I had a restless night with not too much sleep, Deb did a lot better than me. We had our alarms set for 5:15am, I hate alarms, can never sleep when we have them set.
Anyway…… , we awoke at 5:15am and got going for the day.
Breakfast in the hotel, then a 2 minute stroll over to the airport. Our flight opened for check in around 6:35. We checked in, went through immigration and made our way to the Aegean Airlines lounge. It was very busy, with very few seats. We made good with what we could find.
Boarding started at around 7:40pm, we went to the gate and got on a bus to our plane. Aegean Airlines is pretty average, but it’s a way from A to D. We took off at 8.40am.
The guy across the aisle from me keeps spitting in an airsick bag, then kept putting the bag back in his seat pocket. Just so gross!!!!! And he left it there!!! Really!! That is sick.
We landed in Dubrovnik at 8:55 local time, Croatia is 1 hr behind Greece, got our bags and went through to find our greeter, no customs or immigration between EU countries. We found our greeter just outside, he called our driver in and were taken to our hotel, about a 30 minute drive. The hotel check in time is usually 2pm, but we were much earlier than that. But our room was ready by the time we had checked in. We have a balcony sea view room, that apparently gets a good view of the sunset.
We had lunch and drinks down at the Cave Bar on the waters edge (that’s Adriatic Sea water). It was enjoyable. Seems the hotel is built over the top of limestone caves, and there are stalagmites and stalactites on show inside a tunnel off the Cave Bar.
Cave Bar
At 4:14pm we met our driver in the foyer of our hotel for our afternoon tour of the old city, apparently he wasn’t happy, he had been waiting outside in his car for 15 minutes. Our instructions were to wait in the foyer, he apparently didn’t get the memo.
Anyway, we got dropped off near the old city and met our guide for the afternoon, Toni, a nice guy aged 38.
Dubrovnik today has about 30,000 people, greater Dubrovnik stretches that to around 55,000. Tourist season is from May until October, in that time they get around 4 million tourists. In peak season they can get up to 3 or 4 cruise ships a day.
The old city of Dubrovnik has a very old history and has been occupied/governed by many different peoples through history, many of them several times. The old city was originally established by refugees from the invasion and destruction of a former great city in the south, Epidaurus. The refugees established a fortified settlement where the Old City now sits. Their settlement withstood a 15 month siege by the Saracens. Dubrovnik became ruled by the Byzantium and Venetians at various times from the 10th to the 14th century. Its strategic position as a major trading port was the reason why so many nations took an interest in it.
Dubrovnik gained it independence for the first time in the 14th century.
During its independence Dubrovnik has its own unique system of government. The Rector (like a Mayor) held the position for one month only. There was a Great Council that had legislative power and consisted of all nobleman over 18 years of age, then a Small Council that had executive powers and was made up of 11 members elected for one year. The real power was with the Senate which had 45 senators all elected for one-year. Each elected member could not be re-elected for consecutive terms. The reason for short terms was to encourage things to get done quickly.
Independence finished end of 19th century with the 1808 take over by the Napoleonic Empire, the Ottoman Empire and then became part of the first of 3 iterations of Yugoslavia which finally finished with the collapse of the communist Tito regime in 1990 and the commencement of the hostilities predominantly with Serbia, and the brutal war that ensued until the mid 1990’s when Croatia finally got self rule. And became the country we know today.
The old city was devastated twice in “recent” times. Firstly by a large earthquake in 1667 and then during the 1990’s war. The city was rebuilt after the earthquake and hence most buildings are of the 17th century. It had paved streets and fresh water piped in during the middle ages and all the wealth of a major trading port.
Tourism has had two waves in the city, firstly in the 1980’s and then again in a concerted effort since the year 2000. The TV series Game of Thrones put the spot light on Dubrovnik and has been a big part of the tourism boom.
We found the old city to be absolutely fascinating, its a city with true character that every building carries in their own way. The scars of history are easily seen as you walk around, the buildings have fascinating histories of uses and occupiers. It is absolutely worth visiting.
We finished our day with a cable car ride to a hill overlooking the old city and then dinner in the old market square.
We had a great day in the old Town of Dubrovnik.
