Hot Day in Dubrovnik

A quote comes to mind. ” It’s a hot one, like seven inches from the noon day sun” Santana song. We or should I say Carol, slept in which means until 0840. It is already plenty warm out. They are having an extreme heat wave here so it is supposed to be 97 today with something like 150% humidity. Our bodies are in shock after our 70 degrees Scandanavia month.
We eat some leftover pastries and start our walk to the old town. A billion stair steps later, we go through the Pile Gate into the old town.

Onofrio’s Fountain & Well

We are inside the walls, and the first thing we see is a huge well with water coming out of spouts. People are filling up their water bottles with the cold water. The more important thing about Onofrios Big Fountain is that it helped the town survive any sieges as they had water and a large granary inside the walls. We start our self guided walk in the Franciscan Monastery and its cloister. In several spots, there are chunks of wall missing, a result of missile shots during the 1991/1992 war here. We walk next door into the Church of St Savior which has a beautiful interior. We step back onto the Stradun, the main drag through town. Back in the 7th century, this street was a canal. Romans lived on the island of Ragusa ( the right side) and the Slavs lived on the other side. In the 11th century, they filled in the canal and a Slavic-Roman culture began.

Orlando’s Column

Walking down the Stradun, our next stop is Luza Square, with Orlando’s Column in the middle. In 1417, by putting this column here, a statement was made to Venice that Dubrovnik had made alliances with the Hungarians. The square is lively with musicians and people. It is flanked by Sponza Palace, the towns bell tower, the city hall, and St Blaise Church. There is also a memorial to those who died in the last war and pictures of some of the bombings they had to endure. We meander to the harbor and then check out a possible place to eat tonight. Liking the menu, we make reservations for 1900. Then we are off to eat lunch at a place I had read about. They have Octopus burgers, and well, I just have to try one.

Octopus Burger Baby!

We find the street, which is really more like an alley with lots of steps up. We start climbing, looking for the name or address number that I have. Halfway up, we find it , a small place, with limited seating. We find two seats and look at the menu while letting our bodies try to cool off a bit. For better or worse, I order the famous Octopus Burger while Carol goes a safer route with a shrimp burger. We get two cold beers to go with it. The burgers come and they are gigantic. They are not patties like a hamburger, more kind of hand pressed, and very very fresh. My first bite tells me that I made a good choice. It is delicious. Carol enjoys her shrimp burger and the cold beer in between bites just seals the deal. We have a nice conversation with a couple and their young son, from England. After I asked, the owner told me how to say cheers in Croatian and when we clink our glasses and say “zivjeli”, she gives us a big thumbs up. Great meal.
We now head back a different way to our apartment, so instead of a billion steps, we are down to a million, and it is all uphill. I am certainly going to sweat some pounds off here. We make it back to the apartment and jump in for a cool shower which helps a lot. Cold beer in the fridge helps even more. We settle in for an afternoon siesta before dinner.
By the time we head out for dinner, it has cooled off some but is still very warm. I am now just wearing a very light wicking T shirt which helps immensely.

Fig an Prisciutto Pasta

We get to our table at Pizzeria Storia right on time at 1900. We are sitting in another alley/street right below the wall and looking at the town cathedral. We get some ice water and order our food and beer for dinner. There was a pasta dish that reminded me of my dad and since today, two years ago, was his last day with us, I know I have to order it. It is an unusual mix that I had not seen before. Spaghetti with figs, prosciutto, and garlic. We also order a pizza of the sea which I also think dad would have liked. We toast his life and enjoy our meal. Everything is excellent.
After dinner, we stroll around a bit and down one street, I see a church up some stairs.

Inside St. Ignatius

We head up and when we walk in, it is St Ignatius ( Ignazio) which was my dads birth name that he later made his middle name. It was like he was sending me a sign that he is still with me. We walk a little more and head back up the hill to our place. We managed to survive the heat and enjoy our day. When we got back to the apartment, Ana, the owner, brought us down two ice cold beers. She is extremely nice. When we got here the place had juice in the fridge and a box of chocolates was waiting also. It is very quiet here away from the old town commotion so we will sleep well tonight.
Expenses
Apartment Divanovic 792.5 HRK
Franciscan Monastery. 60 HRK
Lunch and Beer at Konoba Barba 161 HRK
Dinner and Beer at Pizzeria Storia 200 HRK
2 Gelato Cones 20 HRK
Walked 7.5 Miles