Golden Age.

Last night we walked to Pile Gate-- actually, we came through it, but went back up the Stradun, the main shopping street which is very wide. Especially compared to the tiny little streets winding through the city that look like little alley ways. This city really reminds me of Venice for that reason, of course without the canals.

The apartment is really nice, and Alberto recently renovated it. The building has been in his family for over thirty years. His mother actually lives in an apartment downstairs, and there is a gorgeous courtyard that he's fixing up for her. The apartment is one of very few with a full balcony with a view, and we can see Srd from it, a peak overlooking the city. The place has a full kitchen and was nicely appointed (thanks for the tea, Alberto!!) I still haven't gotten used to instant coffee, so I was pleased for the option. There's a bottle of wine as well for later. :)

There's a farmer's market by the cathedral every morning and a little market nearby so we may get some stuff there to eat out a little less. We'll see.. I'm not sure either of our culinary skills are up to par. It's nice to have a comfortable place to unwind.

We're staying not too far from the Cathedral, in case you check a map for orientation. We walked to Pile gate on the other side of the city in less than ten minutes, so I suspect a day will show us most of the sights. Alberto recommended taking a trip to a nearby island and he said there is kayaking there as well. That might be fun to mix it up a bit.

The church bells rang early this morning and there were some crazy birds flying through as well. It was beautiful for early morning.

We were going to walk the city wall but a friend suggested that sunset is a beautiful time to do it, so we decided instead to explore the town. We'll grab breakfast somewhere and wander.. I read in my guidebook that the Cathedral was largely funded by the English King, Richard the Lionhearted in the 12th C. He was shipwrecked nearby and swore that if he lived, he would build a cathedral on the spot. Voila!

What a fun day! we walked through the town for a bit and decided to walk the wall before the tours got into town. We may do it again in the evening as suggested later. What a gorgeous view! It's really a pretty way to see the city as you're elevated a bit looking down. It was a slightly steep climb at first, starting at Ploce Gate, which was recommended. We climbed a steep area then walked the wall over looking the city. It was nice and cool and breezy so perfect for walking. It took an hour and a half including taking lots of pictures around the city. The gorgeous terra cotta rooves and the brilliant emerald green waters surrounding the city are magical.

There are cats everywhere. The animal rescuer in me was screaming about starting a spay and neuter program here! Lots of cats at every turn but people seem to leave them be.

We got breakfast of a traditional omelette and then took the tram up to mount Srd to overlook the city on the mountains. It was a beautiful visit and the walk in the area around Napoleon's battlement was gorgeous.

We then explored some of the local sites including the Monestaries (Dominican and Franciscan), the Synagogue and walked around the town. We explored a couple of churches and a memorial for the people who died in the resistance during the war here in the early 1990s. I needed a nap desperately and laid down for maybe a half hour until they were doing some work in the apartment below. I gave up and we decided to explore further. We decided to save some places for the upcoming days, and went to a travel guide place to book a trip to Mostar tomorrow. It's a Unesco world heritage site and somewhere we are both looking forward to!

We went to the grocery to get a snack of cheese and crackers, with some beer and wine, as well as something to eat for breakfast. We then sat up on the balcony to enjoy the view and the snacks. It was so relaxing and really beautiful.

We went to a wine bar (D'aVino) and I enjoyed a flight of the local red, Palvec. We learned it's the same grape as Zinfandel, and the Zins in California are actually from here. It was very good. We had a wait for dinner at another place Alberto recommended, called Taj Mahal. It was local Bosnian food and very good! We got an appetizer of pepper stuffed with a spicy cream cheese (not very spicy, but flavorful) with saffron on it. I got a dish which was a tagine of veal, okra, tomatoes and garlic and Michael got a steal with a red pepper sauce. The bread was very good and similar to the Bosnian place in Phoenix I found-- thin and crusty, though the bread in Phoenix was eggy and it wasn't here. We got baklava for dessert.

We were both pooped and it's after 11 here so decided to go back to the apartment.

Tomorrow we go to Mostar, which should be beautiful. It's a three-hour drive there but from what I'm told, well worth it. Hopefully I'll sleep past four am!!
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