We Depart The UK…. Our drive to the airport on leaving Matlock was via Market Harborough, a typical English market town and on a Saturday morning lots of activity including Morris Dancing. I had to hold Liz back from trying to participate! From there we headed to Stansted Airport for an overnight stay, before catching a 6:25 AM flight to Dubrovnik the following morning.
The Old Grammar School in Market Harborough
Croatia, A New Experience…. Arrived in Dubrovnik and caught the Airport Express bus and walked to our apartment right in the middle of the ‘Old Town’. No cars allowed but there were thousands of tourists. Apparently, this is the most visited tourist city in the world and we now know why. We were met at our accommodation by our host and even though we were 2 hours early for check-in our apartment was ready.
Restaurants outside our apartment. So many to choose from.
We Walk the ‘Old Town’…. After unpacking we walked the ‘Old Town’ to familiarise ourselves with our location and the main tourist hot spots and quickly decided every street and laneway is a tourist hotspot with most being filled with either restaurants or gift shops. Dubrovnik ‘Old Town’ is a medieval city surrounded by a wall which runs uninterrupted for nearly 2 km and completely encircles the town. The walls were built in the 9th century and fortified in the 14th century with a series of forts, bastions, quadrangular towers, and detached forts.
Main street in the ‘Old Town’, Placa
Hitting the Tourist Trail…. We visited a few of the free tourist spots; St Blaise Church, Cathedral Treasury and the Old Port. During these travels we found a hole in ‘The Wall’ with a sign saying ‘No Topless’, ‘No Nudists’ and being curious stuck our heads through only to find this amazing ‘Mala Bar Buza’ clinging to the rocks below the wall and overlooking the Adriatic Sea. Well, we had to have a beer and take in the magnificent view. Just be warned, beer and wine are not cheap in this bar, but the ambience is worth every penny.
Bar Buza outside the town wall
On the bus…. The next day we wanted to see a bit of the countryside so jumped on a local bus taking us east along the coast. After 30 minutes we jumped on another bus which took us west until we reached the main port of Dubrovnik and was politely told by the bus driver to get off. Another bus then took us back to the ‘Old Town’. We purchased a Dubrovnik Visitors Card (Kuna 250, A$60 per person) and this entitles you to many of the attractions in the ‘Old Town’ including walking the wall.
The Old Port from the bus
We walk ‘The Wall’…. Late in the afternoon we visited the Franciscan Monastery Museum and then took on the walk of the ‘Old Town’ wall. This 2000 meter walk with several hundred steps is a “must do” and was a highlight of our visit. There were photo opportunities at every turn and at the top of every set of stairs. Halfway round what better way to take in the sights than to stop for a beer at one of the bars on the wall. It took us 2 hours to walk the wall and we finished just as it was closing. All up, we had walked 14,000 steps that day and this seems to be the average in Dubrovnik.
Dubrovnik from the wall
An Early Start…. Our Dubrovnik Card was valid for 24 hours so the next day we were up early and visited the Maritime Museum located inside Fort St John, then to the Cultural History Museum inside the Rector’s Palace. From there just around the corner to the Pulitika Gallery and Studio.
Maritime Museum inside Fort St John
Museum in Rector’s Palace 
Pulitika Gallery
Back on the Bus…. When we emerged from the Gallery the town was packed with tour groups, so we decided to make use of our 24 hour bus pass and head out of town again. This time to Babin Kuk to the west of Dubrovnik. We jumped off the bus at the end of the line and walked to the Cave Bar which is part of Hotel More. From the reception area you take a lift down 9 floors and come out in the middle of a cave system complete with stalactites, stalagmites and a cocktail bar. The cave lets you out onto a patio level near the waters edge and you can walk down steps to swim in the Adriatic Sea.
Cave Bar in Hotel More
Pulitika Gallery…. After a cleansing ale at the Cave Bar we caught another bus down to Sunset Beach at Lapad. Not a sandy beach but pebbles and for A$28 you could rent a banana lounge and umbrella for the day or if you were really keen a Cabana Lounge for a cool A$170 for the day. We decided this was a private beach and we didn’t need to swim.
Sunset Beach
Sunset Beach has numerous restaurants and bars along a pedestrian walkway leading down to the beach and would be a popular holiday spot for Croatian and European holiday makers. Back on another bus which took us back to the ‘Old Town’. An interesting day and another 12,000 steps walked including once again, lots of steps.
Pedestrian Walkway down to Sunset Beach
Tomorrow we depart on our 8 day Croatian Cruise to Split and that starts with a tour of Dubrovnik so we would expect to get more history of the town and an explanation of the key sites.