Dubrovnik, Croatia - October 2010

On October 13th, I was up at the crack of dawn to catch my Austrian Air flight to Dubrovnik. My first flight to Vienna left over an hour late but they held the connecting flight for me. Exactly what American Airlines would have done - yuk, yuk. My luggage wasn't as lucky, and I had to wait a day to be reunited.

My hotel was right on the Adriatic Sea, overlooking the Old Town. My room, however, had no view. I walked into town and was in awe at the beauty. The same way I felt when I visited Krakow, Poland.

You may ask - Why Dubrovnik? I always wanted to visit Dubrovnik since Liza Minnelli sang the song "Ring Them Bells" from here Liza with a "Z" album. If you want a copy of the song, just ask and I'll send it. It was about Shirley Devore's traveling adventures in Europe, where she found the man of her dreams on the beach in Dubrovnik, only to find out he actually lived in the apartment next to hers in NYC - ring them bells.

Here's a view of the old harbor, as I entered the walls of the Old Town.

I had dinner in the Old Town - prawns with heads and all. The moon glowed over the water as I walked home.

It rained all night and it was forecast to rain all day.

When it cleared up for a while I headed into town. But, after a few hours, the rain returned. I had pizza for lunch, and my daily beer - see above. The beer was cheaper then wine, soda or water.

I gave up on sightseeing and returned to the hotel. On and off rain was forecast for the next week.

It cleared up at six so I went to the Old Town for dinner and a delicious gelato. I made it home before the clouds reopened. I hope I get one day of sun before I leave.

Guess what - rain again.

But it cleared by eleven. I walked to the Old Town and bought a Dubrovnik card, good for eight attractions and transportation for a week.

I started with walking the City Walls. It took over an hour, with magnificent views of the Old Town buildings. I rented a headset to listen to the commentary, but it stopped working half way around. I exchanged it for a good one, but the ticket collector would not let me back on the wall - only one visit per ticket. I tried to explain what happened, but he had to follow the rules. So I missed taking photos on a third of the wall.

Here's a view of the Old Town roofs from atop the wall.

And the world traveler on the wall. That was audio stop number 7, while it was still working.

This almost looked like it was in working order. I think the couple next to me wanted to kill each other - too much travelling together.

I think I walked every street in the Old Town, up and down the cobblestone blocks.

Maybe I'll get my paints out when I get home. LOL

Here's the modern bridge going north of Dubrovnik. Before it was built, you had to travel along the coast, in and out of the many coves and harbours. This one saves at least 30 minutes.

The sun finally came out, so I went back to Old Town to take some sunny photos. This is a view of the old port.

More of the old port.

Here's the main street in the Old Town, with typical tourist shops. Every day there were one or two large cruise ships dumping 1000's of tourists on the streets. Five hours is definitely not enough time to enjoy the magical city.

It really was a beautiful city.

View of the walled Old Town from the street to my hotel.

Sunset over the Adriatic. Rain, rain, go away.

I switched hotels, to get a different view of the city and water. I was in Dubrovnik eight nights. I had originally signed up for a cycling tour, but there weren't enough people so they canceled it. I'm glad it was canceled - its not much fun riding in the rain.

My last day in Dubrovnik - yes its raining. I wanted to take a ferry to one of the large islands, but the ferry stopped operating October 15. I found out that most of the islands shut down for the season in mid-October.