An Expensive Walled City
A hop over to Dubrovnik, Croatia
Leaving Greece was a hot mess. For one, the Airbnb we got as a group of four on our return from Lipsi did not have wifi when we checked in on Saturday. I tried all of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday to resolve the issue with the host but it turns out that the host is a management company on behalf of the owner who hadn’t paid the bill. I don’t think anyone works on Sunday at the management company because I didn’t receive any communication and after that it was sporadic messages that weren’t at all helpful. It was like talking to a brick wall. On Tuesday we left for Santorini and when we came back Wednesday there was no running water. I was pretty fed up with their lack of communication and inability to solve the issues so I contacted Airbnb support on Thursday morning. While Airbnb tried to contact the host I spent the afternoon researching where to go next. On top of the AirBnB problems, I was originally suppose to go to Italy with a friend but she dropped out last minute and now I was trying to figure out a new plan while having daily allergies and feeling an enormous restlessness to be out of Greece before May 20th. That Thursday, I decided on Croatia but didn’t book anything because I wanted to use my no-foreign exchange rate visa.
On the first day in Athens I’d burned my visa by putting in the pin wrong three times like an idiot. This meant that I had to have a new card sent to someone in Canada and a friends boyfriend bring it when he came to Greece. Unfortunately his luggage got lost by the airline so he wasn’t able to hand it off before going on an island adventure. Thursday I was finally able to pick it up from their Airbnb but didn’t get to use it.
In the evening just after I got my visa AirBnB cancelled our last two days of the reservation and gave us a partial refund. They hadn’t been able to contact the host either and so the issues could not be resolved. While this was a relief (because who wants to live without water of wifi), it also meant that I needed to find a new place for us to stay. It was 6pm and there weren’t a lot of budget options nearby. Getting Airbnb to cover the difference in cost took another hour. The other three housemates were away on island adventures so it was up to me to pack up four peoples worth of stuff and move ten bags and suitcases to the new place. I walked one load over and got a taxi for the second. The taxi driver was the grumpiest person I met in Greece and tried to charge extra for luggage. Fortunately I paid through Uber and didn’t get scammed out of more cash. I’m not proud to say that I lied when when he demanded extra for the luggage and I promised him a ficticious tip.
When I finished moving everything I was finally able to book flights and a hotel (not with the visa which I hadn’t activated yet) for Croatia around 11PM. I then got dinner and had a nice warm shower. I wanted to sleep but I stayed up to meet Latoya and Veronika who returned from Santorini and by the time I got to bed it was 2pm.
The flight to Croatia was at 8:30pm the next morning and so I ended up leaving at 5AM. Needless to say, I slept in the airport while the flight was delayed and on the plane. Italy was suppose to be a do-nothing period and although I thought I’d spend the first day in Croatia recovering, driving into Dubrovnik made me excited to go sightseeing.
The Adriatic coast is beautiful. Steep cliffs drop into turquoise blue water and further out islands scatter the horizon. I’d forgotten how much I miss the sea, the smell of salt, and the soothing ripple of water breaking against the shore.
After checking into my guest house I proceeded to Lovrijenac, a historic fortress. The fortress is an odd triangle shape just outside the city walls. It is from either 1038 or the 13th century but has evidently been modified numerous times as indicative by the cannons.
I didn’t expect Croatia to be so expensive. The ticket into Lovrijenac was 100 kn (28$ CAD). That’s just stupid expensive. There’s a combined ticket to see ten attractions in Dubrovnik including the city walls for 250 kn (45$CAD) which is the same price for just seeing the walls. Most people get the combined ticket but the other attractions aren’t that interesting. The Rectors palace has a nice courtyard and some old coins and the maritime museum has some cool models and old maps but otherwise the Dom Marina Drzica, cultural historical museum, Ethnographic museum Rupe, and Friars Minor Franciscan Monestary were uninteresting and I breezed them all fairly quickly. I probably wouldn’t have paid to go in them if they weren’t part of the combined ticket and in the end I skipped the last three because I had been so uninterested in the previous.
Unfortunately, the one museum of the Homeland War is not included and is the only one I was interested in seeing. It’s located at the top of mount Srd which is about 400m above sea level. There’s a cable car but it’s also possible to hike for free. In terms of free things to do in Dubrovnik, it only takes about 30–45 minutes from the start of the trailhead to the top and there are some good vantage points along the switchbacks.
The observation building at the top is nice and I enjoyed snacking on pretzels in the shade. What was most interesting was the landscape north of the observation building where the remains of trenches were still evident along the ridge line. These trenches are probably from the early 90s when Yugoslavia dissolved into five republics: Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia.
I found more defensive remains when I hiked the Forest Park Velika and Mala Petka. This was a point where I was reminded how much I enjoy hiking and landscape photography. Although the trail is short, it’s still beautiful to hike along the coastline and see the boats traversing between the old town and the new port.
The main attraction do Dubrovnik is the old city walls which I walked at the base for free among the many narrow streets and alleyways as well as on top as apart of the combined ticket. The west side of the city was the most photogenic, with split views along the rampart and with Lovrijenac fortress in the background. This end is also where Tvrđava Minčeta, the highest tower is with a good vantage over the old town.
Along the wall and perched on the edge of the cliffs are various restaurants to stop and have a drink. While I would have loved to sit and relax, the cost of food in Dubrovnik is absurdly expensive. A hamburger is around 80 kn (14$ CAD) and a bottle of sprite 25 kn (4.5 $CAD) so any restaurant on the wall or along the Main Street was far outside my budget.
The old town of Dubrovnik is quite touristy and there is a constant stream of cruise ship tour groups passing through. Nearly every building is a guesthouse of some kind and cafe tables line the main avenue like Venice. It is still an exciting place to be and a lively place to be absorbed in a different city. I still spent almost every day passing through the city and really enjoyed wandering among the narrow alleys. On a Saturday I saw two wedding parades dance to the church.
In the evenings I’d wander down to the coast to watch the sunset. The sunsets aren’t anything special, but being by the water is a familiarity I didn’t realize I was missing. Not far from the old town is a spot where the sun sets behind the Hotel Libertas. Complete in 1974, it’s a monstrous building that exemplifies the Croatian tourism industry: momental modern concrete architecture along the coast displacing culture for tourism. So far Croatia is a beautiful landscape but covered in guest houses and massive hotels. How is it that Greece and Croatia are both tourist economies but the first is affordable while the later is not? Dubrovnik feels like a place made for tourists and although I see locals in the park, I sometimes wonder where they live.
