I reserved two days for Dubrovnik because my initial plan was to go to Mljet or the Elafiti (Luka, Sipan, Lopud, Kolocep) islands. But I was advised to not go during off season because there would be nothing much thing to do or see. During off season, one has to contact the Mljet National Park beforehand to prevent disappointment.
With lots of time to spare, I took my time to eat breakfast in the youth hostel and walked to the old town. The stari grad is a medieval walled city with fantastic view of the Adriatic sea and the Lokrum island with a backdrop of Srd mountain. Dubrovnik is an expensive city. Even one scoop of ice cream is 3kuna more expensive than ice cream in the middle of Zagreb. It is a tourist magnet and even when is off season, there were fair amount of tourists around on the street especially today because of new bishop was appointed and the ceremony took place in Dubrovnik Cathedral.
I visited the Lovrijenac fort first before entering the grad for the 2km city wall walk. Altogether, the cost is 70kuna. During summer, there will be Shakespeare play like Hamlet take place in Lovrijenac Fort. The highlight of the visit is the walk on top of the amazing city wall that overlook the the buildings within the grad and the Adriatic sea. After the walk, I visited the Franciscan Monastery of the Friars Minor and the oldest functioning pharmacy in Europe. There is also a small museum inside the monastery that exhibit old equipments used in the pharmacy and some ceremonial liturgy used in the monastery. The Stari Grad of Dubrovnik bore scars from the war. The monastery itself suffered great damage at certain areas. The old frescoes paintings were affected due to the bombing and some of the pillars were damaged too.
After the museum, I had a scoop of the ice cream in one of the shop near the Onofrio Fountain. Met Jane Gordet, a very friendly American lady on tour. We happened to buy the same caramel flavour from the same shop and we had a fun chat about Dubrovnik.
Then, I just wondered aimlessly around the Cathedral which was swarmed by people due to the ongoing ceremony. Decided to skip visiting Rector's Palace. St Blaise Church is lovely and the St Ignatius church on top of two flights of staircase is also worth a short visit.
To reach the top of Srd Mountain, I took a cable car up. It is a costly ride. One way cost about 50kuna and both ways for 80kuna. The bird eye view from the top is quite worthwhile. But there is nothing much to do once reach the top. I should not have gone up so early...should have waited till near sunset for better view. A stray cat followed me around while I made my way down. Thinking back, the cat might be trying to direct me to the correct way...Being directionally challenged, I took the wrong way. I ended up walking along road that leads to Bosanka, did a sharp turn and reached Ploce. From there, I took a shortcut towards Buza. I was exhausted. I walked about near 8km at least at that point and my legs were hurting.
Back in Grad, I waited a while for the sun to set in before walking back to the hostel. On the way back, I stumbled across a Croatian cemetery. It is much smaller compared to Mirogoj but peaceful and beautiful nonetheless.
In the hostel, Hideaki cooked some sausages and had some to spare. I ate it with bread and cooked some soup. My new roommates, Yun Yun and Jia Qi are law master students from China who are now studying in Paris. They returned at near 9pm and we chatted before sleep. They were impressed with my broken Mandarin...he he.
View of Dubrovnik Grad from Lovrijenac Fort
With lots of time to spare, I took my time to eat breakfast in the youth hostel and walked to the old town. The stari grad is a medieval walled city with fantastic view of the Adriatic sea and the Lokrum island with a backdrop of Srd mountain. Dubrovnik is an expensive city. Even one scoop of ice cream is 3kuna more expensive than ice cream in the middle of Zagreb. It is a tourist magnet and even when is off season, there were fair amount of tourists around on the street especially today because of new bishop was appointed and the ceremony took place in Dubrovnik Cathedral.
I visited the Lovrijenac fort first before entering the grad for the 2km city wall walk. Altogether, the cost is 70kuna. During summer, there will be Shakespeare play like Hamlet take place in Lovrijenac Fort. The highlight of the visit is the walk on top of the amazing city wall that overlook the the buildings within the grad and the Adriatic sea. After the walk, I visited the Franciscan Monastery of the Friars Minor and the oldest functioning pharmacy in Europe. There is also a small museum inside the monastery that exhibit old equipments used in the pharmacy and some ceremonial liturgy used in the monastery. The Stari Grad of Dubrovnik bore scars from the war. The monastery itself suffered great damage at certain areas. The old frescoes paintings were affected due to the bombing and some of the pillars were damaged too.
After the museum, I had a scoop of the ice cream in one of the shop near the Onofrio Fountain. Met Jane Gordet, a very friendly American lady on tour. We happened to buy the same caramel flavour from the same shop and we had a fun chat about Dubrovnik.
Then, I just wondered aimlessly around the Cathedral which was swarmed by people due to the ongoing ceremony. Decided to skip visiting Rector's Palace. St Blaise Church is lovely and the St Ignatius church on top of two flights of staircase is also worth a short visit.
To reach the top of Srd Mountain, I took a cable car up. It is a costly ride. One way cost about 50kuna and both ways for 80kuna. The bird eye view from the top is quite worthwhile. But there is nothing much to do once reach the top. I should not have gone up so early...should have waited till near sunset for better view. A stray cat followed me around while I made my way down. Thinking back, the cat might be trying to direct me to the correct way...Being directionally challenged, I took the wrong way. I ended up walking along road that leads to Bosanka, did a sharp turn and reached Ploce. From there, I took a shortcut towards Buza. I was exhausted. I walked about near 8km at least at that point and my legs were hurting.
Back in Grad, I waited a while for the sun to set in before walking back to the hostel. On the way back, I stumbled across a Croatian cemetery. It is much smaller compared to Mirogoj but peaceful and beautiful nonetheless.
In the hostel, Hideaki cooked some sausages and had some to spare. I ate it with bread and cooked some soup. My new roommates, Yun Yun and Jia Qi are law master students from China who are now studying in Paris. They returned at near 9pm and we chatted before sleep. They were impressed with my broken Mandarin...he he.
View from top of Mount Srd
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