August 26, 2018
Dubrovnik after dark
After eating at a quiet, satisfying (but slow-serviced - I think they may have lost our order, and tried to compensate us by offering us a second Greek salad or a second carafe of wine) restaurant close to our room, we closed ranks with the parade marching down the waterfront to the walled city.
Before describing the city though, I have to talk about the light show. We began walking the mile back to our rooms about 9, and just about the time that the first flashes of lightning illuminated the sky. This was an incredible display - lightning flashed at an average of literally about once per second or two for the entire way to our room, and continued off and on for the next seven hours. Neither one of us has ever seen anything quite like it. We were afraid that we would find ourselves drowning in a deluge, but the rains didn’t begin until about a half hour after we were safely home. When rains did begin, they did so with a vengeance and continued throughout the night. The show didn’t end until about four the next morning.
The first video below is from our walk home along the waterfront, and the second is from our apartment, just as the rains are beginning.
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Rachael and I first came to Dubrovnik in October, 2001. The city had been severely damaged in 1991-2 when it was under seize by the Serbian military during the Croatian War, and when we visited there were still signs of destruction everywhere you looked. As we remember it now, it was a magical time to visit, with fairly few visitors - nothing like the insane crush the city experiences now, especially since the city was featured in The Game of Thrones. We stayed about a mile out of town at Villa Dubrovnik, a luxury hotel on the waterfront with a stunning view of the bay and city. I forget now why we stayed there, but I think it was because there were not really that many tourist facilities operating yet. It was a reasonable rate then, but we would certainly never stay there now - rooms start at about 700 euros per night. Eating breakfast on the veranda overlooking the sea is one of our favorite travel memories.
We stayed for two nights, and then caught a 5 AM taxi to the airport - our Cannondales jammed somehow into the trunk, its ajar lid strapped down - very regrettably, too early for a second breakfast. While we were there we walked the walls, dined in the heart of town and walked all over its marble streets - all without the crowds. Today, it seems like every square inch of the town within the walls is either covered with people or by open air restaurant tables. There were only a few restaurant rows back then, attendance was fairly sparse, and we felt like prized customers. At the time it felt like the most remarkable destination either of us had visited in our lives.
I had very mixed feelings coming back here again, after all we’ve read about what a changed scene it is today. We’re really only here because of its airport - it’s logistically the natural place to start this tour. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to see it a second time and have my memories diluted by the reality of today.
But yet, how could we not go? And now that we have, how could I have thought otherwise? It still seems like one of the most remarkable of cities, even with the crowds. We only saw it at night (and from far above, on Rachael’s hike today and the next day’s bike ride),but it is amazing at night. It’s like Venice - you have to go and see for yourself.
I’ve never blogged the original tour, and didn’t keep a journal - a shame, because it was quite the tour. Among other things, we were in Orvieto on September 11th on that tour, puzzling at dinner over the agitation at a neighboring table. The photos are all locked away in storage back in Portland, but maybe over winter I’ll ferret them out and post a retrospective gallery here.
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