Working on Your Glutes in Dubrovnik

Croatia, Part 3 ...

I woke up with a bad cold on the sixth day of our Croatia cruise. I was unable to participate in that day’s Dubrovnik walking tour excursion. We planned to spend a few nights within the walled city before we flew home. So I asked Denise to locate our Airbnb accommodations, sans luggage; making our trek the next day easier.

Dubrovnik… inside ancient walls.

Good News & Bad News

When she returned she reported, “I have good news and bad news. The good news is I found it … it is in the center of the old town. The bad news is we need to carry our luggage up 8 flights of stairs.” So the next day, we wheeled our bags through the Pile Gate. A wide thoroughfare with shops and restaurants on either side was splayed before us. We walked a few blocks and Denise pointed up. “Our Airbnb is up there.”

I stopped after 6 sets of stairs to catch my breath and take this photo.

We climbed the stairs and came to rest outside a doorway with a 23 above the door. Our host had agreed to meet us at 10:00 … we were a few minutes early. At approximately 10:05 a woman walked past us, unlocked the door, and walked inside. She hadn’t acknowledged us … perhaps there was more than one apartment inside. Ten minutes went by and Denise decided to ring the doorbell. The woman stuck her head out a window above and asked what we wanted. Denise explained we were renting an apartment in this building … 23 Peline.

“This is my house. This is not 23 Peline. You must go up two more blocks. Turn right and it will be a little more than 2 blocks down on the right.”

I picked up my bag and trudged up the stairs. The woman was correct. A sign on the door announced Sea View Studio Positive Place and our eager host warmly greeted me. I retrieved Denise. We walked up two more flights of stairs to get to the apartment on the top floor (of course). It was exactly as advertised … a clean, functional, studio apartment with an amazing view.

Our view.

Dubrovnik Mistakes

I need to do more research before we travel! We made two major mistakes during the Dubrovnik segment of our trip. First, I wish I had found this map before our trip.

Our Airbnb (shown in blue) was just a few blocks from the Buža Gate and only required navigating a few stairs. — WalkaboutCroatia.com

The city rises steeply from the Stradun to the city walls. While the Pile Gate is perhaps the most famous and most impressive, there are other entrances to the city. As our Airbnb was just inside the walls of the city, the Buža Gate offered a less arduous path.

We had a great lunch looking at this ruin.

My second mistake was spending Sunday touring the island of Lupod, one of the small islands just a short boat ride from the city. I am not suggesting one should not visit the island. We enjoyed touring a 15th-century Franciscan monastery¹, hiking up Paradise Path to view the ruins of an old fort, and to beaches crowded with families enjoying the afternoon sun. And we shared an excellent pizza at a restaurant next to the church above.

The wall is much safer than the one in Óbidos.

Dubrovnik Pass

What we should have done, was visit Lupod on Monday. Instead, we purchased the Dubrovnik Pass on Monday, and while this 35€ pass offers 11 attractions … 7 were closed on Monday. And of course, the ones I was most interested in (the Museum of Modern Art, the Pulitka Studio, and the Dulčič Masle Pulitka Gallery) were closed. Drats!

We did walk the wall on Monday.² The views are spectacular. If you go to Dubrovnik, you should spend 35€ to gain access to it.³ However, be advised that if you walk the entire wall you will climb 1080 stairs. The people who live in this city must have buns of steel.

Cool, fresh water, free Wifi, and more stairs.

An Economy Based on Tourism

As we walked the wall on Monday morning I thought back to the wall in Óbidos. Okay, it isn’t nearly as long … and you can fall into the town below. But it is free.

I reflected on a thought-provoking article I read about the ethics of being a travel writer. I learned that Croatia had staked its future on tourism. As a result, its GDP and standard of living are better than their former-Yugoslavian neighbors. But during our visit, we learned that real estate within the city walls went for 6000€ a square meter. That’s 150% of the cost of luxury Algarve real estate. No wonder the vast majority of properties in the old town are either stores, restaurants, or Airbnb’s.

Tourist or resident? Não sei.

We chatted with our taxi driver as we drove to the airport on Tuesday. He confirmed that the real estate price we were quoted was correct. He pointed out a small village about 10km from the city where he lived with his parents. Their modest home would sell for about 4000€ a square meter … one day it would be his. With average wages roughly in line with those in Portugal, I wondered how anyone could afford to live in this country.

Our cab driver shared that his parents often talked about “the good old days” but he was happy with the changes he had seen. Yes, there had been dramatic inflation when Croatia converted to the euro in 2023 … but joining the European Union had many benefits.⁴ Of course, tourism has driven up prices but it has also created a lot of jobs. He could not afford a 50€ lunch inside the old city. But he would never leave Croatia. Tourism had brought him a better life.

As I reflect upon our trip, I know we spent 11 days in Croatia … but did we? Those nights in Dubrovnik, we could have easily been staying inside the Croatia exhibit at Disney’s EPCOT World Showcase. But one thing is certain … my glutes look amazing.

Na próxima semana tenho algumas palavras para aqueles que votaram no Brexit, Nenhuma das palavras é agradável!

Nanc

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1. If you are a Game of Thrones fan you likely know that much of the series was filmed in Dubrovnik. A Game of Thrones museum of sorts was found inside the monastery. There are also plenty of shops within the city selling official merchandise.

2. We went first thing in the morning, thinking it would be cooler and less crowded. The better option is to go about one hour before closing. We observed far fewer people on the wall at that time and the possibility of seeing the beginning of a sunset.

3. To walk the wall you have two options. Spend 35€ to access the wall, or spend 35€ for the Dubrovnik Pass which includes the wall, 11 museums/attractions, and free public transportation.

4. Pelješac Bridge, an EU project, now connects northern and southern Croatia. Previously, you had to cross into Bosnia and Herzegovina as you traveled south.