On Tour - Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik, Croatia: Pile & Ragusans

Dubrovnik was initially known as Ragusium, perhaps before the 6^th c and Pile was the settlement outside the walls, facing the Pile Gate (1537). 

And we point blank refuse to be drawn into ANY discussions re: pronunciation of Croatian names (even after 3 weeks of cruising experience!).

Having recovered sufficiently from our challenging sail and with Bertha set deeply in river mud (having survived 30kt winds at the anchorage - what is this place?) we set off to explore UNESCO World Heritage listed Dubrovnik. 

We caught a local bus outside the Marina supermarket which conveniently took us to the Pile Gate.  From here, we walked into the old city (with several bus loads & cruise ships worth of visitors) and explored our options. Dubrovnik is well set up for visitors though and offers a series of “Dubrovnik Cards” with museum entry, discounts and transport included.  Sounded like the perfect deal for us!

So we filled in the afternoon with a visit to a Salvador Dali exhibition, took a round of the wider city on a Cabrio bus learning something of the area’s history, were treated to Croatian customer service at an ice-creamery (perhaps considered blunt), and discovered “Irish” internet at the Irish Pub (there was a signal but we just couldn’t pick it up, begorrah Paddy!). 

We found a few old friends

 

And studied Modern Art too...

After discovering the marina restaurant offered a similarly unresponsive internet connection, we decided on buying yet another “Visitors Data Sim” for the Croatian trip.  We now have a dongle to match each courtesy flag stashed away in the bulging bilges. 

Thus armed, we walked the 2 km city walls – not an easy jaunt – took a break halfway to visit the well-stocked Naval Museum (2 floors, NO photos allowed), the inspiring Ethnographic Museum (3 floors, NO photos allowed) and the attractive Rector’s Palace (2 floors, NO photos allowed). Sigh!

In all, the museums were well presented and worth visiting.  And they did have the cleanest toilets in town.  So the visitor’s card proved its worth.

Looking down at the old city from the very high walls

Rector's Palace Cherubs

Following a decent work morning on the boat and then a re-provisioning exercise, we hankered for a steak lunch in a pleasant restaurant we'd seen on a cool grape entwined balcony deep in the old city.  We discovered the intent of “when in Rome” exists for a reason.  When surrounded by deep Adriatic seas, choose seafood!  (Note to self that surrounding hills are almost too steep for goats, let alone cows.  So steak ain’t steak, Sol and butter doesn’t appear to exist…I want to go hooooome!)

On our return journey, JKip, left to his own devices, managed a complete tour of Dubrovnik without perspiring once and GS spent a day picking up a few little things, including local embroidery, and taking yet more photographs.  She also learned that the well travelled Agatha Christie had visited Dubrovnik, perhaps in search of crime scene settings... 

The Cap’n stayed on board, turistico-ed to the water line.  We celebrated our imminent Croatian departure with a pleasant dinner poolside at the marina restaurant. This time, we had the seafood…

Seafood is a very popular local choice

It is possible to walk all the way around the City walls, so we did!

The Dubrovnik Welcome

Dubrovnik, Croatia.  

Our voyage south along Croatia's coast finally led us to Dubrovnik for a second visit to this amazing and very popular destination.  Before exploring this Medieval city, we'll take you back to our first visit, when we travelled from Corfu, Greece along the Albanian coast to arrive in Cavtat, Croatia for check-in.  So, let the story begin:

We had left Corfu after hiding for a few nights from strong winds and thunderstorms.  Luckily a southerly set in and riding on its back, we managed a steady pace and finally set up for a decent sail as the afternoon breeze strengthened.  Dolphins, slapping their tails, greeted us enthusiastically and wove around and under WJ3.  Their plot we discovered, was to unbalance our depth sounder, and our minds - worrying over unchartered rocks or shipping containers (or even submarines?) floating too freely in the middle of the Adriatic!  Not so, just cheeky dolphins.   

There's a bit of a storm brewing

By morning, we were riding roughshod on too fresh a breeze (25kts, G30) and corkscrewed our way toward Cavtat to check into Croatia.  We surfed into the small harbour to look for the designated Q dock only to find the dance of the super-yachts underway as they, their multitude of assorted watercraft, staff, and expensive harbour divers, bobbed around artfully trying to untangle anchor spaghetti.  We moved further off, but were informed that we must dock AT the Q Dock.  So we did – eventually, the minnow in a field of giants!  The smartly-dressed crew beside us smirked when they realised their huge fenders did not even touch our guardrails.  Oh, hardy ha!

Remember to turn left before we get to the big ships

“Leave now” was the final instruction of the Port Authorities; not before charging us for the pleasure of their attendant company.  Those dark clouds over Dubrovnik, only a few miles away, looked threatening yet press on we must.  Within sight of the walled city, the clouds closed in, drenching rain fell and visibly was impossible.  Lightning flashed and wind whistled around us as a wild storm rolled over the coast.  Finally, after a nervous few hours, we made the safety of the river only to be blown away by the famous bora winds (gusting to 30kts) rolling down steep mountain sides. 

Great, now just sneak under a bridge, then up that river

Back to the here & now, our return welcome as we journeyed south was not entirely dissimilar.  A heat induced bora blew down quite fiercely from even steeper mountains lining Kolocepski Kanal.  Given we had an extra pair of (crew) hands this time and the rain held off, we managed, with a little sailing, to reach our river anchorage near the ACI Marina safely and proceeded to dig in. Then it was time to make a second visit to this stunning, medieval walled city.

And a peaceful anchorage awaits us up-river....