Croatia , Bosnia, Montenegro-05/11-5/19/2019
We woke up fairly early today and we are searching for a nice place to sit down and have breakfast. Hoa suggested we walked to the Stradun (less than 5 min walk from our apartment) which is the heart of Dubrovnik and there are lots of cafes and restaurants there. There are not lot of people around yet, and it felt like we had the city to ourselves with the exceptions of a few early birds like us.
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We settled for Orlanda Cafe/Bar located at the beginning of the Stradun.
I opted for a full breakfast (2 eggs, a croissant, small salad, coffee, and a glass of fresh orange juice.
Dubrovnik is no longer a cheap place, this plate cost $13 and Hoa ordered just a Americano which cost $6, that is 2 or 3 time more than the cost in the U.S. for a cup of coffee.
There are no Starbucks, no McDonald, no big American big fast food name to be found anywhere in Croatia which is probably a good thing.
I don't eat that much so Hoa and I we share this plate which is just perfect! |
Nice view from of the stradun from our table. |
The Stradun was fairly empty until a group of the Chinese tourists passed through. I was told during the summer it is so packed here that people cannot even walk around.
Entrance of the old City
Now that we have a full belly, we are going outside of the Old City to take a few pictures.
This is the square just before entering Pile gate.
Before you enter the old town on the right located on the western corner of Dubrovnik’s city walls you will see the Bokar Fortress (Tvrđava Bokar).
The fort was designed by the Florentine architect Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi as a semicircular two-story building, considered nowadays to be one of the oldest casemented forts in Europe.
The fort is standing on a detached rock, arched supports were made to bridge the gap. The sea still passes beneath the fort as it did when the for was first built.
The fortress was built in 15th century with the intention to defend the town’s main entrance named Pile Gate.
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Pile gate is the main entrance to the Old City, built in the 14th century by Ivan of Siena.
Above the gate is a sculpture of St. Blaise (Sveti Vlaho) cradling Dubrovnik in his arm. He is the symbol of the protector of Dubrovnik.
As soon as you enter the gate you will see the first part of the inner gate.
As you are going down the ramp on the left there is iron gate (details below).
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Inside the iron gate you will a bunch of feral cats. Looks like the city is feeding them as you can see canned food on the floor as the cats are eating it.
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As you walk a few steps further down you will a small hole in the wall. It is the entrance to a play ground.
As soon that you walk in the playground it is a tranquil playground park where locals play with their toddlers surrounded by walls all around and far away from tourists,
On the left of the is the road leading to Pile gate, the wall on the right is the inner wall leading to Old Town.
Basically, locals bring their kids here and it is so peaceful not having to worry about mingling with tourists.
Tourists usually take a quick peek and then just move on....
As you walk out of the playground in the inner walls, against the far wall are posted two maps that all the visitors are checking out before entering the Old town (details below).
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On the left is a tourist map of the Old town and on the right is a white map that shows where each bomb dropped on the Old town.
This is the inner court yard of the first wall inside the Old town.
Game of Thrones also filmed right here on this location.
As soon as you walked out of the inner wall into the Old town the first thing you will see is this massive Onofrio's fountain.
Onofrio fountain is one of the most famous landmarks in Dubrovnik. this circular fountain was built in 1438 as part of a water-supply system that involved bringing water from a spring 12km away.
Originally the fountain was adorned with sculptures, but it was heavily damaged in the 1667 earthquake.
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Only 16 carved masks remain, with their mouths dribbling drinkable water into a drainage pool. Its sibling, the ornate Little Onofrio Fountain, is in Luža Sq at the other end of Stradun (You will see it much later)
We are now entering the Stradun, the main street in the Old town.
Next....Streets inside the Old City