I rented a room in the old Town through airbnb, but due to problems with their wi-fi, they hadn’t received my reservation. Fortunately, I was upgraded to the only room available, a double bed on the top floor, with a partial view of the city, and at the high end of the city to boot!
After dropping my bag, I took the cable car to the
mountaintop overlooking the city while there was still some daylight. At the
top, besides taking in the incredible view at sunset, I checked out a small
museum dedicated to the attack on city by the Serb and Montenegrin forces.
Though Dubrovnik did not suffer as greatly as Sarajevo, the historical city was
shelled, and the entire region around the city was occupied by Serb and
Montenegrin forces before Croatian forces launched a counter-offensive.
Later in the evening, I enjoyed a few pints at one of the
two Irish pubs within the walls of the Old Town, with a couple from Glasgow,
Colin and Lorna, as we watched “The Famous Glasgow Celtic” (as Colin insists I
call them) play valiantly to 3-3 draw against Manchester City. Afterward we
discussed well into the wee hours the embarrassing state of politics in both
our countries with the recent Brexit vote and the on-going buffoonery and
bombast of Mr. Comb-over.
Oh, I’m finally giving my lungs a break from the second-hand
smoke, as Croatia does respect non-smokers!
Day 2, Dubrovnik
I managed to beat the cruise ship crowd as I walked the
walls of the fortress. The ninety-minute walk along the wall was like doing an
elliptical there are so many stairs. I’m glad I did it early in the day,
because the sun was beating down as if it were July. After a while, I tired of
taking pictures, because the scenery is all the same (awesome) and I won’t do
it justice.
Wandering the streets afterward, I passed zillions of little
shops, cafes, and restaurants, all with signs alerting customers that they
don’t except Euros. (Apparently the cruise people are notorious for trying
this.) Another big draw is the “Game of Thrones” crowd, with numerous tours and
gifts shops associated with the television series...(never watched it, don’t
care…probably will kick myself later, if I ever do choose to watch the show.)
After having a shrimp and risotto lunch, I checked out
another museum, “War Photo Limited”. It wasn’t exactly what I expected: most of
the exhibit consisted of photos from on-going conflict in Syria and Iraq,
though the second floor also had photos from the “Homeland War” as Croats like
to call their war for independence.
It wasn’t until later in the day that I discovered high up
on an alley/side street two other options for lunch, an Indian restaurant, and
right next door, a Korean chicken restaurant. Oh well, maybe next time I’m in
town.
There were also plenty of places of worship, at least three
Catholic churches and a monastery, an Orthodox Church, a mosque and a synagogue,
though the latter two are tucked away in the anonymity of stony labyrinth of
alleyways.
Evening found me back in the Irish pub, watching Manchester
United, with a South African couple. Behind me there was a table of college age
girls whose language usage and accents sounded like they might be from New
York, especially given that RIT has a satellite campus in Dubrovnik. Turns out
they were students from Geneseo, though I didn’t get any more information out
of them, as they were paying their bill, when I finally inquired…
By the way, I did meander outside of the Old Town, looking
for the RIT “campus”. It’s located less than ten minutes away. I knew the
general location, but I didn’t have a map with me. So the first time I walked
by it I totally missed it, but I caught sight of the orange sign on my way back
to town. Pretty non-descript building, but the surroundings are superb.
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