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| Dubrovnik…..between the port and “old town” |
The official first day of summer is still a few weeks away. However, the temperature and the crowds are rising steadily as we start to wind down this adventure, and what an adventure it’s been!
We had an early start and a full day to explore Dubrovnik. By 9:00 AM we were out wandering around, and for a few minutes we were truly wandering around. We had been here a couple of times before and were confident in our ability to navigate to the historic old town without the use of google maps. While we would have certainly found our way there eventually, it became apparent that we weren’t taking the shortest, most direct route. It didn’t take long before we were back on track and arrived at the massive walls of the old town with a few “bonus steps”already under our belt.
The settlement of Dubrovnik dates back to the seventh century. The walls surrounding what is now referred to as the “old city” were built in the 1600’s. They’re an impressive site to see from outside the walls, as well as from the maze full of shops, restaurants and even small accommodations on the inside. The old city and much of Dubrovnik was heavily bombed in 1991 by Yugoslavian forces during an intense battle over independence. Croatia has rebuilt and is now a stable democracy. The country is a member of NATO and the European Union.
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| Outside the walls of the old town….it’s quite a fortress! |
Size wise Dubrovnik is a relatively small city with a population of around 50,000. Its economy is driven by tourism. However, I would imagine that most local residents choose to avoid the crowded old city, especially at this time of year when the number of tourists increases dramatically. I even read somewhere that Dubrovnik currently has the highest ratio of tourists to residents of any European city.
On a Saturday morning, that ratio seemed to be playing out…..it was crowded. To complicate matters a little more, there was a parade being held on the narrow main passageway of the old city. The parade consisted of a small marching band and about 200 majorettes ranging in age from elementary school to college age. The parade could have moved swiftly, but it didn’t. About every ten steps the band would strike up a tune and the majorettes would twirl away their full routine. This created a gridlock of tourists, marching band members and twirling girls that they’re probably still trying to sort out.
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| A few of the twirling majorettes at the start of the parade. |
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| Once the parade and crowd mixed, we had a little gridlock! |
We did manage to make our way through eventually and used a smaller side passageway to return to the gate that we had entered. On our way back to the ship we were able to take our time and enjoy the rocky coastline and marina, far from the crowds and flying batons!
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| We enjoyed the “old town” a bit, but this scene is more to our liking! |
