The bus to Dubrovnik was rather uneventful, except that I struck up a conversation with a German poli sci student who was taking his month and a half of vacation. He had a Lonely Planet Eastern Europe book, so I borrowed it from him briefly to figure out how to get to my hostel. That was when we were rushed by a variety of people, advertising rooms to backpackers. Because we were standing near each other and talking though, many of these people thought they could sweeten the deal with a room for two. After a while, I realized I was just keeping him from actually finding a place, so I headed to my hostel and then Old Town. I wandered around a while and frowned on the tourist office that had more souvenirs on sale than maps. I then wandered some more and found my way to the old town walls.
A trip around these walls, especially right as the sun is ready to set, says it all about this city. It’s absolutely beautiful. Perhaps I’m biased because this is the first large body of what I’ve seen in a while. Perhaps I simply miss the smell of salt water and the creatures that come with. Or, there’s just simply something magical about an old seaside town, surrounded by magnificent walls, speckled with red tiled roofs. There’s a great deal of history behind and around these walls, from medieval to recent, and it’s no wonder that the whole Stari Grad is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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| The red tiles lead to the tall walls, which guard Dubrovnik from the Adriatic |
And, as I was walking back to the hostel at night, I just had to stand there for a few minutes staring at the absolute blackness of the Adriatic. The moon was already setting, so there were no reflections on the water at all. It even managed to absorb all the light of the city.
Day 16
Today, I set off to explore Old Town a bit more. I was thinking as I was walking that, if there weren’t tourists and I spoke Croatian, I would love to spend months there. Unfortunately, the annoying mass of loud, partying, and/or inconsiderate tourists makes this a place at which I can’t spend more than a couple days. I signed up for a half-day kayak trip to Lokrum, an afternoon trip, so I spent the morning delving into Old Town more. I went to the Rector’s Palace, which is mostly a museum now. They also use it for some performances of Dubrovnik’s Summer Festival, including the one for that night, but I didn’t have time since I was doing a sunset paddle and I didn’t want to sit in salty wet clothes for the show. Anyway, I saw the typical residence of the rector and learned about the government of the Dubrovnik Republic during the 16th and 17th centuries. After that, I saw the Maritime museum, to learn more about this port city’s means. At one point in its history, Dubrovnik’s fleet rivaled Venice’s merchants and was even hired out by the Spanish Armada for its trite against the British. This museum covered the port and the ships that docked on it, from the 16th to the 20th centuries.
After that, I got ready for my kayaking adventures. Of course, trying to get there wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. I couldn’t figure out which streets would let me get to the main one where the bus was supposed to be. After a while of heading in the wrong direction, I found the right street only to not be at the bus stop when the bus I needed was zooming by. I got to the beach we were launching from eventually but not with the time I wanted to have for just relaxing before heading out.
The paddle over to the island of Lokrum was really nice. We had sit-in kayaks, so I had much more control than sit-on-tops. The sea was pretty calm though, so there wasn’t a problem anyway. The water was exceptionally clear and blue, and I could see why at night the light just doesn’t escape the deep waters. We paddled halfway around the island, past a nude beach, before getting to the less rocky shore that we docked at for 1.5 hours. From there, we all split up, and I wandered off to explore the old monastery ruins and the botanical gardens, which are still used for research now. I bumped into some very friendly Italian guys, who invited me and my “friends” to go to the disco with them, but I politely declined. We returned to our boats about two hours before sunset, so the sun was already headed to the horizon and glimmering off the water. The way back, we went around the rest of the island (well, most of the rest of it) and headed back to the beach. I didn’t feel like paying for the cold public outdoor shower, so I just walked back, wet from salt water, through Old Town, to the hostel. Oddly enough, I bumped into those Italian guys again in Old Town, but we just waved and shouted hello. No mention of disco or where my “friends” were. Whew!
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| not even sure if i want to justify this with a caption... |
After a much needed shower, I went to a pizzeria recommended by one of my roommates at the hostel. I got a pizza with ham, bacon, mushrooms, and egg on it, so I hope that was enough protein for my muscles. I helped a group sitting nearby take some pictures, so they invited me to join them for drinks, but, since my food had just gotten there, I declined but thanked them. On a related note, I ordered a Pepsi with dinner - it was the first PepsiCola company beverage that I’ve even seen here in Europe so far. CocaCola Co seems to have such a monopoly, with the brands we know in the US and some brands and flavors that are unique to Europe or even specific countries.
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