Dubrovnik
Adriatic Sea
March 13, 2005
I decided to try to get to Dubrovnik as soon as possible, so I grabbed the first
bus to the border region between Montenegro and Croatia, getting off just after
Herceg Novi. At this point I needed to walk to the border and catch a bus from there.
The walk was much longer than expected and about two and a half hours later I found
myself at the Croatian border.
Along the way I saw many rusted out cars, more litter than I can describe, a few
houses and even fewer people and cars. The cars that I did see however were an odd
combination; some were from Germany, Italy, Croatia and Serbia & Montenegro,
along with a few semi trucks. The surrounding area was great minus the litter, but
sad going from a resort hotel to a broken down house and rusted out car within kilometers
of each other.
I reached the border and they told me that a bus comes at noon each day, so I waited
for it. The bus's tardiness was no big deal other than the fact that the bus driver
charged me 10 Euros for it, clearly more than I am accustomed to paying, but I had
few choices.
At the Dubrovnik bus station I was immediately approached by a woman who offered
me a room. It was cheap and close to the bus station so I agreed. The first sign
this place was a bad idea was when the woman couldn’t find my keys, but she looked
and insisted I couldn’t leave until she found them, whereas I insisted that I see
the city and leave as soon as possible. Fifteen minutes and a cup of tea later I
won and left.
The city is, in the words of Magnus, “the most picturesque place in Europe” and
he may be right, but it has no authentic feel, it almost felt contrived and re-built.
It felt like a theme park, whereas Kotor, Montenegro felt like everything a theme
park aims for, Dubrovnik just stopped at being a theme park. The city was beautiful
none-the-less and I would recommend it; although it had character and incredible
architecture, it lacked any feel.
Gate leading to the harbor
Marble streets of Dubrovnik
Walls around the city
It was nice that there were no tourists there today since it was raining half the
day, but later cleared up and the reflections in the marbles streets was quite nice.
The streets were actually empty and so I guess I went on the right day, but little
else to say about it, you can see my pictures, you can look up Dubrovnik on a search
engine and see the beauty... it may have the same feel in person as it does looking
at it online.
I headed back to my place and again met with the two old ladies who were both single
in their elder years for a reason, or reasons. At first they loved me because I
was renting from them and they had a brother and sister in the States, but this
soon led to a downward spiral.
Our conversation was unforced at first, learning about national food (fish I was
told just fish, any kind, cooked in any way), life in Croatia, and then... George
Bush came on TV and I heard about how “me think big sh*t” and this was all she could
get out of her mouth, multiple times at which point she stormed off and went to
bed. Her sister, with better English said “f*ck, I can’t even talk about it!” I
tried to change the subject, but she refused to talk to me the rest of the night
so I went to bed.
The next morning, I awoke to both of the women being my best friend and them calling
their friend in Sarajevo so I would have a place to stay when I went there. I decided
I wanted nothing to do with their friend and soon changed my travel plans.
On the road to Dubrovnik
First view of Dubrovnik
Adriatic Sea as seen from Dubrovnik