Dubrovnik in July...

Churches, Tiles and Boats

...is breathtakingly beautiful, suffocatingly crowded and truly one of a kind. Shiny stones and yellowish - orange roof tiles; steep, high, impregnable walls; frightful looking rocks frothing from the never ending mania of the sea; and blue, all shades of blue and green, everywhere...

View from Hotel Splendid

Rocks, Trees & Water - The smell of the pines reminded me of Chalkidiki!!!!

Swimming in the Dusk - not for the faint-hearted it was cold

View from Hotel Splendid 

Pink & Green & Gray stones simplicity and beauty

Old and New 

Fancy Mailbox

The Hidden Lighthouse

Sunset from my balcony 

The Hotel's windows were my filters for this photo

Old everyday items turned into art

 This was my second time in Dubrovnik. Georgie had to spend his time confined within the air-conditioned walls of his 5* hotel, listening to politicians and fellow diplomats chatter about foreign and economic policies. Spending my day like this might have been appealing and even entertaining in another life, 6 years ago, before the change in my job title to Diplomatic Spouse {There is no such thing as a job title for a diplomat's spouse but we have to indulge ourselves sometimes haven't we?}.

Sveti Vlaho on the first gate - Pile

Flower Hole in the Wall

The Tower of Minceta from the Outside

Sea Walls - Fort Bokar

 No note-taking nor reporting for me. My mission was of a greater order: to conquer the Walls of Dubrovnik and in the process manage not to get seriously sunburned from the scorching mid-day sun.

Agoraphobia 

Church of Saint Saviour - a "shield" against earthquakes

Walking on shiny, slippery stones smoothed over by millions of feet for more that 5 centuries

Part of the Fountain of St. Onofrio

Franciscan Monastery - eternal home to great write Ivan Gundulic

City Bell Tower - home to hundreds of chirrupy birds 

The buildings along the Stradun - green shutters and white bricks - alleys with shops and restaurants

Astonishingly beautiful Pieta on the Franciscan Monastery - a masterpiece of the Dubrovnik sculptors, the brothers Leonard and Petar Petrović 1498. 

Too Narrow Too Many

We set off early, me and my mum. Rode the bus until the Gate of Pile. Wandered around in search of the thickest, breeziest, shade to "park" mum so I could focus solely on my mission. She chose a small cafe in a narrow, ascending alley with just two tables outside and a canopy of hanging laundry overhead.

Sveti Vlaho Presiding over the main square

Medieval Knight Roland saved Dubrovnik defeating the Saracens

Angels of Sveti Vlaho

Rector's Palace

Dinner time at Oliva Gourmet

Croatian Flag flying high

Streets, Plate and a Barber shop

The guide said that walking the circumference of the walls takes 15 minutes, it is, after all, just under 2km. Yeah right! Only if you are chased by hungry, rabid dogs and you cannot stop to take pictures and gaze at the beautiful mosaic of tiles, rocks, sea and milky blue sky. It took me 45 minutes and I took 350 photos. {Looking at them now I realised I was shooting the same building from 3 - 4 different angles but it still looked different to me}.

Cathedral Statues on the Roof

Too Hot to Wonder Around Better Sleep

The Port

Boat full of turist visiting the small islands around Dubrovnik

Homage to the unknown fisherman

Stradun & the Bell Tower

Buza Gate

Hot day - stop to refresh at the small fountain of Onofrio 

Dominican Monastery

Boat Parking Lot

 

Wall Walking

The impressive City Harbour 

More Wall Walking

Birds Flying High Over the City

Bright Orange Roofs Under the Midday Sun

Fort Bokar from Above

Busy as ever the Gate of Pile

Stradun from Above

 The sun was high but the sea breeze made the ascend easier. A word of warning though, this is not for those with serious vertigo and hight phobias. The view is staning, sure, but the 25 meter drop onto sharp rocks and angry waters is not the best thing that can happen to you on your vacation. I have to confess, at some point I moved like I was 93 year-old with arthritis being chased by angry, rabid dogs {really, really slow, holding the walls with both hands, not looking down}. If you don't really care about the height, then there is really no excuse for not walking the Walls. It is an amazing experience and apart from the birds-eye view of the whole city and the surrounding bay you might get lucky and see something you were not supposed to see...

Tranquillity

Homemade remedies and liquors

Don't Shoot!!!

I Spy.....

I came down victorious. Both Walls and Fear conquered! My mum was still there waiting, enjoying the music, the breeze and collecting the fallen clothes pegs from above.

We stayed one more night in Dubrovnik but we explored the area around the small gulf where our hotel was situated, Lapad. It is full of hotels, big and small, restaurants and touristy attraction for children of all sizes. It also boasts of a pebble beach - one of the few in Croatia - named Copacabana (!?!). 

Sunset in Lapad

Pizza in the Sunset

Dubrovnik Palace Hotel 

This will probably be the last time I visit Dubrovnik, unless... unless... well it is a long story and this has already been a pretty long (for my standards) post, so I am going to stop here but I promise to say more as the time approaches.