Yesterday we did bugger all, just sitting around the Irish Pub playing cards for most of the day trying to avoid the wind. We felt sorry for the young couple we met from Adelaide yesterday who were doing the Dubrovnik City Wall walk, because it was so bloody cold and windy. Heading into Split this morning the weather was nice and clear as the bura has blown itself out.
A broken down car in the middle of the road down into the old town was causing some problems. It was stuck. It couldn’t roll back due to the intersection behind it and the old bloke trying to push it didn’t have the strength to push it up the hill. Of course our bus couldn’t turn the corner because it was blocking the turning circle. The bus driver looked down the bus, spoke a few words of Croatian and opened the doors. Michele mentioned I should get out and help but I was already on my way. A few words were passed between the driver and the lady in the car. It was obvious that he asked if the car was automatic and if the car was in neutral. He jumped into the drivers seat of the car and sure enough the car wasn’t in neutral. After showing the lady what to do he joined me at the back of the car and we pushed the car off the road into a lay by. The younger blokes on the bus briefly looked up from their iPhones as we climbed back onboard the bus. Thanks a lot fellas.
After a little exercise I was looking forward to a coffee so we headed back to the Irish pub we’d visited yesterday. Great tasting cheapest coffee the best way to start the day. On the way we met the couple from Perth we’d met yesterday as well. They were on their way to walk the wall. It’s funny how we run into the same people in Dubrovnik.
We’d planned to visit a few more of the places on the Museums of Dubrovnik card but after checking on the website last night we discovered that the art gallery is closed on Mondays. Today we planned to visit the maritime museum but on arrival found that it too was closed.
Although a little annoying all was not lost, as we discovered that the ticket office for the wall tour was not manned, so we treated ourselves to a free walking tour of the city walls. Normally $21 or 120 kuna each, so a saving not to be sneezed at. We’d originally looked at the price and were debating if it was worth that much.
There were only a small number of Japanese tourists on the wall, the weather was clear, so it was absolutely perfect.
The city walls have a great view over the city and the sea.
The yellow and red tiled roofs of the buildings indicate buildings that were bombarded during the siege in 91-92 by the Yugoslav Army. The locals have done a magnificent job restoring the city to such a magnificent state. On our map, different locations were marked where Game of Thrones was filmed, so we tried to pick them out.
Along the wall were different checkpoints but it seemed everyone was too busy so we were able to pass by without anyone tapping us on the shoulder. Eventually we’d done the whole circuit of 1.9 miles and would we have paid $21 to walk the walls? Hell yeah…the walk certainly changed our minds. It was fabulous.
After the walk we headed back to the little bar overlooking the sea we’d visited yesterday (and nearly got blown away). The wind was a little fresh today as we enjoyed a drink but the sun was just magnificent. The bar must be really busy in summer as it has a few different levels, private areas and steps leading down into the sea.
After warming up in the sun we headed back into the city to a pizza place we’d spotted and enjoyed one of Croatia’s best kept secrets (their pizza’s shhh don’t tell anyone).
Late in the afternoon we ticked off another item on the Museum card by visiting the Archaeological exhibition in the Revellin. The staff were quite friendly and pointed us towards the exhibition. On the walls were lots of information about the building of the city walls, the development of Dubrovnik and even an ancient foundry which was discovered during renovations. There were a wide range of carved stone artefacts from up to ten different churches across the city and islands some dating back to the 9th century. Each of the churches had storyboards which included a few pictures and histories.
After the visit we headed back to the bus and caught it to the end of the line in the hope of catching the sunset over one of the islands. The bus had a group of Japanese who obviously had the same idea as we all got off outside a deserted hotel. Spotting an open side gate we took a shortcut through the gardens and found a nice spot on the waters edge. It was nice watching the sun go down however, there was no perfect sunset.
Hopefully we’ll have better luck with the sunset tomorrow.
