Day Thirteen  –  Will Kim (And His Luggage) Make The Dubrovnik Plane, Rooms With A View, Mirror Image, Cruise (Out-Of Control), The Eighth Wonder Of The Modern World and A Peaceful Dubrovnik Night

We awoke to a driving rainstorm and had a delicious, little breakfast in the charming breakfast room of the Pension Nossek.  The hotel had pre-ordered the taxi to meet us, and the driver was up (you have to take a lift to get to the pension lobby) at the reception desk after we finished breakfast and helped us with our luggage.

I talked a lot to the driver on the way to the airport and asked him numerous questions (obviously Mary had rubbed off on me).  Our driver pointed out many monuments on the trip to the airport.    It turned out he was also from Croatia and was very excited about the upcoming European Cup, because Croatia was going to open it against Austria.  Although he had lived in Austria for years, there was no delay when I asked him which team would command his rooting interest.

“Croatia,” he said.  He then proceeded to help me with Croatian pronunciations so I would not embarrass myself more than usual when I spoke to the local Dubrovnik populous upon our arrival.

After checking in, Mary was very nervous knowing Kim had a small window of opportunity in order to make our 10:10 flight.  At 9:35, she started worrying even more.  I bet her a glass of wine Kim would be coming down the escalator within five minutes.  “Kim never loses a bet for me,” I said.
                   
Remember the ease showed by O.J Simpson running through airports in those old Hertz commercials?

Well, Kim’s disheveled and sweaty appearance did not resemble O.J. in any manner as he walked off the escalator (of course, Kim also has never been a double murderer either).

Kim had been directed to the wrong terminal for our flight (probably the same people directing us to the U-Bahn the day before), and he ran as fast as he could (which, unfortunately, is not very fast) to make our flight.

Then, like clockwork, the man at the Croatian Airline gate announced that the flight from Vienna to Dubrovnik would be delayed 30 minutes.  Always the true friend, I said, “See Kim, you didn’t have to run after all.”

We arrived in Dubrovnik at noon and proceeded to grab our luggage.  Well, three of us did.  Kim’s luggage was somewhere in the world between Los Angeles and Dubrovnik.  I told him, “Well, at least you have clean, lost clothes.”  At that point, and I’m not sure of this, Kim gave me “the look.”

Our driver that had been sent by our apartment host, Jadranka Benrussi, gave us lots of information on the area.  When I asked him his favorite restaurant in Dubrovnik, he said with a sly smile, “I don’t really have a favorite.  They are all pretty touristic.  My favorites are out of town.”

He dropped us at the Hilton Hotel parking lot and said he would help us with our bags because we had a little walking left to do.  We walked up some steps, came to a dead end, turned left and walked up more steps.  Tracy and Mary were very happy Peter (our driver) had offered to help.  Over the course of three days, we became very acquainted with these steps.  Tracy counted 99 of them in all.

We went though a small gate on the left, down some stairs and there were our two separate apartments, which also had a nice outdoor courtyard that afforded views out over the neighborhood all the way to the Adriatic.  Needless to say, the four of us consumed a good portion of wine on that patio during our evenings in Dubrovnik.

Kim only had his sweaty traveling clothes, and it was a very warm day.  Tracy then offered Kim a pair of my shorts and a shirt, and when he emerged from his apartment, there I was.  No wait, there he was.  I got to see those clothes on him for the better (well, better might not be the correct word) part of the next two days.

Jadranka’s apartments, located below the family residence, is located a short distance from the Gradska Vrata Pilc (Pile Gate).

As we got closer to the Pile Gate, there were hundreds of people all shuffling along at a snail’s pace in huge herds following the ubiquitous Umbrella People in all directions.  These were the swarms of cruise boat touristas who, as we were to find out, descend upon Dubrovnik every day between about 8 and 4.
            
As we jostled our way through the Pile Gate and down some stairs we decided to head to the harbor for lunch.  To get to the harbor we walked down Dubrobnik’s main drag, the Stradun.

We had only walked for a short time when it looked like Tracy taken a slight misstep.  “I slipped,” she said.  And sure enough, the Stradun is a little slippery because of its limestone coating and made even slicker by the thousands of people who walk on it each and every day.  

The Stradun was fill of tourists at its plethora of shops and restaurants that line the street or are located just off of it.  Restaurant hucksters were hawking their respective places but we walked by, and by the time we had reached the harbor, the massive throngs were, for the moment, blissfully gone.

We stopped in at Buza Bar II, and although it had great views, I was hoping the original Buza Bar would have a little more panache, although it was fun watching people doing death-defying dives into the water below.

After lunching on pizza, pasta and salad, we started walking around Dubrovnik to get our bearings.  It was getting later in the afternoon, so the cruise boat navy numbers were lessening by the minute, and the narrow lanes became much more pleasant for strolling instead of elbowing.

Then it happened!

This might sound a little dramatic, but at a few minutes before four in the afternoon on a gorgeous afternoon, June 5, 2008, my life changed forever.  Tracy, Kim, Mary and I stepped through a little hole in the Dubrovnik Wall, walked down some steps and were thrust into a place that I modestly refer to as the Eighth Wonder of The Modern World.  We had entered the most mystical spot on earth.  Others know it simply as the Buza Bar.

Yes, I’d seen pictures.  Yes, I’d read accounts by people who had visited, but nothing could have prepared me for this wine and beer bar set in the ultimate paradise.

The tables and chairs are set out on little cliffs that command incredible views out over the Adriatic Sea.  There are are very few rails, so if one sits back in their chair the wrong way, well, let’s just say that could be your ultimate final call.   Nearby people were swimming and diving off cliffs into the sea.  The water was a color of blue that was so beautiful not even pictures could do it justice.

Then, in a tale of two watercraft, a wooden boat, looking a pirate ship, passed into view.  In the distance was the giant cruise ship.  What a dichotomy!

I also had risotto, of the shrimp variety, and the best French Fries I had eaten in quite some time.  

Kim had the only weak dish of the evening; a breaded shrimp he said was “cold and a disappointment,” much like many of the dates Kim and I had taken out in our college days (Kim was the first person I met at San Diego State in 1970).

Of course, we needed something to wash down those dishes, and a liter of the house white did the trick.

For the most part, the four of us always split the bill no matter who buys what dishes.  We do not itemize.  We do not say, “Oh, but you had one more appetizer and a coffee while we just had a dessert.”   Obviously, if someone only has a salad, one of the couples will put in a little bit more.  

This method has worked on all of our European trips, and there has never been one squabble about money.  I’ve witnessed groups in Europe have terrible verbal exchanges at tables next me to me, fighting over “their fair share of the bill.”  It is painful to watch.  Life’s too short, and I would have to think that over the duration of our many trips, we have all come out pretty even.  

We laughed at this particular bill, because it seemed no matter what country we were in, what restaurant we were in or what we all ate and drank, the bill always came out to the equivalent of $75 per couple.   Tonight was no different.

Strolling the Stradun, which is much more serene at night, we walked off our dinner (those 99 steps are good exercise) back to the Benrussi apartments.  Tomorrow, we would further explore Dubrovnik, and Kim would hope that he wouldn’t have to spend the rest of the trip in my clothes.  So did I.

Next:  Day Fourteen  –  Delightful Dubrovnik, Where Are Kim’s Clothes, A Monastery By Any Other Name, English Spoken Here, Hitting The Walls, Watch Out For That Cruise Ship, Wine And Cheese With Jadranka and Springtime For You Know Who