Dubrovnik, Croatia

The first time I took a Mediterranean cruise, I mistakenly thought that a round trip cruise would be more convenient than a one-way cruise. Therefore, the round trip I chose did not include Dubrovnik as a port call. However, had I chosen the one-way, Dubrovnik would have been a stop. Therefore, this time around, I was thrilled that Dubrovnik would be a stop on this cruise, especially since I had heard numerous people rave about how amazingly beautiful it is.

Dubrovnik has marketed itself lately as the "Pearl of the Adriatic." And when you visit the small medieval Old Town area, you can see why it has the nickname it does. The turquoise color of the crystal clear water seems to sparkle under the glow of the Adriatic golden sun. Combine that with the natural beauty of the orange and red tiled roofs of the Old Town and you have quite the scene laid out before you.

When I awoke in the morning, the Croatian coastline with it's numerous small islands that dot the ocean on it's southern end could be seen. In the early morning hours we glided along the calm seas passing by islands big and small. As we approached the Dubrovnik harbor area, the ship began to slow. Just up ahead of us was a gorgeous bridge that appeared to be relatively new. The architecture and construction of the bridge was impeccable. This was my first sign that Croatia was going to be far different than anything that I had imagined.

Over the past quarter century, Croatia has been known to the outside world more as a war-torn country rather than a tourist destination. After many years of fighting, peace now rules the area, and the citizens have slowly begun to rebuild their lives and their towns over the past decade. And with the peace and serenity brought by the end of the war, the tourists are now starting to return.

When I knew we would be sailing to Croatia, I'm not quite sure what I expected to find. But I can tell you that I didn't expect to find what very lush and verdant country, with a sea so pretty, and towns so quaint. If I hadn't known the background of this tumultuous and turbulent area, I'd never have guessed the horrors that its residents must have gone through.

Once the ship docked, we made sure that we were near the front of the line to get off the ship. Our plan for our day in Dubrovnik was to take a taxi to the Old Town and climb the city walls as early as possible. From reading previous traveler's reviews of Dubrovnik, we understood that the later in the day you climbed the wall, the more likely it was to be crowded and hot, as the wall tends to absorb all of the sun's heat.

As soon as we departed the ship, there was already a line of taxis waiting for passengers. And there was a sign clearly posted with fares to certain locations. The cost of a taxi from the pier over to the Old Town was 10,00 Euros and only took about 5 minutes. Old Town is located approximately 2 miles from the pier. Our taxi driver dropped us off right near the Pile Gate, which is the main entrance for tourists into the Old Town.

When we arrived, we already saw a number of other tour buses here. Luckily, there wasn't yet a line to climb the city wall. Once we had our tickets in hand, we began to make the trek up the steep stairs to get to the top of the wall. Upon reaching the top of the wall, there are signs directing walkers that the wall is one-way, counterclockwise.

The first thing that strikes you when you reach the top of the city wall is the copious amount red, orange and brown tiled roofs. Every building contained within the city walls has this distinctive roof coloring. The buildings that have been rebuilt since the end of the war sport a much cleaner and newer looking orange, almost red colored, tile. The older buildings that survived the bombing during the war sport a dirty orange, almost brown colored tile. However, these buildings that made it through the war are few and far between. From the top of the wall you can look down right into Old Town. You can see it's main pedestrian thoroughfare as well as all of the smaller side alleys that branch off of it.

As you begin the walk around the wall, you finally start to see the Adriatic down below you. There's a small little cove nearby the Pile Gate, and this is where adventure seekers can book kayaking trips that take you out in the water so that you can get a sea level view of the enormous city wall. You'll notice as you walk around the wall, at strategic corners there are watch towers that have been built as well as cutouts where cannons would have been placed and aimed out towards the ocean in order to prevent attack from the water by invaders.

The journey around the entire city wall easily takes a couple of hours, more or less depending on how much you stop along the way. As you approach the ocean and the harbor area, the wall is pretty much entirely a downhill walk. As you begin to move away from the water again, the walk is pretty much an uphill walk, with some parts of the wall displaying rapid changes in elevation and steeps steps to maneuver. It seems as if every corner of this walk brings different views, a glimpse at a bell tower, a look at a beautiful church, the ever present red and orange tiled roofs, the views down steep and narrow alleyways, a look down into the backyard of a residence with children playing, a look down the main street of the city packed with tourists. The advice about starting the walk as early as possible is a prudent one. Even at the early hour we started we found it to be extremely hot on the wall, and as we kept going, it just felt hotter and more oppressive. Unfortunately, there wasn't an ocean breeze to be felt at all. By the time we made the last uphill climb to the top of a watchtower at the highest part of the wall, it was blazing hot. In a way, it was almost a welcome relief to make it all the way around the wall, back to our starting point, and back down the steep stairs and into the city.

We spent the balance of our time in Dubrovnik walking around the Old Town. As we made our way up the main road of the Old Town leading from the Pile Gate to the harbor, we noticed that the most popular shops along the main street, bar none, were the various ice cream/gelato shops. Not one to ever pass up a chance for gelato, I had to stop and get some. The gelato at least served as a temporary combatant to the high heat and humidity. I had read that the gelato in Dubrovnik was supposed to be even better than gelato in Italy as it was made from cream with a higher fat content. I don't really know if it was better than gelato I had in Italy, but it sure did hit the spot at the time.

The town itself was incredibly crowded with tourists. Not only was Ruby Princess in town, but 3 other small ships were anchored off shore in the harbor area of Dubrovnik. The main street was packed with shoppers and diners enjoying a mid day lunch break in one of the many outdoor cafes. As we wandered into some of the side alleys, we discovered that for a block or two surrounding the main street, even more outdoor cafes existed. But beyond that, that is where the residents of the town resided. Back in the alleys, up the steep steps and narrow walkways, that's where the real lifeblood of the city can be found. Wandering back towards the harbor, we came upon a small square that was hosting a small outdoor market. We wandered into a very understated church to look for rest for our tired legs and a reprieve from the rays of the sun, only to discover that the church we entered had been bombed during the war and was only recently repaired. Pictures of the devastation and destruction were on display inside the church.

By early afternoon, we felt that we'd seen what we came to Dubrovnik to see, and we had conquered the wall. We were ready to return to the ship. As we exited the Pile Gate, we saw that there was a great number of ship passengers milling about, mostly those on organized ship excursions waiting for their motor coaches to pick them up. Across the street we saw the taxi stand, and as there was already quite a line forming, we decided to get in line. By the time we got into a taxi, as they now seemed quite scarce, the driver informed us that a ride back to the pier would be 15,00 Euros rather than the posted 10,00 Euros due to the traffic. We were too hot and tired to argue. However, in the end we did feel that it was worth it. While the trip from the ship to Old Town had only taken 5 minutes, the return trip from Old Town to the ship took almost 25 minutes in bumper to bumper traffic.

By 6:00 pm, every passengers was back on board and accounted for. Ruby Princess dropped her lines and began sailing away from Dubrovnik. I don't know if I'll ever make it back out to Croatia, but I'm glad that I had an opportunity to visit this very interesting, and beautiful country on this trip. Croatia wasn't quite what I had expected it to be. Surprisingly, it exceeded my expectations. If this was a sign of what was to come for the rest of the cruise, well then we were in for a whirlwind.