Girls on Tour in Croatia! First stop, Dubrovnik – the ‘Pearl of the Adriatic’
Sunday 9 June
It’s been a busy 36 hours – I arrived at London Heathrow from Calgary at lunchtime yesterday on Westjet, never heard of them before but can highly recommend them – a very comfortable journey with wonderful service. Straight out from the Airport and on to a National Express coach for my transfer to Gatwick Airport on a bit of a gloomy, rainy day and checked into the Hilton. The day brightened up though when my sister, Denise, arrived around 5pm and we had a lovely dinner and catch up before turning in quite handy as we had an early start this morning.
My younger sister, Julie, arrived at 5.00am after leaving home at 2.45am to get to Gatwick! Then it was off to the check-in for our flight to Dubrovnik and our week together in Croatia!!! We arrived on time (check out this photo Julie took from the plane window!) and were in the old town by midday – so nice to be back in shorts in the warm sunshine.
Situated on the Dalmatian coast against a backdrop of rugged limestone mountains, and severely damaged by an earthquake in 1667 Dubrovnik managed to preserve its beautiful Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque churches, monasteries, palaces and fountains and is known as one of the world’s finest and most perfectly preserved medieval cities. Damaged again in 1991 in the Serbian siege of Dubrovnik, it is now the focus of a major restoration programme co-ordinated by UNESCO. Its sturdy stone walls, built between the 11th and 17th centuries still enclose the historic city centre and we are looking forward to exploring this over the next 4 days, and not only that, our Air BnB is located in the Old Town – we are surrounded by cobbled streets and houses that have remained unchanged for centuries – it is beautiful.
We left our bags and quickly headed out to have a look around and some lunch. We can access the harbour by an incredibly long stairway, 389 steps to be exact – fairly easy going down there and we found a nice little restaurant in a square for lunch before we headed back for a welcome rest – made even more welcome by the time we tackled the 389 steep stairs going upwards – in 28 degrees of heat.
Keen to get a feel for the Old Town we booked ourselves on a sunset cruise around the harbour and Lokrum Island, directly opposite. So back down those 389 stairs and a nice sit down on the boat in the harbour for 30 minutes whilst we waited for the other passengers to arrive. Then off we went – it was a great start to our sightseeing here as we could put things into perspective and we also spotted our Air BnB from the harbour. A lovely cruise also took us into two caves, one on the mainland and one on Lokrum Island. Now, for those “Game of Thrones” fans out there, you might be interested to know that Croatia has been used a lot as a filming location, you can even do a GoT guided tour around the city. Not having watched it I’m a novice but I am sure we will be visiting a few more of these sights over the coming days so I will keep you posted. So, No. 1 site spotted is on Lokrum Island where the throne room featuring the Iron Throne in the Benedictine monastery!
It was a delightful cruise and we were ready for dinner when we finished – and what a great choice for our first Dubrovnik dinner – a lovely restaurant on tiered steps overlooking the harbour called Kenova, the casual meaning of which is to say “Hi, how are you” in Croatian, well, we are very well seeing as you asked, especially after the really delicious dinner we had there. Knowing we had to face the 389 steps for the 4th time today (that makes 1,556 if you’re counting) we decided to indulge in dessert since we knew it would be walked/climbed off, by the time we got home! And if you’re wondering, the chocolate soufflé and crème brûlée were delicious thank you!
Monday 10 June
We’ve had a great day today, a lovely walk around the Old Town, it was superb. Such quaint little streets, a lot of them like our Air BnB, not streets but stairs (we’re certainly keeping fit!) and lots of them are cobbled with interesting doorways and lined with pots of flowers. The Dubrovnik Bell Tower on Luza Square was constructed in 1444 with a 31 metre high tower, it suffered damage in the earthquake and started to lean towards the Stradun, which is the main street, so was demolished in 1928 and rebuilt to the original design. The bronze bell was cast in 1506 and two bronze jacquemarts, automated, animated, mechanised figures Maro and Baro, known as the green men, due to their green patina, strike the bell on the hour.
The main entrance to the Old Town is through Pile Gate derived from the Greek word pylaj meaning gate. It used to have a wooden drawbridge which was pulled up at night to prevent unwelcome guests entering the medieval, walled city. The drawbridge was replaced by stone and the moat is now full of foliage.
We had a look at the Jesuit Church of St Ignatius, built between 1667 and 1725 which is modelled on the Gesù in Rome, with a Baroque staircase leading up to it which is also modelled on the Spanish Steps in Rome. It consists of a single nave with several side chapels and a semi-circular apse containing frescoes depicting the life of St Ignatius de Loyol, the founder of the Jesuit order. The church belfry contains the oldest bell in Dubrovnik which was cast in 1355. Not to take away from the seriousness and beauty of this stunning church, but two sidenotes….The Baroque staircase is Cersei’s walk of fame in Game of Thrones and Rod Stewart and Rachel Hunter’s son Liam, got married here last Saturday and there were plenty of photos in the newspapers of the whole Stewart clan coming up this staircase – but perhaps in a happier frame of mind, not in shame!!!
Next up was the Onofrio fountain, designed by Ononfrio della Cava from Naples, who also designed another smaller fountain at the other end of Placa. They were built for public use on the completion of the city water supply in 1438 when spring water was brought from Rijeka Dubrovračka (a coastal inlet) situated 12 kilometres away. Today the old water supply is connected with the new waterworks system.
Time for a coffee and a sit down and we found the perfect place right on the water’s edge in a little bay with Lovrjenac Fortress on one side and Bokar Fortress on the other, both built in the 15th century to defend the town’s main entrance, Pile Gate. Next up a look at City Hall which is next to the Theatre named after the Croatian Renaissance playwright Marin Držić and a walk skirting the city walls with lots of beautiful views of the deep blue Adriatic sea.
Back up those stairs for a little rest and some stunning photos taken from the balcony of our Air BnB and then down again and out for dinner in a lovely little restaurant we found on one of the side streets, plenty of atmosphere and people watching on a very balmy summery night. Another perfect day!
