DUBROVNIK, CROATIA, MAY 5, 2023

If you’ve ever wondered about the history of War and Peace in any given area, you know where you stand at first glance in Dubrovnik. Stari grad Dubrovnik, the old town of Dubrovnik is completely encircled by the biggest and baddest ramparts you’ve ever seen, exempting the Chinese Wall, of course.

We were anchored off shore near Lokrum Island, famous for its nudist beaches, and took one of our Silver Moon tenders to stara luka, the old port, to check out these enormous fortifications.

Approaching the nearest gate …

… we passed under the immense city wall …

… to emerge into the blinding sunshine in front of the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary with its “Greek” statuary. The current 17th c. baroque building is only the latest of many versions of the Dubrovnik cathedral in this location since at least the 7th century. Here’s a little titbit of useless information for you: this cathedral’s predecessor in a romanesque style was in part financed by King Richard the Lion Heart. He gave the funds in gratitude for having been saved by locals after he was shipwrecked off Lokrum Island in 1192, close to where we were at anchor. I guess his helmsman was distracted by tourists sunbathing in the nude 😉

We had no particular agenda other than walk the ramparts, so we just meandered through the narrow lanes.

Behind this guillotine, where else, we discovered stone steps leading up to the ramparts. We climbed the steps to the not inconsiderable height of 25 m to reach the top of the defensive wall, and approached the ticket booth adjacent to the Maritime Museum. However, looking around up there I soon realised that a walk that included several steep stone staircases and other significant elevation changes was going to be too difficult for me, especially on such a hot, sunny day. In the glaring light of day, limping along those enticing ramparts no longer seemed to be such a brilliant idea. I told the ticket man that I didn’t think I could manage the walk, and apologised for rejecting the tickets he had already pulled. I asked him, if I could step up to the wall just past his booth to take a couple of pictures before returning down to ground level. He gave his permission, and I took these two pictures of the old port.

Just then, having abandoned his ticket booth, he caught up with us. If we wanted, he said, we could walk the level part of the wall to a set of exit stairs just ahead of the more difficult segments. We should tell his colleague there that he let us in without tickets! I think, he had noticed my walking stick and realised, I hadn’t just been too cheap* to buy the tickets. Wasn’t that super nice of him?

* The city of Dubrovnik asked for 37€ per person for the 2 Km walk. During high season, the fee is well above that, e.g. on July 15 it was 54€ a person, as seen online. The income is necessary to repair and maintain structures, but the onslaught of tourists is overwhelming the small town. Just this week the town council decided to cut down on cruise ship permits and to limit the dragging of wheeled suitcase over the tiled streets to day time hours to preserve the sanity of residents.

These astounding defensive walls are the main tourist attraction of Dubrovnik and they are indeed amazing. The wall’s architectural development as a defensive structure over the span of 500 years parallels the development of weapons of war from stones and arrows to artillery. Its history is succinctly described in this linked The City Walls article. Make sure you click through the photo gallery at the end! I’m sad to have missed so much of it, but I couldn’t have managed it, it’s as simple as that.

If you’ve wondered why most of the roofs in stari grad look so spanking new, here’s your explanation:

I came across this map during our walk through the streets of old town. It shows the terrible impact of the bombardment of the town by Serbian and Montenegrin artillery during the siege of Dubrovnik in 1991-92 during the war of independence of Croatia and the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, as we already discussed a little during our visit in Kotor.

After some refreshments we took a leisurely walk back in the direction of stara luka, stopping in stores and galleries here and there. We had to buy the obligatory fridge magnet, after all.

Off Luža square, near the gate to the old harbour, we saw an especially intriguing exhibit in the atrium of the Palača Sponza, a 16th century mansion, currently housing the Dubrovnik State Archives with more than 100K manuscripts dating back to 1022 CE. At one time or another the mansion was the home of the Republic of Ragusan’s (now Dubrovnik) treasury, its mint, and its armoury. The building was also used as a customs office and bonded warehouse, and the atrium was utilised by local merchants as a trading floor. “Our weights do not permit cheating. When I measure goods, God measures with me” [wikipedia, Latin inscription in the attrium]

These days, the atrium is used for performances, and temporary exhibitions. We were captivated by a display of images by Chilean artist Consuelo Palma del Rio, a multi-media artist living in Croatia. Toward the end of the linked interview you can see some of her 3- and 2-dimensional work.

Finally approaching the gate, we couldn’t miss the proud 31-meter-tall bell tower. Originally built in 1444, it was repeatedly damaged in earthquakes which are very common for this area. After yet another trembler, the tower had to be pulled down and completely rebuilt in 1928-29 because it was leaning dangerously, and leaning towers are an Italian not a Croatian speciality.

We tendered back to the Silver Moon and participated in a Team Trivia game in the Dolce Vita Lounge, which was, as always, hilariously emceed by our funky Cruise Director and global citizen Roy Perez. By contrast, we enjoyed the lovely colours of a Mediterranean sunset on our privat and very quiet balcony afterwards.

Eventually we walked two decks down for dinner at the Silver Note restaurant. This is a small, intimate place with a bar and live jazz entertainment. One can dance to the music or simply enjoy it as a backdrop. The decor is opulent yet cosy for a sumptuous night out. I actually had to switch seats with my husband, because the overstuffed banquette was so cushy that I felt I couldn’t quite reach the table top 😳

We both chose a lobster tail for our main course. My husband preferred his with melted butter, while it was a lemony cream sauce for me. But one of these delicious, juicy little critters just wasn’t quite enough and we had another one … or two. It was all the maître d’hôtel’s fault, really. When we told him how much we enjoyed the lobsters, he offered to bring out a few more. We couldn’t very well insult him with a refusal, could we now?

A dramatic dessert presentation rounded out this fabulous meal. I have to opine, though, that some of the eccentric tableware complicated the action of consuming the food at times. To safely guide a forkful of lobster in cream sauce across the considerable distance from the crater of the white volcano plate to the diner’s mouth without an unintended lemony lava flow over damask table cloth – and one’s own silk blouse, well, that was a tricky feat indeed!

With the arrival of the pilot, it was time to weigh anchor and put to sea under a beautiful full moon. Destination Šibenik!