Delightful Dubrovnik

Croatia was always high on the list of countries proposed on the kitchen table in preparation for the trip. It was clearly high on a few other peoples lists and we had somehow got together a group of 5 to travel it with. So no more running out of things to talk about as travelling as a duo was over for a month or two. Ray, his wife (it still sounds funny, even to them) Rach, Adam and the two of us had planned to travel up from Dubrovnik in the south, through Croatia, Slovenia, northern Italy to meet up with an even bigger group in Munich for Oktoberfest. Boarding our bus from Mostar to Dubrovnik we were greeted by the 3 with big hugs. We then proceeded to all talk at once for the rest of the bus trip, with plenty of stories about the last few months travelling.

Dubrovnik is clearly a special place. Lord Byron was pretty much on the money when he proclaimed Dubrovnik, “the pearl of the Adriatic”. Ringed by magnificent and imposing city walls the old town is a crisscross of marble streets and barque red roofed buildings, s spectacular sight in the warm glow of a late afternoon sun. By booking ahead we had secured an apartment for five, in the old town, with everything we needed. What the website hadn’t advertised was the view from the 3rd floor terrace. Looking out over Dubrovnik towards the surroundings mountains the terrace was perfectly situated. While often covered in drying clothes (which made our place easy to spot from the city walls) it was an excellent spot for dinner, or a evening drink. We had built in some redundancy in case of missed connections etc and thus had 4 nights to enjoy this lovely place. The surrounding beaches were well utilised, especially after Ray tracked down a beach umbrella at the One Euro shop to protect his fair complexion. Other highlights were the obligatory walk around the city walls at dusk, and the permanent photo exhibition dedicated to images of war around the world. It attempts to show the uselessness of all armed conflicts with a focus on the unavoidable civilian suffering that results. With its beginning in the latest Balkan war, it has some chilling images from both that and other conflicts all over the world.
Photos - Top: The group on the city walls
Middle: Walking the city walls
Left: Adam with some liquid happiness.