We were actually up before our alarm this morning. We were early for breakfast (the restaurant only opened at 9am) so walked around to the front of the ramparts. Dubrovnik was very peaceful at this early hour, although I suppose most of the world is quiet on Jan 1 :)
Breakfast was excellent again. To our surprise, when we asked for the bill, the waiter said that it was free for us! We asked him if he was joking, cause it made no sense. But it was true! We have no idea why; other people were getting their bills. Maybe they saw my number of followers on Instagram :). Or maybe they’re big Bollywood fans?(I had a fake brush with stardom in Indonesia years ago, cause a lot of locals mistook me for a Bollywood star). In any case, it was a pleasant start to 2020.
So onto the walls! There’s three access points, we started at the entry in the southeast corner. Paid our 200 kuna each (I had read that it was kuna only; but they did take credit card, although no Euro) and we were in!
We had the walls pretty much to ourselves. There were a handful of other people, but we quickly passed each other. The views from the top were spectacular, you really get a full perspective of the walled city. In particular, the view from Tvrđava Minčeta, the high point of the wall near Pile Gate, is amazing. It makes my list of one of the top things to see in the world. (Kotor was also amazing overall, but there’s not really a single viewpoint, which is the criteria for my list).
The sun was mostly pointing at us, so not so good for pics. The western side of the walk, where the sun would have been properly positioned, has views primarily of the Adriatic and not of the city.
It took us about an hour to walk around. We had seen Buža Bar from the walls, which is snuggled on an outcrop of rocks facing the Adriatic, accessed through a small passage in the wall. So we went there for a drink. It looked like a better experience than it was; the glare of the sun is pretty strong, and there’s gusts of wind that can spill your drink. We left after a few minutes.
In the main square, the city was serving champagne and oysters for free; and the orchestra was playing on the main stage. We had lunch reservations so didn’t stay too long.
So next was our lunch at Lucin Kantun. We were seated outside on the alley stairs, it was the archetypical view of a European restaurant. It was perfect.
Lunch was equally as good as the atmosphere. We split a bunch of tapas, all of which were excellent. Our favourite was the lamb skewers served with a honey lavender side. Overall it was the best meal we had this trip, with the exception of the tasting menu we had in Kotor.
We had plenty of time to change into warmer clothes and walk south along Ul. Kralja Petra Krešimira IV, to watch the sunset over the walled city. We had sort of seen it yesterday whilst rushing to our Bosnian friends’ car; today we walked to a vantage point with a clear view and watched the sun go down. It’s been a while since we’ve seen the sun set over such a clear horizon.
Got back to our Airbnb, and relaxed. Later went out for a drink to celebrate the starting of the end of our trip. We start heading back to Toronto tomorrow, first to Tirana for a couple days, and then a layover in Vienna.
Unrelated to anything, Dubrovnik has some of the best tasting tap water in the world imo.
Showing posts with label croatia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label croatia. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 01, 2020
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Dubrovnik, Croatia
We had breakfast at the big hotel in Luža Square. It was excellent, they also had good tea :)
Made reservations there for tomorrow’s breakfast in case not much was open on Jan 1. Later on we also made reservations for lunch at Lucin Kanton. So we were all set for food for tomorrow :)
We had plans to walk around the walls of Dubrovnik today, but then found out that the wall was open Jan 1, so instead spent today browsing for souvenirs and art.
There’s some good quality art in Dubrovnik. We were welcomed in one gallery with festive drinks and nibbles, celebrating their opening of an exhibit. We ended up buying an oil-on-canvas by a local artist, it was their first sale of the showing, about which they were quite pleased.
We had reservations for lunch at Bota Sare, a popular oyster and sushi bar. Good thing, cause when we arrived at 2pm they were full. As the Lonely Planet says, you don’t usually associate Dubrovnik with sushi, but they do know fresh fish here, so it makes sense.
We sat outside, with heat lamps and a blanket for our legs. There was a large boisterous table beside us, which made the patio lively. The patio was tucked in an alcove off an alley, with a view into a small square down below.
We had their sashimi and oysters, both were exceptionally fresh. Had an espresso and dessert after.
We wanted to try to catch the sunset from the top of the hill, and had about 30 minutes after lunch. So rushed back to our Airbnb, threw on our warmer jackets, and walked over to the cable car, about five minutes away.
Unfortunately the last cable car runs at 3:30pm (which seems odd, you would think it would run until just after sunset). We were resigned to trying again tomorrow. Another couple in the 20s, visiting from Bosnia, also came by to try to catch the cable car. As we were all walking away, they came back and offered us a ride to the top in their car! It was very nice of them :)
So we whisked up the hill. We had already missed the actual sunset, but still saw the sky turning orange / red, and then dark blue. It’s a beautiful place to watch the sunset over the Adriatic.
After, we rested back at the Airbnb and then later went out for a drink on a patio. There was another band playing tonight for NYE. (We liked yesterday’s music better.)
We aren’t much for staying up for the countdown at midnight anymore, so went back to our Airbnb and called it a night. We were awakened at midnight with fireworks that seemed to be exploding right over our heads. Happy New Year!
Made reservations there for tomorrow’s breakfast in case not much was open on Jan 1. Later on we also made reservations for lunch at Lucin Kanton. So we were all set for food for tomorrow :)
We had plans to walk around the walls of Dubrovnik today, but then found out that the wall was open Jan 1, so instead spent today browsing for souvenirs and art.
There’s some good quality art in Dubrovnik. We were welcomed in one gallery with festive drinks and nibbles, celebrating their opening of an exhibit. We ended up buying an oil-on-canvas by a local artist, it was their first sale of the showing, about which they were quite pleased.
We had reservations for lunch at Bota Sare, a popular oyster and sushi bar. Good thing, cause when we arrived at 2pm they were full. As the Lonely Planet says, you don’t usually associate Dubrovnik with sushi, but they do know fresh fish here, so it makes sense.
We sat outside, with heat lamps and a blanket for our legs. There was a large boisterous table beside us, which made the patio lively. The patio was tucked in an alcove off an alley, with a view into a small square down below.
We had their sashimi and oysters, both were exceptionally fresh. Had an espresso and dessert after.
We wanted to try to catch the sunset from the top of the hill, and had about 30 minutes after lunch. So rushed back to our Airbnb, threw on our warmer jackets, and walked over to the cable car, about five minutes away.
Unfortunately the last cable car runs at 3:30pm (which seems odd, you would think it would run until just after sunset). We were resigned to trying again tomorrow. Another couple in the 20s, visiting from Bosnia, also came by to try to catch the cable car. As we were all walking away, they came back and offered us a ride to the top in their car! It was very nice of them :)
So we whisked up the hill. We had already missed the actual sunset, but still saw the sky turning orange / red, and then dark blue. It’s a beautiful place to watch the sunset over the Adriatic.
After, we rested back at the Airbnb and then later went out for a drink on a patio. There was another band playing tonight for NYE. (We liked yesterday’s music better.)
We aren’t much for staying up for the countdown at midnight anymore, so went back to our Airbnb and called it a night. We were awakened at midnight with fireworks that seemed to be exploding right over our heads. Happy New Year!
Monday, December 30, 2019
Dubrovnik, Croatia
We were on the road today, driving from Kotor to Dubrovnik via Trebinje.
Had breakfast in Kotor and packed up, and then pulled our suitcases around to the parking lot just outside town. We had booked our parking through the hotel, so it was cheaper, 10 EUR per day. (We also had in-and-out privileges, which I guess is useful if you’re exploring the surrounding area). There was a little box to drop off the parking card as we left the lot.
We drove north from Kotor, around the bay. It’s a beautiful drive. There’s small little villages along the shore, and the views of the water are amazing. We stopped at a couple viewpoints for pics of Ostrvo Sveti Dorde (the small island with a church).
Eventually we branched off inland for Trebinje. There were multiple checkpoints getting across the border. First we had a stop to pay a 3 EUR road toll. Next was a passport check at the border to Republika Srpska (one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other is the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina). A few km later we had a customs and immigration check, where the guy asked to see our passports, car registration and green card (which allows us to take the car across borders). We got our passports stamped and were on our way! There was no line-up at any of the stops, in fact we hardly saw any other vehicles.
It really looked like another country after the last checkpoint. I don’t know if that’s due to geography (we were slightly inland) or economics. But it had a distinctly different feel, like stepping back in time a bit.
We arrived in Trebinje around noon. Found a public parking space, exchanged some Euro for marks; got a parking pass from the machine for an hour and then set out touristing.
It was very windy and cold today in Trebinje, about 3C. I think unusually windy, cause there were lots of small tree branches and twigs on the ground. One four-foot piece actually snapped off and fell on my head! I was okay though.
There was a traditional dance recital in the main pedestrian area. We watched them for a few minutes, per Heather they were very good.
Walked to see the old arch bridge, which is similar to the more famous bridge in Mostar. However the wind was causing whitecaps on the river (!), not very conducive to getting a full circle between the bridge and reflection. Oh well.
Walked through the old town. It’s in early stages of being restored, I can see Trebinje becoming a bigger tourist draw in the future.
Got back to our car and drove a few km to Stara Herzegovina, a restaurant recommended by our Airbnb host in Dubrovnik. It was excellent. We both had lamb ‘under the bell’. This is a cooking style in the region where the ingredients are placed under a terracotta lid and the lid covered with coals. It was delicious, some of the best lamb we’ve had outside of Turkmenistan :) Had a muddy coffee to finish, and then we were back on the road.
It’s under a 45 minute drive to Dubrovnik from Trebinje. The border crossing was straightforward with no line-ups entering Croatia (although lots of cars in the other direction, looked like could be an hour wait).
Google Maps has us enter the city from the north end which threw me off at first. I guess cause we were parking at Gruz Port it made more sense.
I had prepaid for parking at the port over the web, but couldn’t figure out how to use the permit, so just parked at the port and we’ll figure it out on the way out. It’s only 10 CAD / day.
Grabbed a taxi (metered) to Buza Gate, which was 80 kuna (about 8 CAD). I texted the Airbnb guy that we were at the door, he took about five minutes to arrive and let us in. He was rather talkative and took forever to describe the place and where to eat etc. Finally he left.
The sun was just setting so we rushed out to explore and take pics. Dubrovnik is an amazing place to see. Inside the walls, the town is bowl-shaped with all streets leading down to the middle. There was a band playing in the main square (part of their winter festival). It seemed like restaurants and cafes spilled out into every alley and street. Unlike Kotor, which had a very random layout, the streets here are laid out in a grid and it’s much easier to get around.
Anyways it was still very windy and cold, so we didn’t stay out much past sunset.
Later in the evening we went back out for dinner at Dalmatino, a restaurant recommended by the Airbnb. We didn’t much care for it.
Walked down to the main square for the live music. We really liked the band, Urban & 4, a popular Croatian rock musician. It was getting late (for us) so we called it a night.
Had breakfast in Kotor and packed up, and then pulled our suitcases around to the parking lot just outside town. We had booked our parking through the hotel, so it was cheaper, 10 EUR per day. (We also had in-and-out privileges, which I guess is useful if you’re exploring the surrounding area). There was a little box to drop off the parking card as we left the lot.
We drove north from Kotor, around the bay. It’s a beautiful drive. There’s small little villages along the shore, and the views of the water are amazing. We stopped at a couple viewpoints for pics of Ostrvo Sveti Dorde (the small island with a church).
Eventually we branched off inland for Trebinje. There were multiple checkpoints getting across the border. First we had a stop to pay a 3 EUR road toll. Next was a passport check at the border to Republika Srpska (one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other is the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina). A few km later we had a customs and immigration check, where the guy asked to see our passports, car registration and green card (which allows us to take the car across borders). We got our passports stamped and were on our way! There was no line-up at any of the stops, in fact we hardly saw any other vehicles.
It really looked like another country after the last checkpoint. I don’t know if that’s due to geography (we were slightly inland) or economics. But it had a distinctly different feel, like stepping back in time a bit.
We arrived in Trebinje around noon. Found a public parking space, exchanged some Euro for marks; got a parking pass from the machine for an hour and then set out touristing.
It was very windy and cold today in Trebinje, about 3C. I think unusually windy, cause there were lots of small tree branches and twigs on the ground. One four-foot piece actually snapped off and fell on my head! I was okay though.
There was a traditional dance recital in the main pedestrian area. We watched them for a few minutes, per Heather they were very good.
Walked to see the old arch bridge, which is similar to the more famous bridge in Mostar. However the wind was causing whitecaps on the river (!), not very conducive to getting a full circle between the bridge and reflection. Oh well.
Walked through the old town. It’s in early stages of being restored, I can see Trebinje becoming a bigger tourist draw in the future.
Got back to our car and drove a few km to Stara Herzegovina, a restaurant recommended by our Airbnb host in Dubrovnik. It was excellent. We both had lamb ‘under the bell’. This is a cooking style in the region where the ingredients are placed under a terracotta lid and the lid covered with coals. It was delicious, some of the best lamb we’ve had outside of Turkmenistan :) Had a muddy coffee to finish, and then we were back on the road.
It’s under a 45 minute drive to Dubrovnik from Trebinje. The border crossing was straightforward with no line-ups entering Croatia (although lots of cars in the other direction, looked like could be an hour wait).
Google Maps has us enter the city from the north end which threw me off at first. I guess cause we were parking at Gruz Port it made more sense.
I had prepaid for parking at the port over the web, but couldn’t figure out how to use the permit, so just parked at the port and we’ll figure it out on the way out. It’s only 10 CAD / day.
Grabbed a taxi (metered) to Buza Gate, which was 80 kuna (about 8 CAD). I texted the Airbnb guy that we were at the door, he took about five minutes to arrive and let us in. He was rather talkative and took forever to describe the place and where to eat etc. Finally he left.
The sun was just setting so we rushed out to explore and take pics. Dubrovnik is an amazing place to see. Inside the walls, the town is bowl-shaped with all streets leading down to the middle. There was a band playing in the main square (part of their winter festival). It seemed like restaurants and cafes spilled out into every alley and street. Unlike Kotor, which had a very random layout, the streets here are laid out in a grid and it’s much easier to get around.
Anyways it was still very windy and cold, so we didn’t stay out much past sunset.
Later in the evening we went back out for dinner at Dalmatino, a restaurant recommended by the Airbnb. We didn’t much care for it.
Walked down to the main square for the live music. We really liked the band, Urban & 4, a popular Croatian rock musician. It was getting late (for us) so we called it a night.
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