Dobar dan and welcome back to “When Wine Calls” this time from fabulous Croatia.
During the 3-hour car ride down from Split we were not far out of Dubrovnik when we received an E Mail from our hotel advising us that due to “unforeseen circumstances” our booking had been cancelled. We immediately thought that our good run with our accommodation choices had come to an end and given it being the height of the summer season in Croatia finding alternative accommodation in Dubrovnik would be next to impossible.
However, when Pauline was able to fully open the E Mail on her mobile the rest of the message outlined that they had transferred our booking to their sister hotel in the city. While we took a collective sigh of relief that we were not at least stranded we weren’t sure what accommodation it was and where it was located.
We mentioned the name of the new hotel “Villa Orsula” to our driver, and he indicated that he thought it was close to the Old Town so we immediately searched for it online and to our surprise found it was a boutique hotel located only a 10 minute walk from the Old Town in a tremendous location on the cliff face with sweeping views overlooking the Adriatic and the Old Town.
We could not believe our good fortune, nor could our driver. We also could not believe the service the staff provided during our stay – everything was 5 star and beyond and we were so reluctant to leave at the end of the stay.
Sincere thank you to Adila and the wonderful team at Villa Orsula for everything you did to make our stay so memorable – we cannot wait to come back to the Villa in the future.
We were enthusiastic to explore the UNESCO listed Old Town of Dubrovnik as the last time we were there was again in the mid 80’s and at that time it was part of Yugoslavia and a war had transpired in the interim.
However, it was mostly as we remembered it way back then and as we wandered through the beautiful laneways so many memories came flooding back,
including when we had jumped up on a small step attached to the side of a building in the main street and touched the wall. The step is in fact a gargoyle head protruding from a stone wall. The head stands some half a meter above the ground, sticking out barely 15 centimetres with its top surface polished like marble and the wall above noticeably greasy from the touch of thousands of tourist hands over many years. Legend has it that if you hop onto its head, take off your shirt while still standing facing the wall, luck in love will follow you. I couldn’t resist jumping up again, so I got Pauline to video me doing somewhat of a repeat as a nostalgic tribute to those wonderful days that now felt like yesterday. Although I didn’t take my shirt off this time I must have previously as I have been very lucky indeed having met Pauline on that trip.
Dinner that night was at a little restaurant tucked away in a laneway away from many of the tourist thoroughfares with seafood on the menu caught each day by the family – we like supporting the locals rather than the larger commercial restaurants where we can when traveling as the food is inevitably fresh at a reasonable price and you get to chat with them and find our their story and some good travel tips as well. What we have also found on this trip is that you need to be careful to pick the right time to have dinner if you do not pre-book a restaurant.
We did not want to determine where we ate at each city or town months in advance (except for restaurants such as Grotta Palazzese In Polignano a Mare which you must in order to get a table at all) as you are not sure what type of food you feel like on the night or where it is located and indeed we have found that others we have met who have done that have cancelled the booking when they get to the town and find out what is on offer. The key though is to find a restaurant prior to around 8pm as after that time everyone comes out in search of a restaurant and queues start forming outside all the restaurants. We have laughed many times about this phenomenon as back home in summer if you turned up at many restaurants at 9pm you will find them shutting up.
On our last night in Dubrovnik, we decided to eat at the Villa and had the most magnificent dinner on the terrace as the sun set over the Old Town and a 3 mastered sailing ship sailed slowly past. It was another surreal moment for us on this trip and one we will always remember.
It was hot and humid in Dubrovnik during our stay and the Old Wall of the city acted as a wind barrier which made it uncomfortable to walk around the city for too long in the middle of the day. We had wanted to walk the “Wall” but with the heat and the crowds we kept putting it off as it would simply take too long and be too exhausting.
Luckily, on our last morning light drizzle was forecast and so we got up early and walked down to one of the entrances to be there as soon as the gates opened. It turned out to be the best decision as we could walk the entire wall with only a few others (and importantly no major tourist groups) and really enjoy viewing the Old Town from a high vantage point, appreciating its magnificent construction and that it is still a living city today, with schools operating (complete with soccer and basketball courts
in the playgrounds), locals living in small flats side by side with the array of rentals rather than simply an historical monument from a bygone era and the entrances still having the draw bridges that protected the city all those years ago and still to this day.
For those of you that have not been to this remarkable city you need to put it on your travel list as it is quite remarkable, even if you must share it these days with hordes of tourists – you just need to pick the times in the day to go exploring.
Our short time in Dubrovnik had come to an end and we needed to move onto the next part of our adventure – a 7-day cruise up the Croatian coast back to Split through the many islands, national parks and small towns that make up this wonderful part of Croatia. A driver picked us up from the Villa and in a short time we were arriving at Gruz Harbour, the main port of Dubrovnik where our ship was waiting for us.
We had booked our cruise through Unforgettable Travel on MV Bellissima, a 53m Signature cruise ship with a maximum of 38 people which we had deliberately selected to enjoy a more intimate cruising experience compared to the larger cruise boats.
Our room was one of 11 cabins on the upper deck with an ensuite and a balcony which was perfect and allowed us to fully unpack our bags for the first time on this trip.
That night we remained in port to allow those passengers who wanted to, to go on a guided tour of the city, but seeing we had already done our city sightseeing we took the option of having happy hour on one of the outer decks with others that remained on board which was later followed by dinner for everyone to meet each other and get up to date with the plan for the week ahead.
The next morning, we woke to the sound of small waves against the boat as we quietly headed out of the harbour and around to the other side of the city to view the Old Town from the water – we quickly got out of bed and from our balcony had an amazing sight as we cruised past providing a tremendous start to our week cruising these fabulous waters.
We look forward in our next post to taking you on our cruise through this magnificent part of Croatia, to places we had only seen on a map and certainly villages not easily accessible – until then “Dovidenja” again from Croatia.
Bruce and Pauline
When Wine Calls 
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