The trip into Dubrovnic proved interesting, the person managing our stay - it was an apartment just outside Pile Gate - couldn't give us directions to where we were to off load the car and wasn't overly interested in trying and also wasn't going to be meeting us but rather sent a "second" to meet us, he couldn't really give directions either, so three very frustrations revolutions of the city including circuits way up the mountain pass above the city, we eventually arrived, and so the scams began; the person meeting us on taking us to the flat now asked for a 10 EU "service charge" but if we didn't know about it we didn't have to pay, we didn't so no pay, and away he went.
We then had to park the car about 10 minutes away in a parking garage and pay up front for three days parking.
The apartment was very well located and very clean an comfortable but with very sparse amenities... 2 cups, 2 plates, 2 glasses.... so basically don't have friends round for dinner - you never know when one may have friends unexpectedly for dinner.
In the city there were hucksters continually trying to get you into overpriced restaurants, and tons of overpriced souvenir shops, bargains and good cheap food was to be found in the back streets away from the main Stradun ( main street)
Scam number 2 - We stopped for a couple of drinks, basically double what we had paid for elsewhere and then the waiter tried to add on an extra 30 Kuna to the bill - quick argument and all was resolved.
A big enjoyment was the walk on the city walls, about 2 kilometers long, up and down stairs, up and down towers, getting stuck in a small pillbox on the walls and two hours later back down, a rather poignant site from the walls was all the new red tile roofs, a stark reminder of the homeland war and the dreadful battle for Dubrovnic.
The churches and Cathedral were amazing if not a bit ornate for my taste compared to others we had seen around Croatia
The next day saw drinks at the iconic Buža bar, exit the walls and into a small pub smeared up the cliff face....
And finally onto scam number 3 and this time they got me, on taking the car out of the garage they told me our ticket was wrong and I had to pay in extra basically now paying double the cost of the garage stay.
My opinion of Dubrovnic is its a large impersonal soulless monument with a few redeeming features, but to stop in and visit and then get back out.
And so back to Zagreb......
We then had to park the car about 10 minutes away in a parking garage and pay up front for three days parking.
The apartment was very well located and very clean an comfortable but with very sparse amenities... 2 cups, 2 plates, 2 glasses.... so basically don't have friends round for dinner - you never know when one may have friends unexpectedly for dinner.
In the city there were hucksters continually trying to get you into overpriced restaurants, and tons of overpriced souvenir shops, bargains and good cheap food was to be found in the back streets away from the main Stradun ( main street)
Scam number 2 - We stopped for a couple of drinks, basically double what we had paid for elsewhere and then the waiter tried to add on an extra 30 Kuna to the bill - quick argument and all was resolved.
A big enjoyment was the walk on the city walls, about 2 kilometers long, up and down stairs, up and down towers, getting stuck in a small pillbox on the walls and two hours later back down, a rather poignant site from the walls was all the new red tile roofs, a stark reminder of the homeland war and the dreadful battle for Dubrovnic.
The churches and Cathedral were amazing if not a bit ornate for my taste compared to others we had seen around Croatia
The next day saw drinks at the iconic Buža bar, exit the walls and into a small pub smeared up the cliff face....
And finally onto scam number 3 and this time they got me, on taking the car out of the garage they told me our ticket was wrong and I had to pay in extra basically now paying double the cost of the garage stay.
My opinion of Dubrovnic is its a large impersonal soulless monument with a few redeeming features, but to stop in and visit and then get back out.
And so back to Zagreb......
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