Tuesday September 24th, 2013 Dubrovnik, Croatia

Another stop in Croatia, this time at the port of Dubrovnik - about 200 miles south, down the coast from Split. Although the overall city is quite a bit smaller than Split - the historic center of Dubrovnik is about twice as big and the ship actually docked about 2 miles north, so a short shuttle bus was required to get to town.

It's not possible to describe Dubrovnik without mentioning the war that broke apart the former Yugoslavia in 1991. Much of Dubrovnik was heavily damaged during the war - including the historic center which came under continuous shelling for a 12-hour period. It's a testament to the spirit of the Croatian people that the city was carefully reconstructed in a very short period of time - the result is very impressive, it's hard to find the "joins" between the old bits and the new bits.

We sat and had an excellent cappuccino after we got off the bus - having a good coffee in the morning after breakfast on the ship has become a bit of a ritual, as the coffee in the ship's dining room is really awful. The view from the coffee shop just outside the old city really wet our appetite for things to come…

Much like Split, the old city of Dubrovnik sits at the apex of a small harbor and is completely contained within impressively fortified walls. 

The weather was once again perfect for exploring on foot and we entered the city through the Pile Gate - along with about a million other tourists. The people density here seems extremely high, and movement is further hindered by large tour groups whose guides seem to insist on stopping their followers at key attraction points - what's with that! 

The main shopping street is called the Plaka and like most of the other streets is constructed of marble - it's wide and runs down the center of the old city from north at the Pile Gate, South to the harbor. Centuries ago the area where the Plaka now sits used to be a sea channel that separated the city into two sections - over time the inhabitants filled in the channel, constructed the Plaka and united the two halves - I'm sure there was some fighting along the way.

We wandered in and out of several churches and the main cathedral; construction in the city took place over a long period starting in the earliest part of the 10th century and with significant buildings being constructed all the way up to the 18th century. We bumped in to two of our table mates from the ship and decided to rest for a bit at, of all places, an Irish pub. I'm amazed at the number of people who smoke cigarettes in Croatia, non-smokers must be a tiny minority - the ill effects of this behavior have either not yet been discovered here or the people just don't care.

After more wandering and a little shopping we stopped for lunch at one of the many alleyway cafes - it was basically impossible to choose which cafe, as the menus were pretty much the same, mostly pizza. We just walked until we were tired and hungry and then sat down. The pizza was great, and the service was at the usual Mediterranean glacial pace - especially the presentation of the bill, further supporting my new economic theory about the wealth of nations (see earlier post).

Before returning to the ship we forced ourselves to take a walk along the old city walls; it's actually possible to completely circumnavigate the city along the tops of the fortified walls, a hike of about 1 1/4 miles. There are two exit / entry point for the walk: one by the Pile Gate and the other, about halfway around, by the harbor. There is a charge of 80 Kuna per person to enter the walkway and if you are going to do this you should know that there are a few steps to climb (no elevators this time) - in fact I counted 85 steps to get to the first part of the walkway and there were several ascents after this that were probably another 85 steps. Note also that the walkway is one-way, so once you get up there you are committed to walk at least halfway around the city to get to the other entry / exit point, a distance of a little over half a mile. The rewards for this are some breathtaking views and outstanding photo opportunities - oh and I suppose a little exercise.

l'll finish up this entry with a report on breakfast in the dining room this morning - and Sandra's encounter with the famous Cunard Dancing Eggs. While enjoying her usual one Egg Benedict breakfast, tucking in with gusto - the egg decided to take a dance right off the plate, down her brand-new shirt, hit the chair and then slide down the beautiful wood paneled wall and on to the floor. Unfortunately I was so focused on enjoying my Scottish Kipper that I did not witness this event - but we both burst out laughing. Of course the totally profession Cunard staff were instantly upon us, fussing and cleaning and making everything right while asking Sandra if she needed a replacement egg.