Dubrovnik 2026

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20260919

Today we scattered having to vacate the sail boat by 9AM. Tim and Paul returned to America. Dan and Mike were spending another day at a town near the airport to leave tomorrow. Me, I caught a bus into Dubrovnik. First my dirty clothes were dropped at a laundry service before climbing up to the hostel I'll be at the next three nights.

The hostel host is a very chatty welcoming woman in her 50's. It's a family business with her son and husband. She was extremely helpful describing how to get around on the bus and what sights to see.

A very friendly 23 year old Egyptian engineer/marketing guy was eager to talk to me or anybody for that matter. After a serious thunderstorm with rain passed through we walked down together to the old section of Dubrovnik with the walled city. He wanted to walk the wall so I joined him. He had to catch a flight so we parted ways and I returned to the hostel to make dinner and work on the blog.

20260920

Slipping out of the hostel on the earlier side, I made my way to the start of the trail to the Fortress Imperial. This ancient stone structure was commandeered by Nepoleon at one time. Now it supports a tall communications tower and there is a posh restaurant with tables overlooking Dubrovnik.

It took me about an hour to switchback my way to the top. The sun rose and it became hotter and hotter. I perspired profusely consuming my liter of water. A few people had already made it up and passed me as they descended. It's about a 1200ft climb. The views along the way from the top today were wonderful. Apparently there is a war museum there in connection with the 1991-5 Croatian war, but I didn't see it as I wandered about.

Trudging back down I sought out the nearest coffee shop which ended up being Monachus Monachus. Even though it was down, I still perspired heavily.

I proceeded to spend the next many hours visiting museums in the Grad or Old City of Dubrovnik. The first stop was the Franciscan Monastery with a collection of ancient books. Being Sunday there was a service in the attached church. The church was closed to the public, but there was an open door connecting the museum and church. A lovely single female singer's voice drifted in. I sat listening finding the moment very peaceful listening to her singing.

The next stop was the Rector's Palace. It too housed many old books. The most fascinating were those with entries from Marino Ghetaldi a physists and mathematician who lived from 1568-1626. I was captivating to be seeing the actually 500 year old printed words and diagrams of ideas published at that time.

The Maritime Museum drew my attention next. Dubrovnik was a key trade harbor from about 800-1600 for commercial sailing activities across the Adriatic and Mediterranean. Ship build was important and a particular Dubrovnik design was sought after. There are many documented ship wrecks along the coast of the island Mljet. We'd anchored a couple of time in harbors of this island while sailing the last week. As trade expanded further across the globe, Dubrovnik lost it's importance as a trading hub.

The tourist crowds are intense in Dubrovnik. Tour groups are everywhere creating bundles of people that one must negotiate while walking. Finding a place to sit is very hard. It does mean there are many restaurants in the Old City. There were streams of buses to transport the cruise ship visitors back and forth from the new harbor to the Old City. Somehow most of the locals stay calm through it all. From a discussion with the hostel host, there are the six winter months when the locals get their town back.

For some reason I was feeling very tired as the afternoon progressed. I caught a bus most of the way back to the hostel and had a quiet evening.

20260921

Today marks my last day in Croatia. The day's activity became very fluid. The first stop after descending a bunch of stairs was a bakery where an eggy(?) pastry and a chocolate croissant were purchased. A coffee shop was harder to find in the newer section of Dubrovnik. Coffee shops here are often bars by night and sometimes cafes.

I wanted to check out the 'Cave Bar' out on the LAPAD pennisula. Since they opened at 7AM, it seemed a good way to kill two birds with one stone. It involved a bit of a walk. Sitting down near the water on a beautiful sunny early morning sipping coffee and eating pastries was relaxing. I could see the first Island we sailed around a little over a week earlier to the west in the Adriatic.

Here plans changed. Instead of heading back to the Old City with it's hoards of cruise ship visitors, the decision was made to continue walking around the LAPAD pennisula and make a day of it. This pennisula has upscale hotels along its perimeter at the sea's edge. Fortunately a walkway is present so one can stay near the shoreline. Initially there were many steep steps down the cliffy shore from the walkway to the water. This provided many access points and options to sunbath along the rocky shoreline. The shore slowly turned to pebbly beaches moving clockwise toward the new city harbor.

At one point I passed a medium sized dog with a heavy coat and collar ambling along the path. About an hour later while sitting at Public Beach, the dog strolled up, plopped down in a shady cool spot on the beach close to the surf, and took a nap. There aren't many dogs in Dubrovnik and this was the first to be off a leash. It is probably well known by the locals.

Gelatto called out to me, but I only found one place serving ice cream so I ditched the idea. There are two Michelin Star restaurants in the Old City. One looked appealing, but in the end I ditched that idea as well because I couldn't see myself going alone.

Instead of the climb back UP to the hostel, I waited about 30 minutes for a bus and walked DOWN to the hostel.

Tomorrow I descend the hill to the bus stop for the last time for the ride to the airport.

Epilogue

It is the day of my originally schedule departure, 20260922. While I slept there was a technical issue with air traffic control in Newark and United Airlines canceled my flight from Dubrovnik to Newark. (I'd not wanted to book through Newark. Now I never will.) The best the electronic world of apps and websites could help with was to enable me to cancel my flight for a full refund. It was humorous in a way since it suggested I book another flight to catch the Newark to Denver leg OR book the next United flight four days (26th) away - right... I need to leave on the 26th from Longmont for my upcoming Grand Canyon trip. With all my United flights to Denver canceled I went in search of another means of getting home.

I found an American code share flight on British Airways through London Heathrow leaving at 9PM on the original day of my departure. It requires spending the night in London arriving into Denver on Wednesday instead of Tuesday. I booked it. I was concerned that if I tried to work with United in rebooking I'd find myself at the bottom of a queue leaving today on another flight. There was a long line at the United counter at the Dubrovnik airport so my instinct was probably correct. Unfortunately, I couldn't confirm my booking with British Airways electronically to receive my boarding pass AND I was told at the airport I could do that until 5 hours before the flight departure. So much for the miracles of apps and electronics again!

Exploring checking in online again I found myself in a humorous infinite loop. The American Airlines website sent me to the British Airwarys website. In attempting to check-in there the British Airways website says, "Since your first flight is operated by British Airways, please go to their website to check in". Can someone make this stuff up!?! So I called British Airways on their USA 800 phone number which had a recording saying they are currently closed and to please call back during normal business hours. Ok, I'll give them that since it is the middle of the night in the US. I called their UK number. It kept hanging up immediately until about the fourth try. After the usual 'smart' phone system, it connected me with an live agent - happy days! The agent informed me that he couldn't check me as that was restricted to the airport, but he did assign me a seat from Dubrovnik to London. He was unable to provide me with a boarding pass. That must be done here at the airport.

So here I sit in the Dubrovnik airport uncertain I'm leaving today.

The queue formed to check in. A question was posed as to whether I needed my luggage in London. A boarding pass was handed to me. The road bump of the last fourteen hours was getting smoothed out. The transfer to the aircraft involved standing in a fall brisk wind on the tarmac. The summer's heat of the last two weeks was passing. I looked forward to climbing the stairs to the protection of the aircraft.

The arrival into Heatherow was at 11PM local time. The airport was virtually deserted. It's grown becoming a bit more organized over time. Because it was basically shut down, the route to the terminal of the next flight involved passing through UK customs and boarding an express train toward Paddington Station London but exiting at the first stop in another terminal. I didn't have the motivation to pay the £400 for an 8 hour stay or grab a taxi to a local hotel. So I spent the night in the terminal surrounded by travelers from India who chatted and laughed. I felt they indirectly looked after me while I slept. I enjoyed a facsimile British breakfast of bean, eggs, and sausage. All that was missing was the blood pudding.

The plane departed London and uneventfully landed in Denver. I was back 'home'.