4 months 3 bags 2 chances: Dubrovnik is delightful

Itinerary - 3 days, 2 nights

Fashion choices
Jumping off a cliff
Walking the walls and a bit of Cher
Fort Imperial by cablecar

We have arrived

The sky is very blue in Dubrovnik. Maybe we have just become accustomed to smog and lighter blue skies, but it is noticeably blue and clear. It is also noticeable again how many people are smoking and trying to use the force of Benson and Hedges to add to the pollution.

First two pics below are from Ploce gate ("plo-chi"). Just behind us was a fantastic bakery which we frequented often. Bread, sandwhiches, rolls, flat pastries and the odd sausage in pastry for hyper boy. After the big prices of our past few weeks, food in Croatia is cheap (and good).

Zozo at Ploce gate early in the morning - no cruise ships in yet. On a Saturday, there are so many people you cant get sea entrance or get onto the bridge to cross.

Drew ran off in a random direction so we lost him for about 15 minutes. Now we don't even begin to panic for the first 45 minutes so we took a picture. Wouldn't that have gone down well in Portugal "So Dr Mcann, your daughter Maddie went missing and you took pictures for 45 minutes"?

The bridge of Ploce Gate

Main Street of old Dubrovnik, the Placa Stradum. Literally means "Ugly Street" - sensational and classic Baltic tell it like it is.

Not quite the same gravitas as a Roman sculpture

Silly

Also silly

The humans are coming!

The old city of Dubrovnik has about 4000 residents. Each day cruise ships come in to the port and the number of inhabitants swell. On the day we spent most time within the walls, it was really crowded. That day one cruise ship had arrived in to the port. On Saturdays, 9 ships are in the port - a shopkeeper told us it was so crowded that there was often human traffic gridlock. It also means that the fashion choices are those of the tourists and not the "Dubrovnikans"

Front was worse 40DD free of support

The girl in the white tank top is taking it off. HAs a teeny black top on underneath.

The port. The cursed Lokrum Island is in the background

So, a bit like I think Venice is going to be, the old city of Dubrovnik seems to be on its last legs of being a city, as opposed to a kind of weird living tourist museum with souvenirs, icecream shops and and outdoor restaurants.

The mayor is currently trying to cut down some very old trees to put in an escalator right near the Pile ("pi-lay") Gate. I guess this may allow the more weight challenged tourists (and believe me there are many) a few less steps to walk down / up but it's a bit like sticking an escalator along the wall of the great pyramid to get up to the slide for the ride down. Some things are just wrong. The locals are quite annoyed.

It's a case of life imitating art. The Dembo family has had many debates to come up with a list of top three animated movies of all time (more on this in another riveting post). My favourite is Wall-E as much because of its prescient view of the future as its super protagonist who I LOVE almost as much as Boo from Monsters inc.

In Wall-E, the people have become so "physically removed" from their original human condition that all ambulation requires machine assistance . They lie on deck chairs as life comes to them. They all have screens and headphones and are not athletic in form. It's coming true in front of our eyes.

A Kayak, a curse and a Khaleesi

Zoe made it her mission to sort out a sea kayaking and snorkeling trip. She researched places on the web, checked some reviews, got contact numbers, called places, visited places and found a super tour at a super price. Next time, we plan a trip, she is on the organization committee big time. She can, at times, be VERY focused.

We met the tour on a little rocky beach outside of "Pile" gate. Drew and I were a team and Ree and Zozo were a team. Took a while for Drew to get the paddling thing and even when he did it was more a sporadic effort. He was much better by the end to give him credit. He has come a long way in the persevering stakes and is growing up quickly.

I was very tired by the end - especially as we needed to do a few sprints to get through the port before a much larger boat came through. Luckily, the Adriatic Gods were in a good mood and the water, was almost completely flat with no current or swell to speak of.

Check out that synchronization

Old city in the background

We paddled around Lokrum island which is uninhabited except for a few firemen and a large gaggle of peacock like birds who scream like a scene from Jurassic Park. The island is a UNESCO protected reserve now, as is Dubrovnik old town. It also has two other claims to fame of which only one is mentioned in the tourist brochures.

The island is said to be under a curse. Benedictine monks lived on it from about 700AD until Napoleon came and took over Dubrovnik. The French decided the monks must go to make way for a fort so on the night before they had to leave, the monks walked the perimeter of the island holding candles upside down so wax would fall and saying "secret prayers". The island was therefore cursed (its just a logical extension of wax dripping I suppose). Anybody who stays the night is afflicted by the curse! It must be true because when Napoleon gave the island to the Hapsburgs they built a house on it BUT Maximillion went to war and died then his sone committed suicide and his wife went mad, then the Hapsburg empire kinda crumbled. See......don't piss off a Benedictine (or remember that war is dangerous and that mental illness can bring terrible tragedy).

The lesser known fact about the island is that is is the setting of Qarth. Yes Qarth, where Daenerys Targaryen's dragons are stolen from her before she exacts her revenge on the weirdo blue lipped dudes. Oh yeah, baby, Game of Thrones moment! Game of Thrones - best series ever - had many locations shot in and around Dubrovnik. This makes me happy and allows many a reference and the odd image to be inserted. Woooooo.

Old city walls aka "House of the Undying"

You want me to jump off what?

We stopped into a little cove for a bit of lunch, a snorkel and, it turns out, the chance to jump off a cliff (not sure when a high rock becomes a cliff, but with pretty sheer rock face and height at least 6 or 7 metres I am calling it a cliff).

The "Cliff"

After one of the guides jumped off first, Zozo was scampering up the back of the cliff in a flash and then use was flying

Doesn't seem quite as high on video as in real life. Maybe its because the video is taken at adult eye level standing on a rock across the bay? Whatever, take my word for it, it looked high when you were up there.

Emboldened by his sister's efforts, Drew decided he was going to jump as well. I'm pretty sure he didnt realize how high it was or how scary it might be.

Drew starts the climb

It was a steep and difficult climb up with little chance to reverse so there was pretty much only one way down. He stood on the ledge for quite a while. The water below was crystal clear with rocks at the bottom, so from the jump spot, it looked like an even more precarious jump.

So there he stood, little very white body up high.

Move a bit forward, have a look down, get nervous, back off, move a bit forward, have a look down, get nervous back off.....

As most people on the tour or the other groups around were way too scared to jump, a crowd gathered to watch.

Move a bit forward, have a look down, get nervous, back off, move a bit forward, have a look down, get nervous back off.....

Soon the cries of "Drew, Drew, Drew" filled the air and people were clapping and shouting his name and offering encouragement......

Move a bit forward, have a look down, get nervous, back off, move a bit forward, have a look down, get nervous back off.....

I was standing behind him listening to him talk to himself. "I can do it", "Cant go back", "I can do it", "But I'm scared", "I've got to do it", "Can't go back".

Move a bit forward, have a look down, get nervous, back off, move a bit forward, have a look down, get nervous back off...................then....

The crowd went ballistic. The French couple called him a "shampion" (assume they didnt mean he was a mushroom).

He was so chuffed and proud of himelf - as were we. The expression of "swelling with pride" was an accurate description. The adrenaline rush added to his already "chatty ways" and it was a very excited paddle back to base.

It's not often you get to learn that lesson about yourself. About what courage and bravery are and how you can overcome your fears by force of will and in the end..........jump.

Or to put it another way paraphrasing a line from ......yups, A Game of Thrones,

Bran: How can a man be brave when he is afraid?
Eddard That's the only time a man can be brave

Forgot - after Drew it was my turn. The rocks below looked very uninviting, but if an 8 year old could do it.........

Zoe lies to Ree "No mum, it's not cold"

A recharging icecream

The walls

The city wont fall as long as the wall stands. No "white walkers" in this paragraph as for us at least, winter is not coming. Damn you Game of Thrones for embedding into my obsessive thalamic centre.

As an aside to the pervious aside, there is also debate in Chez Dembo as to the top three Television series of all time. My list is "The West Wing", "A Game of Thrones" and "Arrested Development" but I am conflicted - is it possible to leave Seinfeld out? Haven't watched "The Wire" or "Homeland" but am told they are pretty good. Sopranos?

But back to the walls.

Dubrovnik's walls are the stuff of legend. They are quite impressive to say the least. It takes about an hour or more to walk around the city on the walls (about 2kms with plenty of up and down stairs) which we did one afternoon.

The walls include 3 forts and 16 towers. Minceta is the largest and most impressive of the towers. The Croatian flag always flies here. The walls are 13 metres at their base and have been intact since the _____ Century despite repeated and serious attacks - the most recent being in the 1991-1996 Serbian/Croatian conflict when Dubrovnik - an unarmed, civilian only, UNESCO protected city - took over 2000 blasts from artillery fire from nearby hills and coast in one attack. The walls stand.

Photo of a photo. This was on a wall on a street corner. It showed the same corner burning from attack during the war of 1991-1995. The street name means " wide street"

I like a country with pride. When we first went to the USA we weren't really impressed by the number of houses and businesses with flagpoles - but over time, I have become a convert. If your country isn't important to you then what is? Cherished national pride seems to bring with it a sense of unity and gravitas that I think Australia is missing. Maybe I will get a flagpole for my birthday and put it up, slap bang in our front garden? Might get two? Maybe I will post this one without showing Ree?

Flag in the background. Also can see the outer wall with now tarmac surfaced old moat

It was easy to imagine defending the city from the walls. The walls we walked on were the inner walls. An outer wall also exists with a road between them. In the past, the road was a moat.

Walking the wall

Can't remember what, but something amused him

"Army Reserve" Archers

Back in "The Box"

And then we saw the canons which could lead to only one logical conclusion.....see video

A bit from the old town

There is a statue in the old town of a famous Croatian playwrite. It is considered good luck to rub his nose (the statue' nose). Our tour guide told us that the statue was only moved to the old town about a few years ago and the "long term notion of rubbing his nose, was, in fact, only started about a year and a half ago. Looks like a lot of people have been rubbing though.

Is it just me or does anyone else think that this is a creepy looking statue? I checked for wings but this one aint no "Angel". Still, odd.