We arrived in Dubrovnik Croatia in the morning and as we enteres we had views of a beautiful bridge that is at the edge of town. This appears to be a busy and crowded town but before we get off the ship we have time for breakfast at the Lido, a Latte at the crows nest and a bit of time to take pictures before we need to leave for our excursion.
Bridge visible from the harbor called the Franjo Tuđman Bridge
View from the ship
View from the ship
View from the ship
When it was time for our excursion we headed to the theater to wait for our group to be called and then headed off the ship and onto a bus that was going to take us to a tram. The drive was through some fairly indistrial parts of town, very crowded and hard to navigate. Once we arrived at the base of the tram we needed to wait in line to get up to the platform where the tram would depart. It was crowded, groups were mixed with people arriving on their own and it took a good bit of time until we were able to get to the ticket counter where our guide could get our tickets and then onto a series of cars for the group. When we reached the top, one of the guests in our group realized that he had left his wallet in the bus. After several phone calls, and an initial negative response, they did eventually find the wallet and everyone stopped worrying.
The view from the top of the tram was pretty, but not what I would call a must see. There were ATV tours leaving from the top of the tram, and there was a tourist building at the top with souvenirs and several levels of viewing platforms
Heading up the Tram looking from the tram car
Heading up the Tram looking from the tram car
Views looking back down from the tram car as it ascended.
View from the top of the tram on the viewing platforms
View from the top of the tram on the viewing platforms
View from the top of the tram on the viewing platforms
View from the top of the tram on the viewing platforms
View from the top of the tram on the viewing platforms
Once we came back down to the bottom of the Tram we followed our guide down a very stepp set of steps, where he also needed to manage a few guests splitting off to a separate path down that wasn't as steep and had no steps. He did a very nice job of managing everyone's needs and we then met at the bottom of the hills at the old harbor. It was quite busy with loads of boats coming and going. Our guide pointed our areas of interest both in the harbor as well as in the center of the city. There is a raised wall that you can pay to walk the top of around the city but it was quite hot and humid and we decided not to do that.
Views of the old Harbor with boats coming and going
Views of the old Harbor with boats coming and going
Views of the old Harbor with boats coming and going
Views as we walked the walled part of the town
Views as we walked the walled part of the town
Views as we walked the walled part of the town
Views as we walked the walled part of the town
Views as we walked the walled part of the town - very crowded.
We follwed the guide for a while, and he had provided us a spot and time to meet him for the bus trip back. We eventually split off from the group to walk back down and explore the harbor area. We then made our way to a beautiful open restaurant that had a table for 2 where we could watch the boats coming and going under a roof but was open to the harbor at the front. We had a really nice lunch, and sat and enjoyed the views.
Views of the old harbor
Views of the old harbor
Views of the old harbor
Views of the old harbor
We walked along the harbor to a section where some of the locals were swimming from the rocks.
We walked along the harbor to a section where some of the locals were swimming from the rocks.
Views of the old harbor
Views of the old harbor
After our lovely lunch we headed back to the part of town where the busses were gathering. It was very crowded with HAL and other Cruise line employees and guides trying to gather groups and get them onto appropriate busses. There were also some taxis in the area but it seemed difficult to navigate and we were glad that we had a bus pre-arranged to get back to the ship.
As we were departing the bus we saw a tent of little shops and we walked through. One of the shops was a mom and he two kids selling children's clothing and since we have a grandchild on the way we decided to grab something for him.
Sailor Suit from the shops in port near the ship.
Once back on board we rested in the cabin a bit and then went to dinner in the MDR to our usual table for 2. The night before I had seen a waiter making napkin animals and it was causing a bit of a stir in the dining room so I asked our waiter Budhi and Putra what was happening. They told us it was someone making napkin animals. To our surprise when we arrived to diner this evening they had made and added 2 napkin swans to our table - very cute!
Swans at the table
Swans at the table.
Not to be outdone the cabin stewards had a towel animal for us when we returned from dinner. I'm not exactly sure what it is but I decided that it was a Jackalope. It's probably really meant to be a bunny. Tomorrow is our last stop in Trieste before a trip to Venice to fly home.