Arriving in Dubrovnik-Late Post

We left the sleepy little harbor of Okukje on the island of Mljet a couple of days ago. The town, with a population of 40, has about 4 restaurants, all with their own docks. . About six yachts were moored at the dock of our restaurant (no charge, some docking fees at other locations were over a hundred dollars a night for a big boat like ours) but this dock had no water or electricity. We had plenty of water and the boat had a generator so we needed neither. We shopped at their little store and ate dinner at the restaurant. Food was great and we ended up partying with a fun group from Wales. We shared a big fish and it was great.

We motored on to Dubrovnik-still no wind. We toured the harbor of Dubrovnik which was small and crowded. We then proceeded to the Mooring’s harbor where we turned in the boat after spending our last night on the Rubis. Ironically it rained some in the night and the wind came up! We had learned from other people that the week before we picked up the boat had been windy but we had glassy seas and little wind. We really enjoyed our time on the boat despite having to motor. It was a big comfortable boat that took us places we would never had gone any other way.

The mooring was about 15 minutes from the old city. We look a taxi to the old town and walked down to our pension. No cars in the old town which kind of reminds us of Venice except that instead of canals there are narrow, steep, cobbled, stair step lanes. What a lovely city! Quite small, hilly, walled and lots of old lovely buildings. Lots of damage from the bombing in 1992-95. They have repaired all the roofs and the outer walls but many homes are still gutted on the inside.

The only drawback to Dubrovnik is the up to7 or so large Cruise ships that dock here and unload as many as 30,000 day trippers every day! They flood the sights, restaurants and streets. Some wear wrist bands and look like they just escaped from the hospital!

We sat in the main street, called the Stradun, and drank coffee and watched the people. We saw two weddings and watched the wedding parties and guests parade through the streets-very fun. We are a seafood lunch and Patti and I had the mussel’s marinere

The hotel where we are staying has a small lobby with three rooms stacked above. It is a restored 600 year old house. Winding stairway to the fourth floor where our very cute room and bath are. The downside is that it is 78 steps from the square to our quarters.

We have been touring the old town all day. The curtain wall around it is still intact, and runs over a mile. Many, many more steps involved, but great views of the city and the surrounding countryside. The town itself is paved in stones polished by thousands of years of people walking on them. It is very clean and a great place to sit around and watch the people go by.

We are having problems uploading pictures but will keep trying.

Ron, Bev and the Crew.