Day 105 - Dubrovnik
Sunday, October 14, 2018.
I wanted to start the day early but it was Sunday so we slept in even if we don’t have a lot of time in this storybook city. We got up at 9:00am, ate breakfast, and got ready to go. Unfortunately, we didn’t know what to do and it always takes us some time to plan and figure out what to do. Gregory always does all the research but when we get to the city, we use our morning looking at tours, prices, and activities anyway. We knew Dubrovnik was a tourist trap and that everything was going to be expensive so we just needed to choose wisely. We missed a treasure hunt that would have been a lot of fun for Daniel. Anyway, we choose the walk around the city walls. I packed some apples, peanuts, and water and we left the apartment.
At the city walls we found our friends from the ferry, Kathy and Lacey. What a tiny world, I thought. I mean, there were a few thousand people in the old town, there are so many things to do including visiting islands, and we found the ladies we sat next to. We hugged like we knew each other, it felt that way. I wish I had taken some pictures with them. I will make a mental note to do this for next time we meet sweet and interesting people.
The Dubrovnik city walls are about 2km long and include five fortresses and sixteen towers and bastions. There are three entrances to the wall, one next to St. Luke’s Church in the east, one next to St. Savior Church, and one next to the Maritime Museum at St. John fortress. The first settlers of Dubrovnik arrived in the 2nd century as a fortified military camp in the Roman Empire.
We walked and stopped and admired the views of the city, the sea, and the surrounding area from different perspectives. We walked some more, stop and took more pictures and looked for the part they used to film Game of Thrones episodes. We walked again and we walked some more and it seems like the walls would never end. At one point, we stop sat on a shady area to have our snack and Gregorio had his beer of course! We finally finished, tired and hungry, around 2:00pm. We walked down to the old town wanting to buy salads for lunch but the grocery store was closed -- of course, it was Sunday afternoon. We found a nice, modern fast food place that sold “tortillas”, which were pretty much wraps.
After lunch, we went outside the old town to the information booth to ask about bus tickets for the next day. On our way back we stopped at the kayak beach which was empty and admired the beautiful view of city walls and calm sea! When all the kayaks started to arrive, we left to get our gelato of the day, the most waited-for time of the day! It was Daniel who had found the cheapest ice cream which was surprisingly inside the old town. We sat outside a church to enjoy it while we watched a bunch of tourist trying to balance on a small stone face in the church wall.
After that, we walked some more around the city and finally the kids told us they wanted to go home to rest. It is important to have down time after many hours of sightseeing. The kids ran to their electronics, I went to unpack my suitcase to find a can of tuna fish that I needed for dinner! We normally pack the leftovers even if my suitcase gets heavier and heavier!
Guess what we had for dinner? Pasta of course! Sometimes I feel bad that we’re not eating enough protein but then I thought about their chicken wraps and how happy Daniel is with pasta and I forget. We are eating a lot of pasta because it is cheap but also because there are not many options or alternatives at the small stores that we go to. For example, there is hardly any fruit or vegetables in these stores -- it’s all in the markets, and the few that you find is local, seasonal products like apples, small mandarin oranges, and pomegranates right now. Locals buy fresh products in the market and of course, they are only open in the morning. In other words, I need to change my schedule!
After dinner, we talked to Gregory’s mom. I love to see how the kids get excited when she calls and they want to talk to her and Grandpapa. I guess it did work going every Sunday to their house. It is important to build relationships and maintain them (to me at least). Gregory and I went for our last walk in the old town. It was awesome because it was almost empty and it looked so nice all illuminated. We came home at 11:00pm and this time we all set up our alarms to wake up at 6:00am, gulp!
I wanted to start the day early but it was Sunday so we slept in even if we don’t have a lot of time in this storybook city. We got up at 9:00am, ate breakfast, and got ready to go. Unfortunately, we didn’t know what to do and it always takes us some time to plan and figure out what to do. Gregory always does all the research but when we get to the city, we use our morning looking at tours, prices, and activities anyway. We knew Dubrovnik was a tourist trap and that everything was going to be expensive so we just needed to choose wisely. We missed a treasure hunt that would have been a lot of fun for Daniel. Anyway, we choose the walk around the city walls. I packed some apples, peanuts, and water and we left the apartment.
At the city walls we found our friends from the ferry, Kathy and Lacey. What a tiny world, I thought. I mean, there were a few thousand people in the old town, there are so many things to do including visiting islands, and we found the ladies we sat next to. We hugged like we knew each other, it felt that way. I wish I had taken some pictures with them. I will make a mental note to do this for next time we meet sweet and interesting people.
The Dubrovnik city walls are about 2km long and include five fortresses and sixteen towers and bastions. There are three entrances to the wall, one next to St. Luke’s Church in the east, one next to St. Savior Church, and one next to the Maritime Museum at St. John fortress. The first settlers of Dubrovnik arrived in the 2nd century as a fortified military camp in the Roman Empire.
We walked and stopped and admired the views of the city, the sea, and the surrounding area from different perspectives. We walked some more, stop and took more pictures and looked for the part they used to film Game of Thrones episodes. We walked again and we walked some more and it seems like the walls would never end. At one point, we stop sat on a shady area to have our snack and Gregorio had his beer of course! We finally finished, tired and hungry, around 2:00pm. We walked down to the old town wanting to buy salads for lunch but the grocery store was closed -- of course, it was Sunday afternoon. We found a nice, modern fast food place that sold “tortillas”, which were pretty much wraps.
After lunch, we went outside the old town to the information booth to ask about bus tickets for the next day. On our way back we stopped at the kayak beach which was empty and admired the beautiful view of city walls and calm sea! When all the kayaks started to arrive, we left to get our gelato of the day, the most waited-for time of the day! It was Daniel who had found the cheapest ice cream which was surprisingly inside the old town. We sat outside a church to enjoy it while we watched a bunch of tourist trying to balance on a small stone face in the church wall.
After that, we walked some more around the city and finally the kids told us they wanted to go home to rest. It is important to have down time after many hours of sightseeing. The kids ran to their electronics, I went to unpack my suitcase to find a can of tuna fish that I needed for dinner! We normally pack the leftovers even if my suitcase gets heavier and heavier!
Guess what we had for dinner? Pasta of course! Sometimes I feel bad that we’re not eating enough protein but then I thought about their chicken wraps and how happy Daniel is with pasta and I forget. We are eating a lot of pasta because it is cheap but also because there are not many options or alternatives at the small stores that we go to. For example, there is hardly any fruit or vegetables in these stores -- it’s all in the markets, and the few that you find is local, seasonal products like apples, small mandarin oranges, and pomegranates right now. Locals buy fresh products in the market and of course, they are only open in the morning. In other words, I need to change my schedule!
After dinner, we talked to Gregory’s mom. I love to see how the kids get excited when she calls and they want to talk to her and Grandpapa. I guess it did work going every Sunday to their house. It is important to build relationships and maintain them (to me at least). Gregory and I went for our last walk in the old town. It was awesome because it was almost empty and it looked so nice all illuminated. We came home at 11:00pm and this time we all set up our alarms to wake up at 6:00am, gulp!
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| Walking towards the entrance of the walls. |
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| View from the top of the wall |
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| Fountain |
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| Look at all that people down there! |
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| Family guarding the walls |
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| Amazing views from any angle |
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| No, he did not get paid by the beer company! |
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| Oh no pirate boat! |
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| We walked the whole wall. |
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| We had "tortillas" (wraps) for lunch! |
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| Couldn't resist it! |
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| Jesuits stairs. They filmed Cercil walk of shame here! |
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| Don't bug me! |
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| I love photography |
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| There were cats everywhere! |
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| 93 stairs we have to climb up to go to our apartment! |
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| Dubrovnick by night |
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| Jesuit stairs empty, unbelievable |
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