🙂 Game of Thrones locations, Old Town
🙁 Nothing negative to report.
We only had limited time to explore this exciting City as BA had cancelled our flight for the previous day so we took the liberty of booking a half day tour with Ivo C from toursbylocals. We are all massive Game of Thrones fans and after discussion with Ivo we agreed to cover key filming locations as well as Dubrovnik Old Town. Highly recommend his services – hugely informative and we were very comfortable in the van with plenty of water. Ivo was a boy during the conflict and vividly remembers going with friends to retrieve smoking hot shrapnel after being fired at! He collected us from the airport to commence our tour. He knows all the right spots to get the best photos and had a book full of Game of Throne scenes to show and compare at the settings. We had great fun re-enacting some of our favourite moments!
Ivo told us that Dubrovnik was like a ghost town in comparison to usual tourist numbers at this date. It was great for photo opportunities and we were able to secure a table at the highly sought after Dubravka 1836 Restaurant & Cafe which usually has ten times more tables set up and is always fully booked due to its location just outside the City Walls and overlooking the ocean. So Covid was not all bad. Masks were not required outdoors, only when going into shops. The pedestrian- only Old Town is contained within within steady medieval fortification and we enjoyed strolling through the limestone paved Stradun. After entering by the Pile Gate, on the left hand side next to the entrance of the Franciscan Monastery you will find a gargoyle’s head or maskeron. Legend has it that if you manage to hop on the head, keep your balance and take off your shirt while still standing facing the wall, luck in love will follow you!! It is not as easy as it looks!!
We took a drive to the top of Mt. Srdj for a stunning vista of Dubrovnik. We visited the sombre Homeland War Museum at Fort Imperial where we gained knowledge of the conflict otherwise known as the Croatian War of Independence which was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat Forces and Serb controlled Yugoslav’s People’s Army. The war ended with Croatian victory as it achieved its goals: independence and preservation of its borders. 20,000 people were killed in the war and refugees were displaced on both sides. You can still see bullet and shrapnel damage to the fort which was nearly breached.
The time had come for us to board our yacht … there is still so much that we’d like to see and do in Dubrovnik like walking the Old Town Walls, sampling the great food and relaxing on the beach – so we will be back …
Back to Croatia OR Day 1 & 2: Sailing – Dubrovnik to Lopud to Polace
