Last Day! Dubrovnik, 26th August 2015

Well here it is, the last day of my trip - I'm not counting tomorrow as that will be all travel, from Dubrovnik to Split, Split to Bristol then Bristol to Hereford.

We got up early to walk the walls before it got too hot, although at 08:30 it was still scorching. The walls are 2k around and, as with the rest of Dubrovnik, involve a lot of steps. I've heard quite a few people complain, 'not more steps', but I'm using it as good justification for otherwise being pretty sedentary these last few days. 

The views from the walls were, as you might expect, spectacular. Across the pinky-red rooves of the town within, and out to sea. The walls are higher and thicker on the landward side, the original architects suspecting threats to be more likely across the land. 

Yesterday, at the war photography exhibition, we found that the walls were still capable of doing their job, protecting the citizens within, even with more modern weapons than those around when the city was built. During the war in the nineties, Dubrovnik was under siege for for a year and the people trapped within were without running water for 138 days, but the city didn't fall. Thankfully, the attacking JNA, Jugoslavia National Army, were more interested in occupying the city than destroying it.

Many of the scenes in Game of Thrones were filmed here and at nearby Fort Lawrence, and you can see how well the city played its role as Kings Landing, the towering, imposing walls, glowing almost white in the sunlight. But for us, it was a great way to really see the city, adding another dimension to what you get from wandering the streets below.

Fort Lawrence.

Our place is down the shadowy street at the foot of the picture.

Dubrovnik is known as the Pearl of the Adriatic and it really is something special, but I'm almost immune to gorgeous places now, having seen so many on this trip. It has become completely normal to enjoy such history and beauty, I feel totally spoilt.

In the afternoon I went to the beach club. After all the travelling and sightseeing of the last month, it was nice to simply laze away the final few hours of my trip in the sun, with music drifting across the beach and the sound of the sea gently brushing the shore. 

Erik came to join me later on and we stayed until the sun had set behind the city, the sky airbrushed to a pale pink on the horizon. We had one last dip in the warm, clear Adriatic and then headed back to town for a sun-downer and dinner, a fitting end to a fabulous trip.