Dubrovnik
229 people found this feature helpful
I’ve just returned from a brief trip to
Dubrovnik which I organised myself. Having taken pre-packaged holidays for the last few years, it was an
interesting exercise to assemble the whole thing – flights, hotel rooms, transfers
– and for Carole and I to manage, unshepherded, for the whole week.
It was a complete success, though we could
have done without the sudden thunderstorm that caught us on a small boat
returning from the island of Lokrum. Apart from that half-hour drenching, the weather was mainly fair and the
whole holiday enjoyable.
Come to think of it, 'Now and Then' is most
appropriate, as far as this particular destination is concerned.
'Then' was 1961 or 1962 when I flew to
Dubrovnik from Zagreb in a DC3. When
the airport was a field with a windsock and a couple of wooden huts. When hotels, and visitors, were few and far
between. When the city seemed to have
been taken over by an Italian film crew, making one of those 'swords and
sandals' epics that were all the rage at the time.
The experience is fresh in my memory
because I wrote about it for my recently-published 'Gullible’s Travels'
anthology.
What makes the 'Now' relevant to that early
visit is because, though no Italian film-makers were encountered, we were
reminded at every opportunity that sequences for the 'Game of Thrones'
television series are filmed in Dubrovnik.
I have never seen this show, but from what
people tell me it is a 21st century version of the same 'swords and sandals'
formula whose filming was a source of innocent merriment during that visit well
over half a century ago.
The four-star Grand Hotel Park is located, as are many newish hotels, on the far side of the Lapad peninsula. But it is easy to take the bus (routes 4 or 6) to the terminal a few yards from the city’s Pile gate.
Bought in advance from one of numerous
kiosks, the single fare is 12 kuna (around £1.44). If you pay the driver on boarding, it’s 15
kuna (£1.80).
However, a reduction in cost is not the
main reason for buying in advance, because by doing so you can get a return and
avoid the scrum at the terminal. Unfortunately you can’t avoid the fact that for many people the concept
of queueing is unknown.
Though the good citizens of Dubrovnik are
patience personified, some visitors are extremely anti-social. The Russians, mainly, with the French
running them a close second.
If I were a Dubrovnikan (actually, as the
city was once called Ragusa, I prefer Ragusan), I would get very annoyed at the
mass of aimlessly wandering tourists who fill the Placa – the wide main street
– trying to follow their guides. These
individuals usually hold aloft umbrellas or clipboards or other markers, though
the better organised ones have smart signs, like ping-pong bats with long
handles.
If anything makes me sad about the
Dubrovnik of today, compared with the city I have visited frequently during 55
years of globetrotting, it is those crowds. Blocking the way. Brandishing
their ridiculous 'selfie sticks'. Oblivious to those around them as they listen, via their earpieces, to
their guide’s narration. But the clock
cannot be turned back.
We were unfortunate in that a couple of
large cruise ships had called at Dubrovnik nearly every day of our visit. These maritime behemoths, carrying thousands
of passengers, wreak havoc wherever they call. Along with 'All Inclusive' resorts, they are blots on the contemporary holiday
landscape.
Resorts and superliners alike are designed
to meet the needs of people, for the
most part elderly Americans, who wish to travel abroad but are terrified of
anything 'foreign'. I dread to think
what will happen when the emerging middle classes of China and India follow in
their wake.
The Grand Hotel Park was a good choice,
being convenient to the bus routes I mentioned and also within walking distance
of a long pedestrian precinct lined with bars and restaurants. We had taken the hotel’s bed and breakfast
option, so as to be free to eat lunch in the old town and dinner in any of
those nearby restaurants. It is an
option I thoroughly recommend, though in the 'Taverna' the hotel did offer an
excellent alfresco alternative to its large main restaurant.
It is long established hostelry and, on the
evidence of our rooms, in need of some refurbishment. The staff were unfailingly courteous and
helpful, the breakfast choices almost overwhelming, and we quickly felt at home
– which is, I guess, one of the marks of a good hotel.
Though travelling 'unpackaged' we encountered
some fascinating folk. There was a
waitress at the hotel who spoke four languages and spent six months of every
year working with disadvantaged children in Rwanda.
Another was the fellow guest who told us,
on the Sunday morning, that her daughter was getting married that afternoon.
"Shouldn’t you be at home, then?” I
asked. “No, she’s getting married here
in Dubrovnik” was the reply.
I never discovered why Dubrovnik had been
chosen for the nuptials ('Game of Thrones' perhaps?) but know it went off
wonderfully. The bride’s mother
certainly enjoyed it, the more so because all the work had been taken out of
her hands by professional wedding planners.
On the bus back to the hotel after that
sudden downpour, we met an English couple who had taken their three young
daughters out of school for a year in order to tour Europe in their motor home. Judging by the bearing and behaviour of the
girls, and the self-assured poise of the oldest (around 14 I guess), it had
been an inspired decision.
Though saddened by the crowds, I was
pleased to discover that the city has lost none of its magic. Carole, for whom this was a first visit, was
bowled over, and can’t wait to return.
When we do we shall certainly take another trip to Lokrum – the 'Island
of Lovers' – if only to check on its unexpectedly large rabbit and peacock
population.
And we shan’t hesitate to fly with Monarch,
whose customer service was first class, in the air and on the internet, or to
stay at the Grand Hotel Park, where we felt so much at home.
Though I have reservations about all the
tourists, I’m delighted to report that the Pearl of the Adriatic has lost none
of its lustre.
Silver Travel Advisor recommends Kirker Holidays
229 people found this feature helpful
Read more
What are your thoughts?
To leave a comment, please Sign in