Then we hopped on the tour bus and drove down to Old Town Dubrovnik, about a 10-15 minute drive. Actually, we hopped in vans that took us to the bus. They are paving the road out in front of the hotel and the bus can’t make it through the construction.
Old Town Dubrovnik was buzzin. It is clearly a tourist hub, but it’s so breathtakingly beautiful, you can overlook the throngs. The tour guide said usually tourism drops WAY off by mid-October, but as you can tell in the pics, it’s still thriving. We did a walking tour that lasted about 90 minutes, which walked some of the streets and paths of Old Town Dubrovnik, and included a Franciscan Monastary. We learned a little history, including the war in 1991-1992, and how the slave trade was abolished way sooner than in most places, in the mid 1400s because Croatia wanted to make nice with the Turks, who were Muslim, and vehemently opposed to the practice.
After the guided tour, I broke off and wandered around town. It’s beautiful, but may little paths and alleyways look similar. Lots of restaurants and gift stores selling Game of Thrones souvenirs. I did see the restaurant/shop where Phil got an Octopus burger, but I did not partake. My friend Jules did, however.
The highlight by far was walking around the City Wall. SO many stunning vistas. There were a lot of people, but it wasn’t too crowded. I heard someone say that during the busy tourist season, there is literally a wall-to-wall line on the wall as people make their ways along the narrow (at times) path. It was a beautiful, humid sunny day – Rain was in the forecast, so I was happy for only a few raindrops. I have resigned myself to a mostly rainy experience, as that is what is forecasted, and so any day without pouring rain is a bonus.
After my City Wall tour, I ran into Jules in the market square area. She was unable to do the tour due to health reasons, so we wandered a bit and then sat and had a beverage and people watched before meeting up with some others in our group.
I’ve enjoyed meeting new people who I didn’t know before, and know that I’ll have some forever friends.
I was pretty pooped after the City Wall walk … it wasn’t too strenuous, but I think I’ve had about 10 hours of sleep since Monday, so was feeling pretty fatigued … and my feet, hands and legs were pretty puffy from the long flight the day before. SO, I headed back with the group on the bus at 3:30 instead of lingering longer in town. And had a VERY COZY NAP. When I woke up about 5:30pm, I really felt no strong urge to put my pants back on or my contacts back in, so I ate leftover eggs & breakfast meats from this morning and am currently enjoying listening to the lounge band playing downstairs. I may go down there … it’s 9:13 pm … or not :). I’m currently uploading over 200 pics … lol. I’ll try to purge. Or not :).