Wednesday, June 13, 2018 (Dubrovnik)

Old Town rooftops

We got up early and took a quick shower and left. Another stop at our nearby pastry stand. Today we were walking the Old Town Wall. We’d been told it’s about a two hour walk and it does get very hot during the day. Our plan was also to visit the nearby island of Lokrum. We have heard it is quite beautiful and has some swim areas. I stuck with the tennis shoes and wore my shorts. My ankle was still sore and I did’t want to take a chance at hurting it more, plus I’m not big on frigid water. Tiffany wore her swimsuit and cover-up but was concerned about her feet. We stopped at a nearby store and she got water shoes. It rained last night so it was cooler this morning and very overcast. Tomaslav had told us that rain this time of year would not ruin the entire day. It tended to come for a short time and then sun in between the rain. We were sticking to our plan to walk the wall and then to Lokrum Island. We did take a rain poncho just in case.

We arrived at the Old Town Great Wall about 8:30 am. The previous night's rain and overcast morning were in our favor as it had kept the crowds minimal. There were many steps up flights to a level, then more up to a higher level, then back down - repeatedly all around the wall. The views were stunning, looking miles out into the sea and over the rooftops of the city. Tomaslav had told us there were approximately 1000 people who still lived within the Old Town. While walking we came across a school. It looked like high school students sitting quietly at their desk, perhaps taking a test. I guess they are used to the continuous crowds on the wall because they were all focused and I never saw a student gaze out the window at us. It is very strenuous to maneuver from level to level, yet this is home to many. We could not imagine having to do repairs, hauling groceries or carrying a child with the steep rise and decline of the steps. We say scars of scrapnel that had hit the city during the war. While the city was not destroyed, there was some damage from the attack, including debris of structures in the backyards. How could you possibly get equipment or the enormous amount of manpower up into the city to remove the large stones of rubble? We walked around the wall in little more than an hour. As we prepared to leave, we saw herds of groups coming in to begin the walk. Glad our venture was early.

Tiffany enjoying walking the wall

Looking down at one of the main roads in Old Town

Fort Imperial

Looking out of Old Town in the modern part

Tiffany

Johnnie

Some of the damage from the 1991 war

Parts of the Old Town that had been destroyed and not rebuilt

Tiffany

Johnnie and Tiffany

You can just look right in people's backyard

Restaurants on top of the wall

Lokrum Island

A high school with basketball court

You can't see them but there were students inside taking a test

Tiffany all locked up

Johnnie not liking being locked up as much

Someone's beautiful vegetable garden

In case of pirates. 

Harbor

A look at the wall

Tiffany with Old Town and Lokrum Island

Johnnie

Look at that crazy basketball court
A young lady was playing with her dog on the court.

Nice greenery

From the wall we walked to the pier and got tickets for a boat ride over to Lokrum Island. Tomaslav had told us the island has a legend of being haunted. There had been an active monestary located on the island and the Monks were forced to leave. They put a curse on the island upon their departure. This is a natural park area with many trails. Wild peacocks and rabbits are everywhere and they are not fearful of humans. There are a few restaurants on the island and we even found an outdoor massage area. Sounded great but not in the budget. All people must leave the island each day by 6, including all workers. We headed first to the Dead Sea where Tiffany took a plunge. It was even colder than the sea had been two days ago. It was a pretty area but we were a little disappointed at the size, more like a pond area. We found a group of wooden loungers placed along the coast of the sea. We stopped to enjoy the tide splashing upon the rocks and the cool breeze off the water. In fact, we both took a little nap while relaxing.

Johnnie

One peacock

A little peachick

Tiffany and a peahen

Johnnie and the peahen with chick

The "Dead Sea" on Lokrum Island

Tiffany in the Dead Sea of Lokrum Island

Enjoying sitting by the Adriatic Sea

Floppy-eared bunnies everywhere

Into the monastery

Into the monastery

Loved all the peacocks

After our restful break, we decided to scope out the rest of the island. We had heard there was a nude beach on the island but we didn’t see any signs about that and we were not going to go explore it. We found a little café and had lunch. We love being able to sit outside and enjoy the scenery and people. We had a peahen and her chicks come right up to our table. We did not feed them any of our cheese pizza. We walked around a bit more then took a boat back to Old Town and a bus back to our apartment.

We cleaned up for the evening. Keeping our blog updated has been nearly impossible. Each day is a full schedule and once we return to our room, we are tired and ready to retire in order to rest for the next day’s experience. We took a little time this afternoon to rest and work on organizing our thoughts. I was working on the narrative of our blog and Tiffany was working on putting our pictures in albums electronically by site. We’ve been eating out every meal and we’re both a little tired of pasta and pizza and neither of us big fans of fish. (After my prawns with eyes, I’m not being too adventuresome.) We had seen a little deli in the back of the grocery store so we decided to walk there and get something for dinner. While there is delicious food, sometimes what you expect is not exactly what you get. I decided to try the pork cutlet and Tiffany got chicken. They looked sort of like cheese sticks. My pork cutlet was gross but Tiffany liked the chicken. My potato wedges and sliced tomatoes were good. Tiffany had been busy working on the pictures for a considerable amount of time so she decided just to go to the store like she was. She wore her swimsuit and cover-up which was fine but made me laugh.

WALKING ACTIVITY: 6.6 Miles; 15,920 steps; 33 floors; 79 degrees F