Ah, our sweet little Dubrovnik. We are so looking forward to coming back here – having visited 11 years ago, so soon after their war. We have very fond memories of the little walled town that withstood so much.
Once again, the ship offers a $12 shuttle, which, quite frankly, we feel is overpriced. You can get a cab for that amount (10 Euros each way), and if you share with another couple it’s so much more economical, plus on your time – not the shuttle schedule. Or – you can take the city bus for 2 Euros each way. Hmmmm….well, you know our decision. City bus – buy your tickets right outside the terminal (local currency—Kune –only FYI), then hop on the bus. It’s a 10 minute ride, maybe.
So, we’re downtown in no time – and horrors – smack dab into bedlam! the Costa Classica is in port too, so that’s maybe 2,000 additional people here, add in our 2,800 (most of whom are in the city) and oh my! It’s a crowded awful mess. You can’t escape it – masses of people everywhere – and it’s Monday so some of the museums aren’t even open! Mass melee.
We’ve not planned to do anything but walk around aimlessly. We don’t want to walk the walls again – A) it’s HOT and there’s no shade up there, and B) it’s 12 Euros now. Nah, thanks, we’ll pass. But what we hadn’t counted on was the crowds. So our aimless wandering was more like aimless crowd dodging. Sigh.
We manage to escape a lot of the mayhem by heading out through the market (11 years ago, this was a local little farmers type market with fresh fruit, meat and fish – now, a semi-farmer market with fresh fruit, but also all sorts of tourist souvenirs…another sigh…) and climbing up the stairs to St. Ignatius Church (think the stairs deterred most folks!). Here is an oasis of quiet – a large dirt square with the Church on one side and a restaurant with tables and umbrellas on the other. A few trinket vendors are here as well, but it’s quiet and peaceful with a nice cool breeze. It’s a little too early to eat, but the restaurant gives us a 10% off coupon for later – this is definitely on our list.
From the square, we head out around the walls, just on the inside of them. There is a sign for “cold drinks, best view” which of course, we have to follow! Turn into the wall, through a little opening – and there you have Buza – which indeed did have the best view and cold drinks. The most expensive cold drinks we’ve probably ever had – 5 Euros each for a Tangerina and Coke Zero (and small cans at at hat), the then again – you have the view. So…when you need a break, want a cold drink and a view…you’ll pay for that privilege. And we did!
We spent a lovely 30-45 minutes there, just enjoying the breeze and the view, watching a “pirate” sailboat navigate heavy chop and list from side to side – looking for anything like it was going over – video to come!) thanking our lucky stars we weren’t on that ship!
As we were relaxing we glanced out to see and were surprised to see the brand new Carnival Breeze heading our way! What a coincidence – it’s on it’s inaugural cruise, and Jay and Maryann will be on that ship in another week. Wild! Except for not so wild for us since now there will be an additional 3000 people around town. We hadn't planned to hang around much longer anyway, but now for sure we’re eating and out of here.
So, off we go, walking through town, following the inside of the walls, snapping pictures of all the great winding alleys and walkways. Heading back into the main area of town, Crossing Placa (the main street) and climbing the stairs up to the North gate, then down again to the Marina to watch the little boats that are heading to Lokrum and Cavtat islands (little do they know how rough it is – I’d never get on those little boats!). We wander back through Prijeko street, the main restaurant thoroughfare of the city, where we ate when we were here the first time – at Moby Dick we think – which is still there!
Finally, we decide to get out of the bedlam and head back to our quiet little church square and the Restaurant Jezuite for a quiet lunch. And that’s just what we got – a great lunch of octopus for Ed, a sampler platter for me, and peace and quiet and cool breezes under the shaded umbrellas.
As we make our way back out of town, the masses are flooding the gates! 3 large ships are just a bit more than our little Dubrovnik can handle. The one souvenir bright spot however, was this shirt hanging in a shop.
The bus ride back to the ship isn’t quite as pleasant as the one to town – the bus is packed. Every stop adds more and more people – finally the driver can’t even stop any longer because it’s so jammed. We end up getting off a couple stops before the ship just to get out of the crush. The walking won’t hurt us, plus we want to stop at the grocery store outside the port. So, all in all, it’s a good thing we got off early.
We head back aboard for a while to cool off and relax, then go back outside in the afternoon to a little restaurant across from the port for wi-fi. Next stop….Montenegro.
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