JUN 21, 2012 THURSDAY - WALLED CITY OF DUBROVNIC, CROATIA

THURSDAY JUN 21, 2012 DUBROVNIK, CROATIA - WALLED CITY AND SITE OF THE 1991-1995 WAR WITH SERBIA

OMG, it was so hot - again - today, we definitely would not be recommending that folks come here in July and August - it is even hotter then! We slept in while we came in and docked in Dubrovnik - awesome - we anchored right in the harbour just outside the gate of the old walled city.  So we used tenders to and from the Windsurf (they run continuously).  On our last visit with Holland America we were docked at the cruise ship terminal which is way over the other side of town and a very long walk (which we didn’t realise on our last visit until we walked back to the ship!)

We ate breakfast outside on the deck at the Verandah, eggs benedict and poached egg on toast for me with fresh fruit and coffee - you can have any coffee at any meal including latte and cappuccino which I had yesterday.  The waiters are so friendly, smiling and accommodating - they remember your names and they can’t do enough for you.  I will also mention that all gratuities are included when you sail Windsurf (and the entire Windstar line).

DUBROVNIC CROATIA

We were ready to go and headed over to the walled city harbour at 10:30 along with Shirley and Mark who decided to come along with us to take the cable car to the top of the hill which overlooks the walled town.  There is also a fortress at the top and this was fiercely defended during the 1991-1995 war with Serbia.

We walked through the East gate into the walled city and turned right towards the North gate where we exited and headed up the stairs for the Cable Car.  The walk was quite slow because in every direction and at every corner there is another amazing scene that we simply had to take a photo of!  It was already very hot and we could tell we were going to be exhausted again by the heat today - and we were proved right. It was only about 30 minutes from the harbour to the start of the bright red Cable Car where we bought our tickets at 87 Kuna each adult return, or 50 kuna one way.  

Dubrovnik is not in the European Union - yet, and 5 kuna is approximately equivalent to $1 USD, so the return cable car ticket is approximately 17 USD.  The lady in front of us buying tickets was off the Carnival cruiseline, which must have been moored at the regular cruise ship pier on the other side of town.  She was most envious of us being on the Wind Surf and wanted to know all about it.  Dubrovnik is a very popular port of call and based on the number of small sightseeing and glass bottom boats we had seen in the harbour, it was going to be a busy day with the town full of tourists today!

The cable car carries 30 passengers, has huge glass windows, takes about 5 minutes to the top and was very hot and stuffy - but the views at the top were excellent and worth the ride! We spent 2 hours up there, drinking water at the restaurant overlooking the old walled town, taking photos, and looking at the amazing scenery behind the hill - ridges and ridges of mountains heading away into the far distant mountains.  This is where the attack from the Serbians came in the 1991-1995 war which was started by Serbia and Herzegovina, two of the six states previously a part of Yugoslavia along with Croatia.  There was a young man dressed in full traditional costume at the top of the hill selling coins made into pendants, and he was very vocal explaining how the attack was entirely unprovoked and the Croatians are still very angry and upset about this incident where over 70% of the buildings in the town of Dubrovnik (a UNESCO World Heritage site) were destroyed and damaged during this war.  He explained that they had thought they would be safe as no one would bomb a world heritage site (wrong!!).

At the top of the cable car ride is Fort St John and the Croats managed to hold onto this during the 5 year war in spite of repeated attacks from the Serbs.  If they had captured this fort it would have been devastating since this protected the entire town - as it was most of the shells by the aggressors were fired over the top of the fort.  But the walls showed many signs of impact with huge chunks of rock missing from the thick walls and parts of the top of the walls blown off.  Today Fort St John is set up as a museum with lots of very interesting displays of photos, news clippings, names and dates of birth of those killed - many in their late teens - unbelievable how war continues everywhere in the world - mostly in the name of ethnic cleansing and religion it seems to me, regardless of what is given as the official party line.  It was cool inside the thick rock walls and we spent quite some time reading about the war and the dreadful results.  Today the tiny section of Croatia which contains Dubrovnik is surrounded by Montenegro and Serbia - I’m sure that many Croats still worry that happened so recently could happen all over again.  We kept thinking about how recent all this fighting had been - and then remembered that even today there is fighting happening in Syria for similar ethnic reasons.  

Back down at sea level we entered through the amazing wall again - so tall and thick it has withstood many an attack - at least until the shells were launched over the top starting in 1991!  Dubrovnic’s history goes back to the 7th century when the city and wall were built by the Romans to get away from invading barbarians from the East.  By 1205 it was under the Venetians and stayed that way for 150 years, but broke away in 1358 since it was an important trading centre and becoming a wealthy city. At this point they accepted  the authority of the Croatian Hungarians and paid their dues to them, still becoming richer and buying additional lands extending the area owned by them and calling themselves “The Republic of Ragusina”.  Dubrovnic even built their own fleet and traded with everybody including the Ottoman Empire.  The devastating earthquake in 1667 killed 5000 people and Dubrovnic started to decline, which continued until Napoleon’s troops entered the city in 1806 and declared an end to the Republic of Ragusina.

Today tourism is Dubrovnic’s main industry, and in 1990 Dubrovnic sold 5 million tourist nights which declined to 625,000 in 1991 when the war started.  Based on what we saw today tourism is again huge in Dubrovnic, with many thousand additional tourists arriving each day on the various cruise ships, ferries and buses.  The town was packed with some streets being very slow going - shops on every side, and restaurants taking at least half of the outdoor patios and alleyways - an unbelievably large number - the plates of sea food looked awesome, especially the mussels!  In general when we spoke with others on the Windsurf at the end of the day most found the prices high for may items.  Local items for sale included embroidered linens, blue and white striped tshirts, lots of jewelry including items with local red adriatic coral and blue turquoise.

ADRIATIC SEA FROM CAFE IN THE WALL OF DUBROVNIC

Our next objective was the bar we had drank at in 2009 - outside the wall on the cliff next to the ocean - we had found this on our last trip in spite of having to wander the back alleys of Dubrovnic to find it!  Our navigational skills were sharp and we found it with no wrong turns!  Soon we were sitting overlooking the blue blue waters, sipping a cold Bacardi Breezer (38 kuna each about $7.50USD) and watching the antics of the younger folks off the Carnival cruise ship jumping off the cliffs into the water to cool off.  I would have loved to join them but I didn’t have a swim suit with me!  There are steps to get in and out of the water - so next time for sure I will be bringing one with me!

After an hour or so here, we wandered back through the narrow alleys and streets (no cars allowed) to the marina and harbour  to catch the tender back to the Windsurf.  The harbour was still very busy with lots of tourists taking the sightseeing and glass bottom tours.  We were back on the Windsurf before 3pm and after a quick change we headed down to the Windsurf Marina on at the back of the yacht to cool off in the ocean!  There were at least 30 of us out there in the crystal blue water - along with a floating trampoline and water slide, 2 extra large (20 feet by 6 feet) blue floating mats, windsurfs, kayaks, paddle board and other water toys - it was heaven and so refreshing!

JAN AND TERRY SAIL AWAY FROM DUBROVNIC

The sails were up as we pulled away from Dubrovnic after a very interesting, and very hot, day!  The Adriatic Sea was like glass for hours, and even as we finished eating a wonderful dinner (shrimp and crab ceviche, caesar salad, filet mignon, raspberry creme brulee and crisp NZ sauvignon blanc) at Candles on the back of the pool deck the sun was barely setting at 9pm.

We were early to bed but awoke in a mad panic to a very loud alarm going off at 5am!  It stopped pretty shortly and no announcements were made - it turned out to be the water tight doors closing in sections along the corridors - apparently this is a new precaution put in place after the Costa Concordia hit rocks and sank earlier this year in Italy.  Apparently this is now a precautionary measure so that should the ship hit any unmarked rocks as they dock the water tight doors would prevent the ship from rolling over.