Dubrovnik

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I previously mentioned that there were 3 places on this trip that would encapsulate me, so far they were Cesky Krumlov and Bled and by now you will have guessed that the final one was Dubrovnik. Although the most heavily touristy of the 3, Dubrovnik was absolutely charming! It wreaked of history and legendary stories and was picturesque to add icing on an already darn sweet cake!

It had its problems before we could fully appreciate the place mind you and Rhys today still reminds me of the 'Disaster of Dubrovnik'! That happened later on during our stay. Dubrovnik (or Ragusa until 1918) was met in the morning after a long but pleasant boat trip down the Dalmatian coast. We grabbed ourselves a cabin for the night and I lost the bottom bunk to a darn 'shotgun'. The top bunk left me with 3 inches to spare and if I was going to be drinking tonight, I was sure to have a close encounter with the ceiling at some point during the early hours.

"...the perfectly walled city it lives up to expectations..."

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The sunset out of Rijeka was stunning and I was really excited about what lay ahead. Dubrovnik is everywhere and I had seen pictures of it frequently but when you actually see the perfectly walled city it lives up to expectations. Unfortunately the hoards of people didn't but then I was adding to the problem and was being hypocritical. We would later meet up with local inhabitants of Dubrovnik who expressed their concerns for the sustainablilty of the city and how the amount of people far exceeded the cities capability to cope. They also said that it would get even worse during the latter summer months and that we were lucky.

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We passed away a few nights in Troubadour bar listening to Marco and his band and talking to the ladies about recent history and the Balkan war. We were suprised to hear that tension still existed between Croatians and Serbs as we spoke more in depth about the current political climate but as the music was in full swing we deviated away from politics for the evening and enjoyed the entertainment put on by Marco and his sons.

The city itself has hundreds of narrow and shallow inclines all leading away from the main street (Stradun) which kept hidden bars, restaurants and shops to satisfy all tastes. We got our guided tour from a local student who's unkept ginger beard and short stout glasses continuously slipped off the bridge of his nose. A small back pack and knee length shorts made up the rest of him and his curly mass of hair made his face sweat profusely but he was interesting to listen to and gave us a great tour and didn't even hang around for us to tip him. Once he vanished in the Dubrovnik crowds, the whole tour group enjoyed a beer in a bar that caught the sunset through the walls of the city.

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Disaster? Oh yes, the disaster...

I took responsibility in getting us a bed for the night and navigating ourselves to the hostel door. It didn't quite work out as well as this and after marching up and down a hill on more than 3 occasions, Rhys was ready to throw in the towel. In a last gasp effort we located the hostel in an internet cafe. With the final directions in hand and a final scaling of the hill, we turned up to our hostel that turned out to be semens house with a retro 70's decor. We waited as instructed by a strange man and a small child entertained himself with a toy gun and shot us on many occasions...i had to die many times to keep him satisfied.

Finally our hostel owner turned up and showed us to the room. It wasn't pretty and it wasn't funny. A double bed was met with cries from Rhys, "No, not happening"!

Later on we toasted with a beer in the old city walls of Dubrovnik listening to distant jazz music and the masses of merged voices in many different languages as the cool night air descended on the streets and alley ways. We had checked in to a completely different hostel but did fill a tad guilty for slipping away from the house with the double bed. When questioned we simply actioned that we were going for a drink and we weren't lying were we?