Dubrovnik

Oct 1st, we checked out from Le Meridien , took taxi to airport. Flight was on time, it is only 20 min flight. At 12:40 we arrived Dubrovnik airport and were met by driver who provided transfer to our apartment. In Dubrovnik, we are staying in studio apartment. It turned out to be pretty basic, but it has private bath, kitchen and refrigeration but location cannot be beat. We are just a step from town walls, at the old port. There is restaurant Poklisar in the pier and we are on top of this restaurant (2nd floor). The setup might seem confusing but it is norm in Europe. You walk into restaurant, pass kitchen and find a door (no sign), and go on second floor where few apartments are, one of them is ours. The owner - young man by name Darko met us , gave keys, gave us access to free wi-fi internet, let us a bowl of fruit, explained everything and left. He lives next door. This will do for next 4 days since we are out of budget for expensive hotels for the rest of the trip. The pro's - you cannot be more central then this and when you open windows, the sea is below at Dubrovnik walls. We slept with windowns open and fresh sea air was great. The con's - you fall asleep with restaurant music at night (thankfully nice music) and wake up with 6am bell tower rings.

We had orientation walk through Dubrovnik and had dinner at Nautica restaurant. It was good but not that exceptional for the price they charge!

Dubrovnik is magical. It is called The Pearl of Adriatic and rightly so. Was always free and rich republic until Napoleon. After Napoleon it became under Hapsburgs (Austria) and then was part of Yugoslavia under Tito. In 1991 when Tito died and Serbs started attacking other nations of Yugoslavia, Oct 1st 1991 Dubrovnik was attacked. The siege lasted 9 months and cost 300 lives. Finally Dubrovnik citizens pushed attackers back but there were sporadic attacks afterwards from Serbs. We just arrived at commemoration of this event when Dubrovnik was attacked. There was an exhibit "Defenders of Dubronik" and services in the Cathedral. Afterwards the city was rebuilt and now if you do not know history, you would not think what happened just 15 years ago... If you walk walls you can see how 70% of Dubrovnik was destroyed and most of the roofs are new. Thee is a map of the city which shows the damage it sustained during the war.
Now the the usual tourist the city seems to be back to normal.
But we sensed from local that there is little love between former Yugoslav nations. The tension still exist . Especially few days ago there was Hague Tribunal who did not punish enough Serbian war criminals therefore people are angry again.

The town is very compact and everything in old town , "Star Grad" is within walls. There is main street called Placa or Stradun and it is great for people watching. No cars within old town so you see locals carrying their goods on mechanical carts. Very medieval.

We also got by car to the top of the Dubrovnik hills and saw city from there. It is also a place of memory of Dubrovnik defenders with a large cross which is seen from almost everywhere.
Dubrovnik has sea from one side with islands, and windy roads which lead to the top of the mountain. It used to be a cable car which connected top and old town but it was destroyed at the war and now when city has money to rebuild it, the residents complain that it will bring noise so one needs to take scary road to the top.... The driver brought us there.