Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik certainly lives up to all its hype of being one of the most popular tourist destinations. Approaching the city from the Adriatic Sea is most impressive as you gaze upon the massive city wall rising up out of the ocean. We stayed just outside Dubrovnik at the Sheraton Dubrovnik Riviera Hotel, mostly to avoid the crowds in the city. Our hotel was fabulous and was perfectly situated right on the water in a small cove. Along the boardwalk were a few restaurants where enjoying an outdoor meal was the thing to do. The beach was directly across the boardwalk and was a rocky beach, but once you got into the water the ocean floor was sand which was a treat. The water again was super refreshing and did not get deep very quickly making it ideal for playing around in. One thing we noticed around Croatian beaches is they often have fresh water showers and changing booths - what a great concept! We thoroughly enjoyed our stay on the Dubrovnik Riviera. 

From here we could take a water taxi directly to Dubrovnik or other nearby islands. We had an amazingly spacious room with balcony overlooking the pool and ocean. Surprisingly even with facing the pool, you couldn't hear the typical noise you'd expect from a pool view room. The hotel appears to have been recently upgraded and had some modern environmentally friendly touches added like the hallway lighting being on a sensor. Our stay included the daily breakfast buffet which had a very diverse spread of foods that the only challenge you had was not overeating. It was here that I tried several different varieties of local honey and each had it own unique taste and consistency. They must have a controlled environment somewhere so they can establish which flower or tree the bees pollinated; I found it incredibly fascinating that there was such honey diversity. 

The walled-city of Dubrovnik proper is not that big and it is a very popular destination for cruise ships. Given we were in high season, we thought it prudent to try and figure out what days would have the most cruise ships in port. We found a great website (wish I could remember it's name), that showed us exactly how many cruise ships would be in port on which days and at what times. This aided us tremendously in determining which day we were going to visit. We chose Friday afternoon because there was only 1 cruise ship in port that day and by the afternoon all those cruise ship passengers would be on their merry way to their buffet dinner lineups on the ship. In our haste to catch the water taxi though we got on the wrong boat and took the very long way over. Unfortunately we figured it out too late and we ended up heading the opposite direction which increased our travel time by an hour instead of the 20 minutes it should have taken if we had gotten on the correct boat. It was all part of the journey, I guess. When we finally arrived in Dubrovnik, we made our way up to tour the city walls. Walking the city walls requires some stamina in parts because there are many stairs you need to climb to get up there. After all the walls surround the city and are high enough, some parts are up to 25 meters in height, to be used to protect the city from attack. The wall is about a 2km walk all around. The views from atop are spectacular. You can gaze out on the horizon of the Adriatic Sea, you can get incredible views of the city below and at

times into people's residences. There are four towers remaining from when the walls were actively fortified for protection and you can still see the cannons pointing out to sea. It was surreal to be standing atop the city and looking down at the clay rood shingles, knowing that most had been replaced not too long ago thanks to the war. Dubrovnik was shelled quite badly in 1991 despite it being a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city was badly damaged and reconstruction reportedly cost upwards of $10million USD. There is a hotel just outside of the city on the hillside which still shows the scars of its heavy bombing. It remains empty, hasn't been reconstructed and I have to wonder if it remains there as a reminder of that dark time. 

We decided to visit the War Photo museum inside the city. This museum displays so many real life raw photos, regardless of how disturbing the photo is, captured by photojournalists who were on the ground during the war. It was chilling seeing some of those photos, but it was a stark reminder of how fortunate we are and that we must do all we can to promote peace and understanding of each other's differences. 

Not only is Dubrovnik used as a filming location for the popular series Game of Thrones, but we also discovered that some of the scenes of an upcoming Star Wars movie were filmed here. Can't wait to see if I can pick them out! We capped our visit off with a lovely outdoor patio dinner at Klarisa restaurant. We dined on tomato soup with fresh basil for me, and lamb chops for Z and of course with a couple glasses of local wine. We finished our meal with the waiter's recommendation of Dubrovnik cheesecake and we also ordered a panna cotta; the cheesecake was hands down the winner of those two. This entire experience was accompanied by some very entertaining local, live music. 

We took a side trip to Cavtat for a half day. It's about s 20 minute drive and is more of a locals town without a flood of tourists. It sits right on the harbour, as such there are massive yachts moored in the harbour along the seawall; massive actually might be an understatement for some of these yachts. The weather turned on us during our visit so we found a seafront restaurant and enjoyed lunch until the rain subsided.  

For our final evening in the area, we discovered an off the beaten track area called Konavle. This town is know for its lush fields and vineyards with the mountains in the background. This area is known for an endemic grass which produces a very pleasant white wine. In the village of Gruda, we found the quaintest of quaint restaurants called Konoba Karaceva Kuca. The restaurant is popular with the locals, and I think we were the only tourists there. The restaurant is in a 300-year old house and they also have five rooms you can rent. With the weather being as awesome and warm as it was, we sat on the terrace overlooking the landscape filled with vineyards. The chef/owner was extremely pleasant and between him and the wait staff made sure we had a most enjoyable evening. This restaurant is known for a traditional dish called peka and we had called ahead to see if we could order it (as recommended) but unfortunately they require a minimum number of orders for this dish before they make it because as the chef explained to us it takes most of the day to prepare. The menu is ever changing based on ingredients in season, which were mostly grown on the property and were so incredibly fresh. For any dishes containing meat, the chef had a BBQ station outside where the meat is cooked on open flame. Once again we were given great recommendations for local wines, which did not disappoint. We dined on a three course meal that started with some freshly baked bread. I started with a squash soup while Z had a cucumber salad. But even before our meal was served, we were provided with a complimentary pre-meal drink, a shot of sherry for me and a shot of brandy for Z. Our main meal was veal for me, and lamb for Z accompanied with a fresh garden salad. To top off this fabulous meal, for dessert I enjoyed a very tasty walnut cake with lavender ice cream while Z devoured a salted chocolate cake. I'd say by far this was one of the best meals we had on our entire trip. I loved the intimate setting, the fact it was off the beaten track and the service was so very friendly.