DUBROVNIK, CROATIA

2015-11-07, 15:30, THORIN

STAY: DUBROVNIK BACKPACKER'S CLUB

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The final part of the Croatian leg of our 1st Balkans tour was right in the south of the country in Dubrovnik, before continuing on by public transport again to Kotor, Montenegro. We woke up early on April 7th, 2014 and jumped in the car and drove the 3ish hours to Dubrovnik down the Croatian coast. It was absolutely stunning!

Bizarrely, Dubrovnik is in an exclave of Croatia surrounded by Bosnia and Montenegro - apparently Tito wanted the Bosnians to have a bit of sea during the Yugoslav period and gave them 30km of coast. After he died and the union fell apart, the national governments maintained Tito's demarcated boundaries, hence Bosnia was allowed to keep its coast! 

We eventually arrived in Dubrovnik and were impressed by the view as we entered the city limits. We dropped off the car and set of to find our hostel. Dubrovnik is an ancient city, and was the centre of its own de facto city-state during the middle ages, however most of the ancient buildings were destroyed during the Yugoslav Wars. However, the city has rebuilt most of the ancient monuments using modern materials in the style of the old buildings, and today it is qutie majestic, if not slightly synthetic. However, if you didn't know that the buildings had been destroyed 25 years ago then you may assume that they were the originals.

We checked into our hostel which took an hour to find right our on the peninsular, in the quasi-converted garage of an old Croation/Bosnian couple. When we arrived she beckoned us into her kitchen and immediately gave us a 'welcome drink', which was homemade medica rakia (honey brandy). It was delicious, if not quite stiff and we felt very much awakened. She then attempted to gorge us with delicious homemade foods - breads, jams, homemade honey and a fantastic homemade tea she handpicked in the morning! As we sat there, another group of people came - to sisters and and an Aussie girl they had met on the way, and we got chatting to them. We agreed to meet up for drinks later on that evening, but first we went exploring!

The day was spent going around the old town, which was very pretty. The city was walled, and you can walk all the way around the battlements today, which gives some terrific views. We ate some delicious local food and went back to to the hostel. We had planned on spending a few days in Dubrovnik to relax a little after the breakneck speed of the trip. By relax I mean take an extra day! The following day we climbed to the top of the Napoleonic hillfort that overlooks the city, with further gorgeous views.

We had agreed to meet the other hostel folks back at the hostel in the afternoon, and we all went to a local supermarket to pick up bread and cheese and cured meat (and many bottles of wine), then headed out to the coastline of the peninsula which is dotted with beaches. We lay on the beach eating the picnic, and then frolicked in the sea while drinking all the wine. In the evening we went out into the old town (to another hostel I think) for drinks and general shenanigans. The next morning it was off bright and early to Montenegro!