Exploring King's Landing, I mean Dubrovnik
Trip dates: March 11, 2017 - March 14, 2017
We arrived in Dubrovnik in the afternoon, stopped by our Airbnb to drop off our bags, then dropped off Fi at the west side of Dubrovnik. We ended up walking 2 miles to the old city (because we love walking!) so we could check things out before meeting up with our friend Matt for dinner.
Dubrovnik at night was very picturesque - it wasn't as crowded at night so we could appreciate the architecture and historical feel of the city. The little tiny alleys with tons of steps were also quite unique and a key characteristic of Dubrovnik.
We ended up meeting Matt and his friends H&Em at an Asian fusion place called Azur that he was told to go to by a local Asian shopkeeper he met that day. Croatian Asian fusion - how did it measure up? It was... OK. Some familiar flavors but the portions were kind of small for the price. However, this was a common trend in Dubrovnik. Food is expensive! I mean I get it, Dubrovnik is a super popular tourist destination, but the food in general was all pretty mediocre for higher prices.
That night, I woke up and puked multiple times - seemed like food poisoning 😔 Luckily, a grocery store was located just down the street from us, so Lishan was able to help grab some food and drinks while we took it easy during the day and didn't do much.
That night, we went to a sushi place in the hope of finding some simple food for me to eat, as I was feeling a little better. It's really tough to find restaurants in the old city because the roads are tiny, but we managed to get there! It was expensive (big surprise) but the food tasted decent.
The next morning, I was feeling much better! This was very good because we had big plans for that day - walking the city walls, checking out Fort Lovrijenac, and going up Mt. Srd to check out Fort Imperial. Our friends Shawn and Amanda had also just arrived in Dubrovnik and we all went together to the walls and Fort Lovrijenac.
In addition to the food, the sightseeing in Dubrovnik is also a bit expensive. The city walls ticket was around $20 USD per person, although it does also give you access to the fort just west of the city as well. Walking around the walls was a pretty cool experience, seeing all of the red roofs in the city against the sparkling blue green water of the Adriatic. Plus, it's always better with friends! We had a great time catching up with Shamanda on their prior travels.
There are lots of different areas of Dubrovnik that were used in Game of Thrones; some we visited and some we didn't get a chance to see. This one, in particular, was of the Minčeta Tower, which was used as the exterior of the House of the Undying in Qarth, when Daenarys visits the warlocks there in season 2.
After walking in a circle around the city, we had built up an appetite! Previously with Shamanda, we had a streak of eating at really yummy places. Sadly, we broke that streak. Lunch was kind of meh but at least it was close to where we were @ Dubravka 1836. There were really nice views too, although the sky rats (pigeons) kept coming and picking at people's food.
With some sustenance in our bellies, we went on to Fort Lovrijenac which is just west of the old city. There were some pretty views of the city from the fort (at the price of some stairs), but otherwise, it wasn't as remarkable as the city walls.
After visiting the fort, we parted ways with Shamanda for the afternoon. Initially, Lishan had planned for us to hike up Mt. Srd. There's a winding path that goes up the mountain but takes some time, and since we walked the walls already and I was still getting better, we opted to just take the cable car. Of course, the cable car up to Fort Imperial was also kind of pricey at about $20 USD round trip (same as the city walls). Well, it was a pretty quick, scenic ride so at least it has that going for it.
We didn't stop at the fancy looking Panorama cafe at the top of Mt. Srd for expensive food but instead, did a short hike north west to Fort Strinčjera. The hike took us around 30 minutes and it didn't have tons of elevation, so it was pretty refreshing and had some great views along the way of the city, the Adriatic, and the islands nearby.
The fort (really ruins at this point) was historically used for defense but was also put in service during the bombing of Dubrovnik during the Serbian War. We saw a number of different memorials for soldiers who lost their lives defending the city during that conflict, as well as remnants of armaments and bunkers. It was a sobering reminder of the recent conflict as otherwise, we'd been soaking in the older history in the rest of the city.
After going back down, we caught sunset again at the beach outside of our Airbnb because it was stunning. In general, sunsets in Croatia against the Adriatic were pretty good, but this one had all of the different blues, orange, red, and pink hues.
We then met up for a final dinner with Shamanda since we won't see them again until we're all back home in Seattle. They had picked multiple restaurants to check out that were all closed due to it being the offseason, so we ended up eating where they had the previous night - Taj Mahal for Bosnian food. The food here was delicious and not too expensive, we should have come here earlier! Oh well, lesson learned.
Well, this just about wraps up our time in Croatia! From here, we head further south to Greece to check out same same but different views of the Aegean Sea and get a change-up in our food.
We really, really liked the time we had in Croatia. We saw many different sights, some popular and heavily trafficked and some that were a little more off-the-beaten path. We hung out with friends old and new. Croatians, in general, were very friendly and we vibed well with the culture. We'd highly recommend you go check it out - but maybe shoot for September/October when it's not quite as crowded but the water and weather is still warm! And try to drive if you can, there's so much more to see to Croatia than the tour group destinations. We'll definitely be visiting again - there's so many islands and national parks that we still have to explore!
