Friday, April 21, 2017

Dubrovnik: Day-3 & 4 in Croatia

The next day mid-morning, after checking out of the Double Tree Hotel in Zagreb, we headed straight to the restaurant recommended by the Bosnian taxi driver. Gladne-Oci was a short walk from the hotel, and we settled down for an early lunch.

At Gladne-Oci, Fried Croatian bread - an appetizer we got hooked to.

The food here was really good, and in large (really large) portions. We realized a single main course dish could have fed us both. After the heavy lunch, we set off for the airport to catch our short flight to Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik is Croatia's top tourist destination, on the Adriatic coastline. It has been made famous recently due to the Game of Thrones connection (episodes featuring King's Landing were shot there).
We landed in Dubrovnik in the early evening, and took a taxi to the hotel - Hotel Komodor. We realized our first mistake then - the taxi was quite expensive, around 40 Euros. The hotel itself was not very impressive. Rooms were small, not very comfortable, but still live-able for a few days. In anycase, we did not plan to spend much time in the hotel room!
 As soon as we were settled, I headed out to a nearby car rental shop, and got a Peugeot on rent. We needed the car, as we were planning to drive down to Split later. I am not a big fan of Peugeots, but this was no Hertz rental - this was the only car available, and the rental agreement was a small slip of paper with the owner scribbling the rates on it! We drove towards the old town, and I missed a turn, and almost headed half-way back to the airport before realizing this. However, this wrong turn got us to the cliffs above the old town for some great views.

View of the old town.

 We finally drove into the old town, parked in a lot, and a short walk later, were at the main "Pile Gate" entrance. There are a number of paid tours, including Kayak tours. Since it was evening, the tours were all closing down for the day. We entered the gates and started discovering places on our own.
Pile Cove - aka "Blackwater Bay"


We ended the evening by heading for the well-known "bar-on-the-cliffs" or Buza bar. A small doorway and a narrow flight of stairs leads to this place. We almost missed it, as you wouldn't realize a bar could be behind such a narrow doorway.

Buza bar - on the cliffs.