{"id":68,"date":"2015-09-05T19:21:22","date_gmt":"2015-09-05T19:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europeinpictures.com\/croatia-bosnia-trip-report\/?page_id=68"},"modified":"2017-07-12T04:45:19","modified_gmt":"2017-07-12T04:45:19","slug":"dubrovnik-croatia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.europeinpictures.com\/croatia-bosnia-trip-report\/dubrovnik-croatia","title":{"rendered":"Dubrovnik, Croatia"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dubrovnik\"<\/a>

Dubrovnik (viewed from the south)<\/p><\/div>\n

I spent three nights in Dubrovnik in 2009. Although I found it beautiful and truly unique compared to anywhere else I had ever been \u2013 and a photographer’s delight \u2013 I just didn’t fall in love with the place for some reason. (Too many cruise ship tourists? Too many sad stray cats? Who knows?) I felt like I’d seen it and had no compelling reason to return. I wasn’t sure if I would stop even for a few hours on this trip.<\/p>\n

But Dubrovnik is a logical stopping point on the drive between Trogir and Montenegro. (And you could re-visit worse places for sure.) Nothing else on the map in that area seemed like a compelling place to spend a night. I didn’t really want to stay right by Dubrovnik old town, though \u2013 didn’t want to deal with parking my car there. (Without a car, I would stay by the old town \u2013 I did in 2009.) I might have stayed in Catvat, parked the car there, and taken a bus to the old town \u2013 but I decided to stay in nearby Lapad instead, because I remembered the easy bus connection from Lapad on my 2009 trip. Picking a cheap hotel in a familiar Lapad seemed easier to me.<\/p>\n

After my detour to Kravice Waterfall (see above), I headed south for Dubrovnik. People rave about the beauty of the coastal drive to Dubrovnik, which I had done in 2009, but I wouldn’t call it breathtaking all the way down. There is some great scenery for sure, but I don’t consider it the best scenic drive I’ve ever taken. I didn’t find myself stopping to take pictures very often, but there weren’t many easy places to stop.<\/p>\n

I found my hotel in Lapad \u2013 the slightly run-down Hotel Sumratin \u2013 parked my car and headed by bus to Dubrovnik’s old town. I walked through the Pile Gate into town, and memories from my previous trip came flooding back. I remembered a beautiful calico kitten I sort of adopted and fed right inside the Pile Gate while I was there \u2013 as I walked past the same spot I wondered if she might still be around four years later? That seemed unlikely, and of course, she wasn’t there now.<\/p>\n

I walked along the beautiful Stradun \u2013 the \u201cmain street\u201d of old town Dubrovnik. By now it was late afternoon, and the cruise ship tourists were long gone. I hoped I might take a late panoramic cruise but by 5PM those boat tours had stopped running (in May, anyway). So I simply walked around and re-acquainted myself with Dubrovnik. I found myself enjoying myself here much more than expected. I found my way up to the Buza Bar, checked out the great view, and hoped the clouds wouldn’t roll in before sunset.<\/p>\n

\"View<\/a>

View of Lokrum Island from Buza Bar, Dubrovnik<\/p><\/div>\n

I was lucky to enjoy one of my favorite things from 2009 in Dubrovnik: the swarming of swallows through the old town at dusk, hunting for insects:<\/p>\n