Dubrovnik – Now that’s a walled city!!!

Is Uber is good! Our driver soon had us at the entrance to the old town of Dubrovnik. We could see at a distance how huge this fortress is. It is enclosed by perfectly preserved medieval walls with amazing views of the Old Port. The entrance is a walk over a drawbridge. A great tip given to us was to walk the outer wall first. The wall was built in the 10th century and the inner city later. The perimeter is about 2 kilometres but that doesn’t take into account all the stairs. My iPhone tells me I climbed 37 flights. No wonder my thighs were on fire.

Some of the Game of Thrones was filmed here (Kings Landing). Many of the tour guides were extras and proud to show you photos of themselves in this popular series. We playfully re-enacted the Walk of Shame on the Jesuit staircase (we weren’t naked like in the show) but winter was definitely not coming.

It was bloody hot! In fact others on the walk said the heat was brutal – so that is what we are calling this hot European summer. We refreshingly used the Onofrio Fountain built in 1438 to refill our water bottles and cool down!

Having conquered the wall it was time to walk the inner city. 1500 residents still live here but 1.2 million tourists visit so the locals are well and truly out numbered. All the inner houses have orange tiled roofs and there was plenty of laundry on display and a soccer field that seemed so out of place amongst these ancient buildings.

The shops are filled with merchandise for the Croatian Soccer team. Our guide told us it’s just there for the tourists as the locals support local teams only. The countries team is supposedly run by corrupt officials. Many of the old houses have been turned into tourist accommodation as well as eateries and souvenir shops. Ruthie and I have vowed to never be tempted to stay here after watching the tourists struggle with their luggage on the steep steps.

Our boat guide from the previous day told us we had to have an octopus burger when in Dubrovnik. Incredibly we the found the eatery (Barba) in the old city. It is their specialty and the only place that sells them. The burger was magnificent and because we had to replace the fluids, washed down with 2 beautifully cold local beers.

The food and drink revitalised us and we decided to walk the 3.4 kilometres back to the ship. It was an enjoyable stroll and gave us a view of more modern parts of Dubrovnik. Ruthie was still on the lookout for cats. The Dalmatian coast is known for its stray cats and the shops sell cat food to feed them but we only found T-shirts, shop signs and feeding stations (minus any cats). It was obviously too hot for them. Sensible cats!

We enjoyed the sail away from Dubrovnik and waving at the cruisers on the other ships as we left. It had been a big day and even though we didn’t go cliff diving or kayaking, I’m sure the gentle rocking of the ship wouldn’t be needed tonight for sleep.