Dubrovnik, Day 2 & Ferry to Split

Our second morning in Dubrovnik, we got up and grabbed some pastries and coffee and relaxed in the apartment for a bit before heading out. We went up, up, up lots of stairs to reach the Buza Gate (the 3rd gate to the city). After leaving the old town, we walked just a couple of blocks further to reach the base of the Cable Car route. You can hike up the mountain (Mount Srd, pronounced "Surge") just inland from the Old Town (if you're quite fit and fancy sweating a lot), but it's much nicer and faster to take the cable car. We purchased the round-trip ticket with an entrance to the museum within Fort Imperial at the top of the mountain. We got there at a good time, before the largest cruise ship crowds arrived. We waited for the next car to arrive, and up we went!

Looking up the steps of one of the Old Town's side streets

The cable car route up the mountain

Riding up!

The views from the top were incredible! You can see the entire Old Town of Dubrovnik within the city walls, as well as miles up and down the Dalmatian coast. It was quite windy, and I was very pleased I had elected to wear leggings under my dress, as there were times the skirt was flying up around my middle! In fact, the Croatian flag at the top of the mountain was intact when we got up there, and by the time we left (maybe 90 minutes later), it had been torn in half by the wind.

The day before, on our way back from the beach, I had seen a man I thought I recognized as we passed through Ploce Gate. It was a strong feeling of recognition, but I wasn't quite prepared to approach him. However, the next day, he was on our cable car and at the top with a group of people. I felt even more strongly that I knew him, and got up my nerve to ask him if he was my college roommate's cousin. Lo and behold, it was -- he even claimed to remember me from when he visited Davidson over 10 years ago. I love small world coincidences.

We enjoyed the views from the several vantage points that the mountain provides from the top, and were really impressed by the beauty of the mountains to the east (inland) as well as the sea views. We spent a bit of time in the museum inside the fort, which was built in Napoleonic times and was actually used extensively during the war in the 1990s. The area around the fort was a minefield that was only officially cleared a few years back -- we stuck to the paths as was recommended. The museum focused on the history of the war, which was quite interesting. The signage was translated to about 80% understandability in English -- some words clearly didn't translate well so it was a guessing game at times. The signage was clearly written with an anti-Serbian slant, which is an understandable emotion of the Dubrovnik area -- but was somewhat surprising in a museum context. After visiting the museum, we made sure to visit a map at Pile Gate that shows where each bomb landed in Dubrovnik (and which roofs were damaged, home destroyed, etc). It definitely made the (relatively recent) past seem more tangible.

Overlooking Old Town Dubrovnik and island of Lokrum

The mountains to the east of Mt Srd

Looking south along the Dubrovnik coast (see tattered flag)

Stepping out into the sunshine at the top of the Fort Imperial Museum

Great view of the city! You can see the city walls clearly, where we walked the day before.

Looking north from Mt Srd

Me and the large cross (that was replaced after the original was destroyed during the 1990s conflict)

Wind was STRONG.

After we took the cable car back down the mountain, we stopped briefly at the apartment and then headed one street over to the recommended D'Vino Wine bar. It was phenomenal! We sat outside at a tall table in the narrow pedestrian street and each ordered a flight of Croatian wine (I ordered whites from various regions of Croatia, Paul ordered 3 varieties of a certain red grape). After the samples, we got a platter of meats & cheeses and each enjoyed a glass of wine of our favorite from the flights. It was just wonderful, one of my favorite parts of the trip.

All the shops and restaurants in the small streets have lanterns with their names on them.

Our flights, with information about the wines included in each flight.

After our wonderful lunch, we headed down to the harbor to find a ferry that would take us to the island of Lokrum to explore. There is an old fort (also from Napoleonic times) and a monastery on the island, and we just enjoyed walking some of the trains around the island to explore. We stumbled upon some wild peacocks and their chicks! 

When we got to the water on the western side of the island, I was watching to see if anyone else was getting in the water. In several places, there were "pool steps" into the water (attached to the rocks), but it looked a bit slippery to get out to where they were. Finally, a couple of men easily made their way out to a ladder right next to us, and I decided to be spontaneous, stripped down to my underwear, and hopped into the Adriatic! The water felt great and I am so glad I did it :) Paul said he felt like a creeper, but I did ask him to take my picture to document my unusual wild spontaneity!

Looking from the fort ruins toward the monastery on Lokrum

We hopped onto the ferry back to Dubrovnik late afternoon, and sat on a bench overlooking the harbor for about an hour. Boats coming and going, tourists petting stray cats, stray cats begging fishermen for their catch, and people taking wedding portraits. Lovely!

We grabbed some pizza for dinner, then wandered the Old Town for a bit. We sat down first on the steps of a church, the moved on to the water reservoir with some gelato. Again, we loved seeing the city lights, tourists, and a few bizarre street performers (break-dancers who weren't break-dancing; the lady with all the exotic parrots).

Looking down the Stradun at night

The next day, we spent the morning wandering Old Town looking for some small souvenirs to take back with us. We also went back to Buza II to enjoy another drink overlooking the water! After packing up our suitcases, we took the public bus (a crowded experience) toward the cruise ship/ferry port a couple of miles north of the Old Town. We got there with plenty of time, and found a shady spot to rest until the ferry left around 4 pm. It was a high-speed catamaran, so there was no outdoor seating. We were lucky to be some of the early people on board so we got window seats. The American lady sitting in front of us had the same guide book we did, and we bonded over our love of Rick Steves.

The ferry ride took almost 5 hours in total, stopping at 4 islands on the way (Mljet, Korcula, Hvar, and Brac). We got to see the sunset and didn't feel seasick at all!

The two of us on the ferry

Sunset from the ferry

When we arrived in Split, our Airbnb host's sister met us at the dock. She was very sweet and guided us for the approximately 10 minute walk to the apartment, which was within the walls of Diocletian's Palace. She explained the area to us, as well as the details about the apartment. As she left, she explained that we had the only key. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. I thought perhaps she had come back to tell us something else, but it was actually a young man asking for money for his family. We said no and closed/locked the door, but it was a little strange. We felt like we'd been followed from the dock perhaps. Not the most ideal start to a visit to a new city, but we had no other issues during our stay at all. 

After a little while, we headed out for a late-evening walk along the waterfront (the Riva) and to grab some dinner in the square just outside our apartment. I had a pasta dish and Paul had a gnocchi dish. Delicious, and the waiter was memorable -- very self-assured with his recommendations ("no. you want this.") and made us laugh. Because he was back at work the next day, we saw him each time we walked to/from our apartment and he remembered us. After dinner, we headed back to the apartment to rest up for the next day of sight-seeing.