Dubrovnik

Trip Start Jul 30, 2008
1
22
44
Trip End Ongoing


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Where I stayed
nice lady,s
(Dubrovnik hotels)

Flag of Croatia  ,
Friday, October 3, 2008

Hey everyone. I have gotten incredibly lazy when it comes to these travel blog entries, but no more I say! So, as you all probably know by now, the vagabonds decided to split up after our adventures with Retz in Rome. Retzer`s departure was just too much for us to take. We had to have some time alone. While Russell decided to go really adventurous (big surprise there)in Kosovo and Jon opted for the history-laden destination in Greece, I pretty much played it down the middle and went to Dubrovnik, Croatia. My trip, just like Russell`s and Jon`s, began by taking a night boat from the coastal Italian city of Bari. The boat was extremely comfortable, fully equipped with a restaurant and piano lounge. However, I did not take advantage of either of these amenities and slept for most of the ride (when I wasn`t playing sudoku or reading). I arrived at about 8 in the morning, and was immediately bombarded with offers from many nice old ladies to stay at their houses. I took one, and was on my way. The house was a 10 minute ride from the port in a convenient location to get to both the port and the old town. The first day, I attempted to locate the old town, but got turned around pretty badly and actually ended up on the opposite side of the city. However, it was also a very nice area and I am glad that I got lost otherwise I never would have seen that part. There were primarily hotels and restauraunts in that part of the city (the northwestern third of Dubrovnik), but there were also great views of the sea and a few interesting residential turn-offs that gave me a quick glimpse of the lives of permanent Dubrovnikians.

On day two, I was able to successfully locate the old town, with the help of a map. Old town Dubrovnik is like a whole new world when compared with the rest of the city. The streets are narrow and hedged in by ancient walls (which you can walk on, but I was not feeling up to it on this day). While the interior of the old town was nice, the view of the old town from just outside the walls showed just how much this area stands out from the rest of Dubrovnik. For lunch, I had my traditional Croatian delicacy- pizza with sausage and mushrooms- and went home to take a nap. On my way home, I discovered a great basketball court right by my house and knew what I would be doing later. While I never got a chance to hoop it up with any locals, shooting around was fun and made me long for the courts back home. These rims were pretty bent and I am sure that they were a little low as well.

The last two days of my stay in Dubrovnik consisted primarily of finishing my book, strolling around the city and arranging my travel plans to get to Istanbul (which was not an easy task in some respects). Overall, I found the few people I interacted with in Dubrovnik to be very nice, but also somewhat wary of tourists. Apparently, Dubrovnik has turned into quite the tourist hotspot over the past few years. Anyways, it was an enjoyable time, and the best memory I have was watching the waves and the old town while sitting all alone on the coast with my book.

E
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