Winter is Coming…
We were met at our apartment by a guide, Tom, for a private Game of Thrones tour. For those familiar with the series, Dubrovnik serves as Kings Landing. Tom, a former university history professor, provided a tour with the perfect balance of actual Dubrovnik history as well as filming secrets from the famous HBO series.
Our 7 am start meant that we were able to beat the crowds (and heat) and explore the old town in peace.
Next up was a hike up to St. Laurence fortress. By this point it was already warming up (and becoming glaringly obvious that we really should have worked out a bit before the trip). But once again, the hike was worth it!
Luckily the weather forecast was wrong and the rain was holding off, so we were able to drive up Mt Srd and get an incredible view of Dubrovnik.
Following that we drove to Trestno gardens, which served as the gardens of kings landings.
While there we noticed the mosquitoes seemed to really like us. Fun!
After returning to the old town we caught a ferry with Tom to lokrum island, which serves as the city of Qarth on Games of Thrones.
The island also has the distinction of housing one of the actual iron thrones used on the set of Game of Thrones. HBO gifted the throne to Croatia after shooting the series.
Once Tom had shown us the major sites on the island he bid us farewell and we sat down for a much deserved break - and drink. We had planned on swimming in the “Dead Sea” lake as it had been a warm day, but after sitting in the shade (and having a cold beverage) we decided a dip wasn’t necessary, but lunch was…so we settled in at another (more friendly) cafe on the island and had a small lunch before leaving the island
We returned to Dubrovnik in time to freshen up and enjoy some more time on our balcony before heading out for our dinner reservations at 8 pm. Normally on vacation (and in real life for that matter) we don’t like to make dinner reservations because we don’t know when we’ll be hungry/ what we’ll be hungry for in advance, but I thought this meal required an exception
Peka, a traditional Croatian dish, literally means “under the lid” or “under the bell” and consists of meats and potatoes cooked under an iron bell for several hours. So to get this dish, you not only have to make reservations, but also preorder your meal.
Since it was out of the old town and up a large hill, we ubered to the restaurant. Our meal was fantastic- our favorite part was the potatoes. Will definitely be dreaming about those for awhile!
After dinner we were pretty tired, so we went back to the room (with a stop for gelato on the way) and called it (another) early night.