Dubrovnik, Croatia, Day 4

Day 4, May 15, 2014

I slept in until quarter after 10 - I never do that!  20% chance of rain today and 80% tomorrow with a high of 14c today.  We had a late breakfast of soft boiled eggs on crusty bread snagged at one of our meals and the rest of our borek.   It was 11:30 so we finished off the beer I started the night before. We were up for a long walk and decided to explore Dubrovnik outside the walls.   

A  Small Chapel

A private courtyard

Great planter

Vertical flower wall

Manicured rosemary bushes

A gazillion stairs are everywhere

We went looking for the Dubrovnik Port where the cruise ships dock and although we weren’t exactly sure where it was, we had a rough idea. Along the way we ran into a wonderful promenade along the water’s edge.   

Too cold to be swimming

On the way home, we finally spotted the Port which was by the bridge to Split.   

We love walking.  It is a great way to appreciate the greenery and architecture and it is the perfect pace to take in everything around you. We ended up taking a slightly different way home and ended on the mountain side of Old Town.

Fort Imperial where the cable cars go

Working our way back down to the old city

More stairs to get home

After this four hour walk, we headed home for some cold ones and snacks before we headed out for dinner.

Tonight we decided to find the restaurant we spotted when we were walking the Walls. 

 It was a rooftop terrace with a beautiful green canopy. It looked so inviting we had taken a picture of it on our walk.

The Aquarius, pic taken from the wall

 We found our way back first try, which is no easy feat in this maze of tiny streets, alley ways and stairs!  I say we, but it is really me. Jill has a poor sense of direction (she’ll tell you exactly the same thing).  Good thing she has me with my secret weapon, an internal GPS. The restaurant was named Aquarius. A beautiful spot, but unfortunately it was not a good experience. Jill ordered cevapcici again, a possible addiction, and I ordered the traditional black risotto - the second tick off my must have dishes. I have had this before at Joso’s, a Croatian restaurant in Toronto and was craving its black inky cuttlefish flavour.  Unfortunately, what I got was not at all black but brown with bits of mussel, squid, octopus and no cuttlefish. It was mushy and the rice was overcooked. Jill got half the portion of cevapcici she had the night before for the same price, with unseasoned boiled cabbage garnished with mounds of raw garlic. A bite she wishes she never took.  The cabbage was not drained so the french fries were swimming in cabbage water.  We did get a 20% discount after complaining, but would much preferred to have a memorable meal. I never thought the place where black risotto originated could screw it up so badly.  A free shot of whiskey was offered and declined. And to add insult to injury, when we first arrived they neglected to tell me that their credit card machine was on the fritz and the only payment option was cash (which I didn’t have), so off to the bank machine and back. This is when I got the discount.  I kept my cool and was overly polite, but I made them understand how badly they performed.  We stopped for an ice cream to help neutralize the garlic taste in Jill’s mouth.  It worked.