Dubrovnik, Croatia

On the third day of our cruise, the captain rather unexpectedly
decided that we should go to Dubrovnik.  So off we went into the rough
waters of the unprotected coastline of southern Croatia.  We steamed
directly into the 15 foot swells, so the boat rolled from front to
back, very quickly.  This was the day that poor Laura was stuck in our
cabin wrought with motion sickness.

Mercifully, we came in behind the protection of an island for the last
2 hours of our journey and the sea calmed right down.  And with that,
as if by clock-work, the land-lubing, mild stomached passengers began
sticking their heads out of cabin windows for the first time all
afternoon.

Our first sight of Dubrovnik was it's large, single pier, suspension bridge.

These types of bridges seem to be pretty common throughout Europe.
I've only ever seen one in North America, and it was in Alaska of all
places.

We moored our boat fairly far from the city centre.  Not because our
cruise company was cheap (well they quite possibly are), but because
the coastline of the city centre consists of an ancient walled city 
that is suitably fortified to keep out the likes of boats like ours.  
There is plenty of ocean front surrounding the down town, but it is 
rocky and walls stick straight out of the rocks for a hundred feet.

Dubrovnik is one of the larger cities in Croatia.  I believe it's the
third largest after Zagreb and Split.  The old town is surrounded by a
wall that snakes around it's circumference.

It has a long walkway on top that gives camera zealots such as myself,
ample opportunity to get their photo fix, as every corner that we
rounded provided great new picture opportunities.


Amazingly, Dubrovnik was steadily shelled with mortar fire from the
surounding hillsides during the Balkan wars.  Being only 1.5km from
Bosnia Herzegovina, it was an easy target.  Painfully enough, there
was no real reason for the shelling, as Dubrovnik had no military
importance and was populated mainly with non-military people.  It was
also labeled a UNESCO heritage site, but the Serbs bombed it for
several years in the early to mid nineties.  Most of the clay roofs
in these pictures are new roofs.  They've come a long way in 10 years.

Our day consisted mainly of wandering the shops and drinking
espresso/cappuccino at cafes along the shiny streets of the old town.

By Croatia standards, Dubrovnik was the most expensive place we
visited, but it was still significantly cheaper than most other places
in Europe.

We met up with a few friends from the boat and shared a bottle of wine
at yet another cafe before heading back to the boat to get ready for
dinner and the evening.

It was a tough lifestyle, but someone had to do it.

There are some amazing deals to be had outside of the walled city, so
we had dinner at a little pizza place outside of the old town.  Very
cheap, and very good pizza.  After dinner, everyone else from the boat
went into the old town to visit the bars/pubs.  Laura and I decided to
wander the streets and happened upon a little sidewalk Jazz
performance at a cafe.  We listened for a little while before
continuing along the beautiful streets of the old city.

Like I've said previously, the streets are like walking on marble.  
Polished by years of pedestrian traffic, they shine like glass and give
an other-worldly sheen to everything.

Most of the roads were all but deserted except for the occational cat
who were out for their nightly wander.

Thankfully, we managed to catch the last bus back to the docks.

Here are all the pictures.