Dubrovnik Old Town

Oh woeful weather. It had not stopped raining since we left Split for Dubrovnik yesterday. Today we slept in and waited for a break in the weather. We were keen to explore Dubrovnik. We first stopped at Srd hill, behind the Old Town of Dubrovnik.

Srd hill played an important role in Dubrovnik’s history. Dubrovnik (as with the whole of Croatia) used to be part of Yugoslavia. When Croatia declared its indepence in 1991, the Yugoslav People’s Army waged a war against Croatia, known as the Croatian Independence War. During this war, a small platoon from the Dubrovnik army used the fort on this hill, which provided them with a good vantage point. This fort is now a war museum. It still bore tell-tale signs of the destructive war it endured on its outside walls. Large gouges in its walls from being sprayed by enemy artillery have not been patched up.

There was a lot of misplaced confidence that the Old Town would not be touched by enemy fire as it was a UNESCO heritage site. This was a fatal error for so many of its residents when the enemy bombardment destroyed much of the town. It had since been rebuilt and restored to its former glory. We had the afternoon to explore Old Town and quickly decided it’s worth spending the day tomorrow here.

Yet another Old Town, I hear you say. I assure you that no matter how many Old Towns you have visited in Europe, you would still be in awe of this one. A fortified wall completely encloses the old city, making it the perfect venue to shoot many scenes for Game of Thrones, especially those of King’s Landing. With the help of trusty Google, we turned the day into a hunt of actual Game of Thrones film sites.

We also found a popular bar through an opening in the city wall, perched on a small cliff. In summer, patrons could jump off a rock landing into the azure waters below. Aaron really wanted to give it a go but it was rather cold and the clouds had done their best to block out the sun for most part of the day. Definitely bucket list material!Read more