Day 16

Jessica today! Today was our FULL day in Dubrovnik. We saw some of the city last night, but there was still a lot to see and do. We woke up relatively early (6:30am) and enjoyed some coffee and breakfast outside on our balcony. The view into the old city is pretty incredible. It was soon time to make the descent into the city. Again, the way down wasn’t bad, but we knew coming back up was going to be a difficult task. Our first stop was the city walls. Dubrovnik is one of the largest walled in cities and for a variety of reasons, these walls are still in really good shape. We entered on the south side, and our walk took us around the city and gave incredible views of the harbor, churches, buildings, islands, and so much more. Our first major stopping point was the Minceta Tower. This is the highest point in Dubrovnik (aka the best view). For those of you not aware, Dubrovnik is a major filming location for the HBO tv series, Game of Thrones. So of course, we needed to see as many of those locations as possible. The Minceta Tower was the first. In the show, this is where Daenerys is trying to get into the House of the Undying and search for her dragons. I may have reenacted this scene while we were there…We continued along the walls until we came to another important filming spot, the Bokar Fort. This is where many plans were made by Tyrion and Varys, as well as other characters. Basically, if the scene takes place in Kings Landing, and it’s on a wall, this is the place where it was filmed. We also had great views of the bay and the neighboring Lovrijenac Fort (another filming location). We continued the walk along the walls, stopping for pictures along the way. It was a decent hike. I would estimate about 1.5 miles around. Phew! After leaving the walls, we walked around the city center. There weren’t a whole lot of people out yet, but we knew it was only a matter of time. Our next stop was the Jesuit Staircase. This leads up St. Ignatius Church. Another interesting GOT (Game of Thrones) fact, this is the staircase that Cersi starts her walk of Atonement from. We followed in her footsteps and walked down the and through the city until we reached the Placa, or the main street. The tourists were coming out so we hurried through the crowds until we reached the Pile Gate. This is one of the main gates that leads into the city (and another popular filming location). We left the Pile Gate and went back into the city to look for the old port. It took a few wrong turns and a little backtracking, but we made it! Our legs and feet were dying at this point (at least mine were) so we decided to take a little rest on one of the benches and enjoy the sun and clear skies. I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention, but the weather has been perfect every single day of our trip. That’s right, 14 straight days of sunshine. I don’t think we could have planned this any better. With our legs a little rested, our stomachs were next on the list. We wanted something quick and easy for lunch, so we went to a “fast food” restaurant. Adam and I decided to split a Mediterranean salad and a plate of meat sausages. Even though it was cheap, it hit the spot and was quite delicious. Since we had seen a good portion of the city last night, and it was starting to get really hot and crowded, we decided to head back to the apartment for some R&R before dinner. Going up the stairs today was even more challenging with the sun beating down on us and our already tired legs. It took all my strength, but we made it up. We spent a few hours relaxing, writing up blogs, and even watching a Game of Thrones episode. We still needed to see the Lovrijenac Fort and thought we found a way to drive down into the city and park in order to see it. It took several attempts to maneuver out of our parking space, something we were not looking forward to again tomorrow and the next day. We started down the road toward the city, made a few turns onto very narrow streets and ended up at a lot that was reserved for permits only. GPS wanted us to make a turn down a very narrow alley. Based on past experiences, I decided to walk down to make sure the GPS was accurate. What a surprise…it wasn’t. Instead it led to a set of stairs. Thankfully I checked. Adam was able to turn the car around and make it out of the parking lot and back through the city to our parking spot back at our apartment. A few more maneuvers and we were back to where we started. Frustrating! But we will attempt to reach for fort once more on foot tomorrow. Despite what our legs were saying, we decided to walk back down into the city for dinner. We found a little restaurant out of the main square and away from the hustle and bustle. Adam ordered a fish soup and his favorite fried calamari. I ordered truffle pasta. It was amazing (but really, when has it not been?) We enjoyed our food and took a short stroll through the city before making the inevitable climb back up. My legs are definitely going to be suffering tomorrow. Just 1 more day!