Dubrovnik, Croatia

We arrived early afternoon, around 3pm, after a 3.5hr drive. Not bad, we used the toll road and it was much better than weaving our way through the countryside. Cost was 14EUR, about $14.70USD. BTW- gas here is relatively cheap, selling for 1.51EUR per liter, or roughly $5.73 per gallon. In France it was a bit higher at 1.99EUR / liter or $7.54 / gal!

Weather has been good, hot during the day with temperatures around 80F, and high humidity. No rain since Chamonix so that makes driving a bit easier. Now how about that traffic? Well, you’d never know it because it’s not advertised but Croatia has a LeMans F1 training track that just so happens to also be the toll road. Amazing how fast a 4-cylinder POS can actually go in the hands of a professional driver. Not that we were expecting any issues, but before we left, I bought a dash camera just in case we needed some proof if anything did happen. It also records GPS location, time, date and speed so if we get one of those tourist tickets, I can verify if we were really speeding or not.

On the way to Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik, or “The Pearl of the Adriatic”. Yep, located on the Adriatic Sea, this historic town is one of Croatia’s top tourist cities. Not only because they filmed most of the Game of Thrones here, but that certainly didn’t hurt, but because it is regarded as the most picturesque cities on the Dalmatian coast. Dalmatia was a Roman name given to the area derived from the name of a tribe that used to inhabit the area known as the “Dalmatae”. The Romans fought 3 battles here and in 168BC they won and abolished the kingdom. The area then became a Roman protectorate.

After the fall of Rome, Dubrovnik was ruled by the Byzantine Empire. (The Byzantine Empire was really just the Eastern Roman Empire but under Christianity) That came to an end around 1435 AD when Constantinople fell to the new technology used by the Ottoman Turks, cannons! Walls that used to protect cities were no longer sufficient.

But in Dubrovnik, there was no need to worry if the walls surrounding the city were of sufficient strength. Instead, the citizens of Dubrovnik opened trade with the Turks, even though their land, Dalmatia, had been sold to the Venetians. This gave them an element of protection from invasion from both the Turks and the Venetians. But just to be safe, Dubrovnik had built massive walls surrounding the entire city, which made it almost impregnable. These walls still stand today so we’ll take a walk along the top later in our stay.

In 1667 there was a great earthquake. The destruction was severe with many churches, cathedrals, and homes being destroyed.  By the early 1800’s the Napoleonic Wars reached Dubrovnik with Napoleon conquering the city in 1808. In 1814, the Congress of Vienna gave Dubrovnik to Austria; in 1918 it was incorporated into Yugoslavia. Not until 1991-92 and the war for independence did Croatia become and independent country. Many buildings in Dubrovnik were damaged in this war but much of the Old Town has been restored.

Whew! That was a lot of history. Felt like being back in high school, for those who went. How about the apartment? Well friend, here’s the skinny. We arrived early afternoon… I think I said that already. OK, the apartment is a 1-bedroom, 1-bath unit located on a hill about 15 minutes outside of Old Town. Little did we know that almost all homes are located on a hill. This one is 50 steep steps down from the parking area, and 140 steeper steps down to the bus stop and grocery store. Ugh! It does have air conditioning in the living / dining area so that’s a plus. There’s a clothes washer and drying rack, that’s good, and a dishwasher. All good things.

Kitchen, and yes, that’s a fridge with water through the door. In Europe!

Bath & laundry

This is where you fill the water through the door. At least it’s cold.

After three trips to the car, got all our things in the apartment, cranked on the air and poured a nice glass of wine. Time to relax and enjoy the patio overlooking the street way down the hill.

Steps from the car park

Steps going down to the street

Tomorrow, we conquer the city!

Beach by the apartment

The bay

Sunset