When we landed in Dubrovnik, our landlord's son picked us up. Instead of staying in a hotel, I chose an apartment within the old city walls that I found online (http://www.dubrovnik-area.com/eng/details.asp?vla=371&SmjestajID=SG-A-0547). Luckily, Luca had brought a mini station wagon, and even then he struggled with the luggage a bit. So we're driving and I notice we're going past the city and he tells us he has to go pick up his dad from work. Umm.. OK. Are we gonna get groceries with your mom too? He tells us he needs his dad to help with the luggage. OK, this guy is like, mid to late 20s. Decent sized guy. What the heck?
So we pick up Stijepo from work and he hops in the car to drive, while Luca hops out and gets on a scooter. This guy is hilarious. Talk talk talk, yell at other drivers, talk talk talk. Now we're closer to the old city and we go past again! I'm thinking, "Dammit, I knew I shouldn't have gotten an apartment. We're gonna get ripped off!" However, I was wrong. The old city is protected by the old city walls, so it's like being in a fortress, and no cars are allowed. We have to unload the luggage and pull/carry it all in. No wonder he needed help. We enter through the Ploce Gate (pronounced ploh-cheh) and trudge through the town with the bags. The poor guys who carried most of the stuff were sweating buckets. I felt bad for them, but really had to hold in the laughs, because they looked so unbelievably tired. Luca even asked if we were moving to Dubrovnik given the amount of stuff we had. (Obviously we are not backpackers.)
Gina and Vuong in front of SOME of the steps we had to climb up to get to apartment.Once we arrived at our apartment, we were very happy with it. It's an old building, but inside is completely renovated. I wonder if it was completely thrashed during the war, which is why they had to re-do it, but I guess we'll never know. So all is well with the place, then I ask Stijepo how we should pay him, as he did not ask for a deposit or anything before hand. He said, "Oh, you can leave it on the table when you leave, or you can just leave it there whenever during your stay, as we have a key and can come in and out of the apartment any time to clean up or whatever." Me: "Oh. OK." In my head, "Hmm.. you can come in ANY time?" Now I'm picturing myself sleeping only to wake up with this guy or his son in my face.
In front of our apartment door.
Now, mind you, everywhere we have gone, it has rained. Now we are in Dubrovnik, which is essentially like a sunny Mediterranean town. They tell us that it's been so hot and dry for months that they've even had brush fires. Until the weekend we arrive when they are scheduled to have a big storm. Yay.
So we unpack and grab dinner at Marco Polo off of Lucarica street. This place has THE BEST food. It's in a little alley way so it's easy to miss, but the landlord highly recommended it. He also told us not to go to Prijeko street. At first I think Gina and I both thought, "Great, there's a dangerous neighborhood here?" But he meant don't eat at any place on that street as they are all tourist traps. We are just in love with the menu because it's seafood and we've been eating meat for nearly 2 weeks straight. Vuong and I get the scampi dishes and Gina gets the mixed plate. Then I also ask for calamari. The owner looks at me like, "Also?" I say, "Yes, in addition to my scampi." He looks like he's thinking, "Umm... OK, but that's a lot of food." Well you know what? It was and we ate it all. That's right, nothing left but the bones. I think we impressed him enough with our appetite that he called his wife out to take a look at the Asian girls who apparently haven't eaten in weeks.
After dinner we walked around a bit, searched for Topfen gelato, checked out an Irish bar, and another bar called Fresh (www.igotfresh.com) that was recommended to us by a random Asian guy standing on the street who was passing out fliers. Then we head back home, stinky smelling from all the smoke, showered up and got to bed. I think we all passed out since we had a few drinks and got up early that day.
Then, in the middle of the night, I hear bam-bam, bam-bam. The storm is in full force and the window shutters which we had left open downstairs were banging like crazy due to the winds. At first I think I'm the only one creeped out by this, so I try to ignore it, but can't. I get up and go to the bathroom. When I come out, Gina is awake and we agree to go downstairs together to secure the windows. The banging stops, but the wind is still howling like crazy, and I just can't fall asleep, so I watch t.v. the rest of the whole freaking night.
The next day, we get up, search out some healthy pizza and coffee for breakfast, then begin our tour of the city walls. If you ever go to Dubrovnik, you MUST see the city walls and the view from them. Absolutely gorgeous. When I was researching for vacation, I read that Restaurant Nautika was the best in town. We asked our landlord and he agreed. To save money, we went there for lunch after our tour of the city walls.
Restaurant Nautika (http://www.esculap-teo.hr/restaurant_nautika.html) is just outside the Pile Gate (pronounced Pee-lay) by the water. The view is absolutely amazing, and since we had just had the big storm the entire night before, we were blessed with a beautiful sunny day. So we sat out on the terrace and ordered lunch. The menu wasn't like what I saw online, but whatever. We sit, we eat, we try to pay and find out they don't take credit cards. Well, not on Terrace Penatur. On Terrace Lovrijenac, where they have the full menu they do. Nuts. Gina and I leave Vuong as collateral and go looking for an ATM. We had to go all the way back into the middle of the old city to find one. Four actually. Side by side. But not one outside. You know the waiter thought the shady Asian chicks were gonna make a run for it. But we do return, our fists filled with cash. All in all, a nice experience, but for the price, I'd rather go all out and sit on the other terrace and get the full expensive menu, or just go back to Marco Polo.
After lunch, the salad queens are determined to shop, but given my lack of sleep, I decide to stay in and take a nap. When they get back, I'm refreshed and awake, and we head off to Locanda Restaurant for dinner. This restaurant is right by the marina where the water taxis take off to go to Lokrum Island. By now, it is dark and the winds are blowing again, as if it is going to rain later and we are cold. But we suck it up and sit outside, mainly because you have no choice it seems. I get a pot of fried shrimp. It is an entire pot. Literally. I can't even get through half of it. Vuong also got an entire pot, although she shared with Gina since Gina shared her squid ink paella with her. Afterwards, we walk around the town a bit more, then check out this stylish lounge we had seen from above during our walk on the city walls. We stop and get a drink to enjoy our last night in town before heading back to re-pack our stuff. At this point, most of our stuff is dirty and stinky, and we're all probably over the 20 kg weight limit the European airlines have.
As you can see, we like to travel light.
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