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.

After this, we headed to a small restaurant in the by-lanes for dinner, and headed back to the hotel. The next day, we took a full walking tour of the city, and learnt about it's history. Our walking tour guide was also named Marko - after Zagreb/Pltvice, this was the third "Marko" we encountered!
Dubrovnik looks and feels more like Italy than Eastern Europe. It's not surprising, since Italy is just across the Adriatic, and also (as Marko explained) it was the biggest rival to Venice during the 13th century AD. Venetians also ruled Dubrovnik (then called "Ragusa") for a period of time, until it got independence and continued as a small city-state. The main drinking water fountain was built by Venetians.

Marko explaining about the water fountain.

 The water fountain is still functional, and several tourists refill their water bottles here. Marko also explained that the street - called "Stradone" - was actually a shallow channel of sea in the past.
We then moved on, walking through quaint lanes with inviting cafes.

Nice little cafes on the 13th century lanes.

 On the way, Marko explained about the inscriptions around the walls of the city. One of them was "Oh, you people who play football in these lanes, may you rot in hell!"

"Those who play football in these lanes...may you rot in hell"!

We also learnt about the patron Saint of Dubrovnik, Saint Blaise. His statue shows him with his right hand raised in blessing, and on his left arm, he holds a model of Dubrovnik town.

Saint Blaise - the patron Saint of Dubrovnik.

Rector's palace.

The walking tour ended near the city bay, and we quickly went to on to buy the tickets for the "City Walls" tour. Each of these tours were about a 100 Kuna (maybe 15 US Dollars), so it was not cheap, but a walk on the city walls were highly recommended. While waiting in line for the tickets, we also got some ice-cream from a shop that was crowded with tourists. The ice-cream was really good here, and I would completely recommend it.

The city walls.

A flight of stairs brings you up to the city walls or ramparts. This is not a guided tour, so you pretty much walk and explore on your own. There are cafes and souvenir shops in frequent intervals along the way.

"King's Landing"!

The wall is fairly long, as it encircles the entire old-town. But the views of the town, and the Adriatic are spectacular.

Dubrovnik from the city walls.

View of Pile Cove

After completing the long walk, we went off to explore the cable car. On the way, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant called "Gusta Me" which served pretty good seafood.

Octopus and smoked salmon with a side salad.

After the lunch, it was off to the cable car. The main USP is, of course the view. The cable car takes you to the top of the hills over the old town.

View from the cable car.

Finally, we wrapped up the day with a glass-bottom boat cruise. This last one was very avoidable - there is nothing worth seeing, but the boat ride was a nice way to end the day.

Boat ride.

After a 45 minute tour of the Adriatic, we came back to the bay, and grabbed a bite at a restaurant right on the pier. The beer was nothing to write home about, but the calamari was pretty good.

Restaurant at the pier

This was followed by a quick swim in the sea, and then watching the sunset.

I'm in the sea - while a random stranger looks on.

This was a great end to our stay in Dubrovnik. The next destination ahead was Split. We returned to the hotel, and I started planning our drive to Split in Google Maps. While plotting the route, I found that the drive takes us through Bosnia, and back into Croatia. Now, this caused a bit of panic, as both of us were on Croatian visas, and not Schengen visas. However, since our visas were multiple-entry, we hoped there would be no problem tomorrow!