So a short bus right from Dubrovnik’s leafy suburb of Lapad got me to the Pile gate of Dubrovnik. I walked through the gate to see the lovely main street full of people. it was 9am and it was full of people. To makes things worse the place was crawling with tourist ripoff souvenir sellers and restaurants/cafes.
I took an immediate dislike to Dubrovnik. I walked as much as i could handle it. I felt like falling to my knees and screaming nooooooooooo!!!!!! Like it was a nightmare. Everybody’s accent was Australian or American. Then there were the tour groups with the guide holding up signs so the group wouldn’t get lost.
Inside the apothecary
after a bit of walking I sought refuge of a cafe and had a couple of cappuccinos while seeing what was happening in Australia using the cafe’s wifi. wasn’t i in for a shock when the cafe charged me for using their wifi!! First time on this trip and it was almost at ripoff Australian prices. Nearly 10 euro for the hour of peace.
Was Dubrovnik trying to make me unhappy? OK i know its a tourist destination and normally not a place i’d visit, but the photos make it look so nice. I then went to visit the old pharmacy/apothecary that has been running since the 1300’s. Well the current pharmacy is a small modern store in the old building. The old building was tranquil for a while then a tour group invaded and then peace again.
Dubrovnik
I set off through the relatively quiet backstreets look for a quiet place for lunch. The secret is to sit inside it seems as no one sits inside. They all want the quaint street side tables.
Aftet lunch the plan was to walk around the walls of Dubrovnik. A fairly easy 2 km walk with a few stairs here and there. For a cruise ship holidaymaker, this walk was tough, they were puffing and panting as they made their way up steps. For an intrepid traveller like myself the stairs were not an issue. It was quite a nice pleasant walk around the walls. Every side of the wall had a different view of the town and what was inside the town.
By the end of the day I was in a more forgiving mood. Sure Dubrovnik probably suits the London/New York/Sydney traveller, but it has its charms. Its just hard to see them through the people.
Dubrovnik