Monday, September 20, 2010

Dubrovnik – 10 September 2010


Gatwick airport was a breeze on a Friday, and we were there by train, checked in and drinking coffee 2.5 hours from walking out our front door. While 2.5 hours from door to check in seems remarkable for Londoners, it was only another 2.5 hours until we touched down in Dubrovnik.

We left cloudy London and swapped it for cloudy/showery Dubrovnik. But apart from that similarity, they are worlds apart. We had booked an apartment near the central area of the old town, and after checking in with the mother of the owner, set off to explore the walled town.

We found it quite captivating, no wonder it is a UNESCO protected town. From the marble central main road (all pedestrianised), to the two old monasteries, everything is crisp, clean and well restored. They had a huge restoration job after a major battle in 1991. We saw canon holes in one of the monastery walls, and the unfortunate miss-match of roof tile colour, is a grim reminder of how much must have been destroyed. That said, an amazing effort has been made to restore the town to its former glory.

The old town has many wonderful buildings – including churches, art galleries, two historic monasteries and an idyllic harbour. Of course food choices are too numerous to make a decision easy, but as Italian fare is the most common, we opted for this at Tony's spaghetteria and each enjoyed delicious pasta.

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