Welcome to Sunday in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Once again, the weather is a perfect 80 degrees. You may have noticed that we have had beautiful perfect days all through this trip. A quick walk from the ship and we met our private tour guide, Roberto. Roberto and his 3-brothers own Eco Tuk Tours. We were pleased we had one of the owners as our tour guide as they have 7-drivers.
Starting off, Roberto drove us on the highway up a hill to get a panoramic view of the two bays that make up the area encompassing the city of Dubrovnik.
Next Roberto took us up another mountain to get an overhead view of the walled city of Dubrovnik. It was a gorgeous view and we had never seen the city from this perspective. The old city of Dubrovnik is surrounded by City Walls which are 1.25 miles long and it is famous all around the world.
Roberto's electric Tuk-Tuk
The Walled City of Dubrovnik below
What a view...careful where you step.
At the top of the mountain was a gondola station and restaurant. Roberto gave us an overview of the area and showed us where the other countries of the area could be seen just by turning around and looking in different directions.
Looking the other way from the top
Croatia has a dramatic history involving many countries and some very recent wars. They are now at peace with their neighbors, and they try to keep it that way. The evidence of these wars could be seen on the buildings in the city, but they have come a long way towards restoring and reviving the city from the severe widespread damage the city incurred from these wars.
After tuk-tuking down the windy mountain road, we came to the north entrance to the old walled city. Before entering the city, Roberto gave us more history of the city and especially their patron saint - Saint Blaise who protected the city from attack after he had a dream that the city was going to be attacked.
The city gate.
We, along with many other people, entered the city but it really wasn't too crowded as Dubrovnik has now limited the number of cruise ships that can come to Dubrovnik to 2 per day. Today we were the only ship in the harbor.
Main street
We strolled down the main street of the city, and it wasn't very long before Roberto stopped and spotted a gelato shop and bought us each an ice cream cone. All of our guides have treated us to something special during their time with us.
Roberto and his Gelato group (Mike abstained).
If you zoom in, you'll see where artillery shells struck this church.
We loved the beauty and architecture of the city and here are some examples of what we enjoyed.
No, we did not climb to the top. Only to the street that goes right where the man is sitting.
Missed the crowd!
The old Customs House (Roberto talking to Mike in the Titleist hat)
The bell tower at the opposite end of the main entrance.
After 3-hours, Roberto left us on our own to enjoy the city to look into some shops. It wasn't long before we found a fast-food shop and enjoyed sandwiches and French fries for lunch.
Since our ship was sailing at a fairly early time, we made our way back to the north side of the walled city to catch the shuttle bus back to the ship. At 4 PM we sailed away and we were up on the top deck to enjoy the view of the bay and islands as we sailed out.
Later in the afternoon, the 4 of us played bridge and Mike thought that it was time for them to beat the socks off of us, but alas, he was wrong and Bill and Karen beat them badly. Mike is now out for revenge!
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