Balkans - Part 3

07 Jan 2016 . category: Travel . Comments
#Balkans

Day 3: Dubrovnik

We started the morning with a bus to Dubrovnik, our first border crossing (into Croatia - country #2!). Dubrovnik has a beautiful old city that’s largely built of stone with famous city walls. In the heyday of Italian city states, it rivaled Venice for supremacy on the Adriatic. Of course, given our modern sense of scale, we quickly realized that we could walk across the entire walled city in no time. It was by far the most touristy of the areas we visited, and during our time there we saw several Asian tour groups, which of course meant selfie sticks!

After checking into our Airbnb, we visited several local religious institutions: a Dominican Monastery, Catholic Church, Serbian Church (Orthodox), and Jewish Synagogue. This sort of religious diversity was common in the cities we visited. Though I believe the ethnic homogenization caused by the war has decreased this diversity.

At sunset, we went to Cafe Buza, a bar that’s cut into the cliffs of the city and allows for beautiful views of the sea.

We then hit a seafood place for dinner and a bar for drinks. A pretty relaxed day overall.

Day 4: Dubrovnik

This was our primary sightseeing day in beautiful Dubrovnik. We had planned for two days and two nights in Dubrovnik, a real luxury as the rest of the trip was more fast-paced. We started the day by walking around the city walls which were stunning. You get a great view of the city from all different angles. While we were walking around we also ran into a movie set, so that was exciting. Didn’t get the name of the movie being filmed though…if you see me in the background if anything in theaters - let me know!

Next came the cable car to Mt. Srd, where we got more beautiful views of the old town, as well as a fort that had been turned into a museum. It was where Croatians held high ground during the Serbian siege of the city, and contained highly partisan descriptions of the conflict. While there is nominally peace, these partisan stories are a reminder that old wounds remain.

We then hit the beach, further evidence that this was our relaxing day. The water was pretty cold, but Aaron got in a decent swim. There, we also found this wonderful sign. Evidently Croatians have more fun on their public beaches than we do!

Our first two choices for dinner were closed, so we ended up at a romantic restaurant overlooking the walls. The higher prices forced us to cut back to just one glass of wine apiece - a true travesty! We then made the terrible climb up to our Airbnb (it really was tough going as the old city is quite hilly, especially at the end of a long day). Here’s a shot of the narrow inclined streets that are characteristic of the old city:

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