Dubrovnik - Pearl of the Adriatic

We took the VBT trip extension to Dubrovnik at the start of our trip. So happy we did because Dubrovnik is beautiful, lively (well, full of tourists from everywhere) and a little like Disneyland's main street in its perfection. Limestone streets meet limestone walls with the effect that it really does seem like one giant pearl of a city -- smooth, polished and white. But Dubrovnik also has the distinction of having had 80 percent of its roofs destroyed from relentless bombing by Serbs who bombed the city from Montenegro southeast of the city. Isolated from the rest of Croatia by 11 km of highway belonging to Bosnia-Herzogovina, Dubrovnik was an easy and useful target during the Balkan War. But the roofs have since been restored and the tourists have returned in droves. It felt and is relatively prosperous.

We stayed in the Hotel Zagreb, set on a pedestrian-only promenade with a walking path that encircles the penninsula, it was a pretty terrific introduction to Croatia. Along the promenade are restaurants and cafes with chair swings. A nice place to people watch and wile the night away. Along the trail are numerous places to drop down to swimming rocks where its easy to jump in for a swim and return back to the trail. Sturdy swimming ladders can be found the entire route. We loved it and it ended all too fast.






Views from the wall. Tom, Bridgit and Bill on the wall.






An ancient water fountain in the middle of old town. A walk on the wall that almost encircles the town.