Dubrovnik, Day 2

We started our day at Fort Lovrijenac, which is across the little bay from the walled city. Of course this was a GoT location, so JonPaul liked walking through it. This was the first day we saw big cruise ship tours in all our trips since we came to Europe in August, and boy was it crowded! That was the theme most of the day until around dinnertime—lots of crowds. I am so glad we haven’t had a lot of cruise ships so far, because I didn’t realize how many people it pours into the town. I think there were a few different cruise ships in port because we saw tour groups (and lots of them) from at least three ship companies.

The view of the walled city from Fort Lovrijenac was really nice. There was a pier that jutted out into the middle of the bay and you could see the small beach. There were groups of kayakers out in the water, and I wish I was out there kayaking too.

We walked from the Fort down into the Old City. We walked past the Old Pharmacy Museum and Franciscan Church, but decided to skip it because of the price. We did go into the church that was next door, which was pretty.

We walked down the Stratum, or the central walkway in the town (used in a Star Wars movie) to the to the main square, which holds the clocktower, Crkva sv. Vlaho church, Orlando column and Mala Onofrijeva fountain. We walked by the Rector’s palace and may have paid the entrance fee to go in but it was closed for the day. We went to the Gundulic square market, which was cute and had some candied almonds for sale which we bought after sampling quite a few.

Next we walked around the streets a bit until we got to the Vrata od Ploča, or the gate on the northeast side of the city. There was a different view of the port, but still really pretty. We walked back through the main square to Sponza Palace, which had a free photography exhibit. The building itself is beautiful and has a great courtyard inside.

Although I am sure JonPaul and I could have walked the streets of Dubrovnik all day, we know the kids need to ‘do’ something. So we took the ferry over to Lokrum, an island off the coast of Dubrovnik.

Our first stop was the Benedictine Monastery ruins, which included some beautiful gardens and was once again a GoT site.

Inside the monastery there is a replica of the Iron Throne along with a small GoT exhibit with videos, commentaries, and interviews. Everyone got a chance to take a picture on the throne of course. We also saw some peacocks walking around the restaurant and the botanical garden.

We took the hike to Fort Royal through a lovely forest and olive groves. Walking the island was a nice time away from the cities we have been visiting the last few days.

Fort Royal is at the top of a big hill, like all good forts are. This means we had to go up, up, up, and the kids began to complain they were too sweaty. No problem, we let Ronin and Willow take their shirts off, which they thought was super cool. The fort has nice views of the city, and the walk down was much easier than going up! There are several swimming spots on the island, including a salt lake, but even though we saw several brave folks swimming it was just too cold!

In the mid-afternoon we made our way back to the town and wondered through the streets. Each kid got a chance to play tour guide and lead us through the alleyways, showing us the sites they thought were important. We saw a small tree, flowers, rocks, a doorknob, steps, and buildings. It is always fun to see the city through their eyes. JonPaul and I liked seeing the Jesuit Stairs (used for the “Walk of Shame” on GoT), and a “See Rock City” birdhouse! There were also lots of churches and we made our way into a few before the day was over.