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The Stradun, is the main artery of the old town which throngs with a new tide of tourists on a daily basis. So much so, that the 300 meters of limestone’s flooring gleans and sparkles, smoothed down with hundreds of years of passing footsteps. Much of the Stradun was damaged in the ‘homeland War of the early 90s, although little trace of its troubles past is left on show. Painstakingly restored, the Stradun once again sits at the heart of Dubrovnik.
About
After a windy Friday, the weather was warm and balmy on Saturday which meant we could use the Cable car up to Mount Srd. The plateau at the top offers a picture postcard perfect view of the city and surrounding areas. Looking the opposite direction from the sea, you look straight into Bosnia itself. The Napoleonic fort at the top, was the last line of defence in the siege of Dubrovnik in 1991/2 and now homes a very informative museum and collection.
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Dubrovnik at night is much more sleepy than its daytime activity might suggest. Although late in the season, when we visited, the backstreets are eerily silent, apart from the odd stray cat. The roadside cafes and restaurants are plentiful and ease themselves into every possible square and alley. Despite plenty of off putting reviews about tourist traps, we encountered no such problems and visited several good establishments. The Taj Mahal was our favourite, serving up some interesting Bosnian cuisine and strong coffee!
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The Harbour area reminded me a little of Valletta, (Malta) with the high walls and stone baked fort, although on a much smaller scale. Fisherman, tourists, territorial cats and elderly locals can all be found on any given afternoon, all passing the time of day away. Hard to imagine that this peaceful of Dubrovnik reaped some of the most infamous shelling from JNA ships in the early 90s.
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Although im not entirely sure that are all stray, there certainly seems to be a high cat population in Dubrovnik, of which some certainly don’t have a home. They can be found everywhere, guarding doorways, snoozing in the late autumn sunshine, watching local fisherman with hungry eyes, rummaging though bins late at night as well as much more. Although they only take an interest when you do so in them, one cheeky chap knew the routine well and waited patiently watching every mouthful of food we had one night. Finally the wife, relented and gave him scrap, which he obligingly took and disappeared into the night.
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A sunset walk towards the summit of mount Srd, meant a good opportunity to explore some of suburban Dubrovnik. Having climbed above the treelike, I made it just in time for sunset and a chance to take in the city before nightfall.
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We wondered round to the impressive looking Fort Lovrijenac, early Sunday morning, to find we had the place to ourselves. The Elderly cashier/warden looked genuinely surprised/delighted that I had bothered to try and speak in Serbo-Croat! Fortunately he spoke good English, as my limited vocabulary was going to extend to a full blown conversation! He obligingly took a photo of us and left us to explore the fort to ourselves.
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The ancient city walls are one of Dubrovnik’s crowning jewels and a must far any visitor. The Cities defences run to just under 2km and offer a stunning views of the old town and the surrounding landmarks. We wondered around in the late afternoon which meant we avoided much of the crocodile lines of passing tourists. A sobering thought to think that despite being centuries old, they were still defending the city as recently as 1991.
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Our apartment was on the top floor of a 17th century building opposite the Orthodox Church in the heart of the old town. A great location, with equally good views of the immanent vicinity, its only drawback was when it rained…which it did every night! The dripping outside our window reminded me of the joys of double glazing!
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Needs no explaining!
