Dubrovnik, formerly known as Ragusa

After our short stay in Mostar we travelled further south, this time by bus, for an even shorter visit to Dubrovnik on the Adriatic coast in Croatia. We arrived in Dubrovnik in the late afternoon of May 13, and our flight back home to Sweden was leaving in the early afternoon the following day. Once we were set up in the hostel that Greg had found when he arrived a couple days earlier, we took a walk around the old city (Stari Grad) in the pouring rain and checked out a couple of small bars which weren't particularly exciting.

In the morning we packed all our gear and trekked down to the old city again with all our stuff. This time it was not raining, the smooth cobblestones were not deathtraps as they were the night before, and there were quite a few tourists about. Greg had been in town for several days so he didn't have anything new to see; he sat down with Sunny at a café and the rest of us left our bags with them so we could explore the area for a couple of hours.

Dubrovnik's old city is surrounded by big walls and towers to protect it, so the architecture of the area is really neat.






There is still a cannon in the opening at the very top to the right:




This is the clock on the bell tower on the main street, Stradun. Originally built in the 15th century, the tower was most recently restored in 1929.




Dubrovnik has many very narrow walkways between buildings, with stairs worn by centuries of pedestrians and rain.




St Blaise is the patron saint of Dubrovnik, and his statues are found in several places. When I saw this one, however, I had to wonder whether he is also the patron saint of scaffolding...




An old loophole (slit in the wall for shooting through)




There were quite a few cats around town. This little one was kind of cute.




Some nice red geraniums to brighten up the grey buildings:




More flowers:




Another narrow walkway with stairs aplenty:




Not likely a burglar's first choice of targets:




The Croatian flag:




The walled city as seen from our bus en route to the airport:




Random scenery on the way to the airport:






The Croatian word for apartment is pretty easy to understand, but it's still a funny sign, if you see a head and body with no neck on the bed instead of a pillow and blanket.