Summer Trip Day 9: Dubrovnik

Ninth day of the trip. We enjoyed the night in Dubrovnik yesterday and today we began the sightseeing inside the old town. Almost every cities in Croatia, especially in Dalmatia region, has the old town part. And Dubrovnik is one of them. Typically, the old town was surrounded by city wall, for security purpose in the past. In Dubrovnik, there was one way to go to the old town, through the Pile Gate. It was a narrow road and we passed too fast, so no picture of it. :(

We began the journey on foot starting from the entrance of the city wall.

Statue of St. Blaise, the protector of the city

on top of the city wall gate

Onofrio Water Fountain, a water source

for Dubrovnik people in the past,

it's still working today :)

We continued the walk, entering the Fransiscan monastery,

where the Fransiscans in the past did their work,

mostly in medical area

In front of the Franciscan museum,

inside was displayed some pharmacy equipments

and religious equipments belonged to the Franciscans.

No pictures allowed inside the museum. :(

Actually, there was the oldest apothecary in Europe inside the Franciscan complex. It was still working now. Stupidly, we forgot to take the picture in front of it since we realized it too late and the group has moved on. :'(

Continued the walk to St. Blaise Church,

I guess this is the only church inside the old town. :D

Continued the walk to Rector's Palace,

the former government building in Dubrovnik.

Above was the original column piece from Rector's Palace 

The statue of Michael Prazatto,

one of the governor of Dubrovnik

who did a lot of things for building Dubrovnik 

The city from the window of Rector's Palace

After the Rector's Palace, we had our lunch. We needed to refuel ourselves before starting to climb the city wall. :D The city wall was really encircling the entire town and it could take up to 2 hours if we wanted to walk the whole wall. Because of time constraint, we just walked 1/3 of the city wall. :)

The pier at the other side of the city wall's gate,

where we started the climb to the city wall

Hugo and Rosa on the city wall,

with one of the tower of the city wall in the background

The view of the old town from the city wall,

with Adriatic sea behind

Hugo and Rosa took picture with the beautiful view,

but they were afraid of falling down :S

Descending the city wall, the terrain was not flat

so the city wall was following it

Old town view from the other side of the city wall

Going further down the city wall,

before descending towards the ground

Waived goodbye to the remaining city wall,

we wished to walk the entire circle to see the view

After going back to the ground, we ended the sightseeing inside the town. It was a great experience for us and we got to see the beautiful view of Dubrovnik, nicknamed as 'The Pearl of Adriatic'. We then went back to the hotel and enjoyed the beach. It was a rocky beach and the water was very cold, though the sun was shining brightly. The day was concluded with dinner in the new part of the city and we had our rest time afterwards. :)

Well, Dubrovnik was the last old town that we visited in the trip. So, which old town enchants you the most? :)

Summer Trip Day 8: Split - Trogir - Dubrovnik

Eighth day of the trip. We're almost reaching the end of the trip. We heavy-heartedly left the luxurious hotel in Split to go to Dubrovnik, another city in Croatia famous for the beautiful beach and old town architectures. But, we were going to visit Trogir on the way. Trogir was a small town in Croatia, separated from the main island. It was connected to the mainland by a bridge. Today, we visited Trogir to see its old town beauty, famous by the nickname 'Little Venice'.

Leaving Split,

heading to Trogir

Along the way, we passed a beautiful house

located in the middle of a pond(?)

*well, it looks bigger than a pond but smaller than a lake*

We arrived in Trogir after just 1 hour drive from Split. It was a nice small town, surrounded by the city wall. We entered the city wall and started the city tour.

The house of Chipiko family,

one of the ruling name in Trogir

The view of St. John's Church and the Judicial court,

taken from St. Lawrence's Cathedral

Typical house in Trogir

Judicial court in past era,

with statue of St. John on the left and St. Lawrence on the right

Inside St. Lawrence's Cathedral,

a statue by Nikola Firentinac,

showing 'God'ly figure from the ceiling

The arch in the entrance of the cathedral,

depicting many important events from the Bible,

designed by Radovan

Bid farewell to Trogir

We ended the tour in Trogir after lunchtime. It was time to continue the trip to Dubrovnik. It was a long drive to Dubrovnik, about 4-5 hours from Trogir.

First sign of Dubrovnik,

spotted after almost 2 hours drive from Trogir

Since the drive to Dubrovnik took too long, we made a stop in Neum, a Bosnian city in the middle of Croatia. It was situated on top of the hill where you could see the view of Adriatic sea below.

Adriatic Sea view from Neum

Hugo and Rosa would like to snap a picture

of the beautiful view

From Neum, we continued the trip towards Dubrovnik. It took only 1.5 hours from Neum to Dubrovnik and along the way, we were mesmerized by the wonderful sceneries of Adriatic Sea.

Calm rocky beach,

something hardly seen in Indonesia *and also Singapore*

Houses in the slope of the hill,

with private yachts docking nearby

People stopped by to enjoy the beach

Finally, entering Dubrovnik..

The city from above

Dubrovnik coastline

Old town of Dubrovnik

New town of Dubrovnik

There were not many things to do today. We  had dinner in Dubrovnik and went straight away to the hotel. We did the sightseeing inside Dubrovnik's old town the next day. So, we just ended the day for now. ;D

Summer Trip Day 7: Plitvice National Park - Split

Seventh day of the trip. We're still in Croatia, but today we'll move on to the next city, leaving the beautiful Plitvice National Park behind. Guess where we were heading to today!! Well, today we were going to visit another UNESCO protected site, not because of the natural beauty but because of its architectural uniqueness. That's the city of Split (well, the old part of the city to be exact).

Heading towards Split

As usual, along the way towards the next destination, we saw many beautiful sceneries from the bus. The view was simply magnificent, that we decided to take a quick shot of it. :)

View towards Split,

which is located in coastal area

The drive to Split took around 3-4 hours from Plitvice, so we had to stop halfway for lunch. We had a traditional Croatian food, called Kebab ChiChi. It was grilled beef shaped like rolls and tasted like sausages. If you like the taste of meat, you will like Kebab ChiChi. :) And we had our lunch near the quay, where many yachts were docking. The view was also fantastic.

The quay outside our restaurant for lunch

After lunch time, we continued the drive towards Split. It was a very sunny day in Split when we finally arrived. The itinerary for today was just sightseeing the old town of Split. Just a little historical information. The old town of Split was previously known as Diocletian Palace. It was the palace of the famous Roman emperor, Diocletian. He was famous for killing many Christians at his era (this is a very bad reason to get famous). Diocletian built his palace in Split because he was born in Dalmatia region, in which Split was included. :Well, let's stop talking about history now. Time to show you the real old town of Split. ;)

The picture of the reconstructed Diocletian Palace,

it was located directly along the coastal line

Sign of UNESCO Protected Site

Part of the upper level of Diocletian Palace

A big tree with beautiful purple flowers that blossomed

in the middle of the old town

Diocletian Mausoleum (used to be Diocletian's tomb)

and the newly constructed bell tower

The open air dome in the

middle of the palace

St. Duje Cathedral,

named after the protector of the city

The statue of St. Gregory, the archbishop

who fought to hold service in Croatian

language. It is believed that rubbing the toe

of the statue will bring good luck.

That's practically the end of the sightseeing inside Split. We were then given free time for 1 hour to shop for souvenirs or rest in the nearby coffee shop. We decided to take a walk along the coast to enjoy the sea breeze and look for souvenirs.

One of the hotels in the old town area

Now, it was really time to leave the old town of Split. We moved to the newer part of the town for dinner. And perhaps you wondered where were Hugo and Rosa all these times. During the sightseeing in Split, they stayed inside the bus because we already carried quite a lot of things and the bag was full. So, they were just resting inside the bus while waiting for us. :D But, they joined us for dinner in a chinese restaurant located on top of the building, where we could see the view of the new town.

New town of Split

The day concluded when we arrived in the hotel. This time, the hotel was very nice and looked luxurious. We stayed in Le Meridien Lav and took some pictures in the swimming pool area. :D

Swimming pool by the sea,

sadly no time to swim :(

Hugo and Rosa enjoying the sea breeze at night

"Say cheese!!"

Last shot before going back to the room ;)

Let's have a good night rest and continue the trip tomorrow!! See you in the next post. ^^