After Hivefest in Split, I went to Dubrovnik for a few days. On my last day I decided to venture outside of the Old Town to get away from the crowd. There was a cable car ride up the mountains with scenic views of the Old Town that sounded really nice. I checked the price, it was €27 for a return ride, that's €54 for the two of us 😵💫
Then I found a scenic walk from the Old Town to a village called Bosanka near the cable car station at the top of the mountain. It was a 45 minute walk, and there was a really nice restaurant nearby for lunch. I'd much rather do a lot of exercise and spend the €54 on a good lunch. Off we went!
The ascend from the Old Town to Bosanka was around 300m, which meant a lot of steps. The first couple of sections were through the residential area, cutting upwards across the two main roads. It was a steep climb on the stairs straight up, like stairways to heaven 🪽 It was quite hard work and I forgot to take any photos of it. After the most strenuous part, it got much better, I even got to add a Worldmappin sticker en route!
Lunch
I arrived at Bosanka around noon time. That's my destination for the scenic lookouts but that has to wait till after lunch because I was quite exhausted after climbing for well over an hour. I had booked lunch at a traditional Croatian restaurant called Konoba Dubrava. I found out after the trip this restaurant is quite well known and appeared in quite a few travel videos.
The restaurant is a bit out in the sticks. If you're driving, it's only 10 minutes away from the Old Town, and the latter part of the drive is along a small single lane on the side of the mountain overlooking the sea. This is the road outside the restaurant. There's a bus from the Old Town but it doesn't run very frequent. Or if you catch the cable car up, you can walk from the station. It's about 25 minutes with views like this most of the way on flat land. Or, you can walk up the mountain like we did.
This is a beautiful restaurant with lots of open space, and a massive fig tree outside with loads of ready-to-eat figs. We got a much needed welcome drink when we sat down. It was a home made cherry liqueur, which apparently is a famous local drink. It was quite sweet and intense, but nothing that would knock me out as it was just a small shot.
The restaurant does a popular dish called Peka. You have to pre order it as it takes 3 hours to cook. According the the restaurant website "Dalmatian Peka is the oldest way of food preparation in the Adriatic, especially on the countryside. It consists of a blend of vegetables and meat or octopus made in a pot or tray, and put into the embers of a fireplace until baked to perfection.". I made sure I ordered peka when I made my reservation but other diners weren't so lucky. A few tables were so disappointed when they found out they couldn't order straight from the menu.
I asked the waitress if I can see how they make the peka, she was really nice and took me into the kitchen. There were a few big pans with all the meat inside. They sat on top of the real wood fire stove, covered with a bell. Hot burning coal was spread on top of the bell cooking the meat all round. The guy in the kitchen lifted the bell to show me the meat inside and the waitress told me my meal was in there, and it would be ready in 15 minutes time. It was so tender and soft and the potatoes were the best I've ever had. If you ever have a chance to come here, make sure you remember to pre order the peka, you won't be disappointed.
Scenic outlooks
After lunch we were ready for more exercise to burn off the meal. We walked through a little village called Bosanka. It was very peaceful here, with just a handful of houses. Then I came across a sign and was horrified to learn about its terrible past.
I am unfamiliar with the details of this part of history, but I cannot imagine what it would be like to have your home and village wiped out by an invasion. Sadly this is still happening in this day and age around the world.
There were what looked like remains of a walled entrance after I walked past the village. One side was still nice and complete, whereas the other was partly broken. I don't know if the damage was from the invasion three decades ago or just normal wear and tear. I couldn't find any information about it.
We continued walking towards the viewpoint. There was an unusual looking structure that was also partly damaged. I've never seen anything like it and was wondering its purpose. I had considered walking over to check it out, but there were too many goats there... If anybody knows what the structure is, please let me know, I'm intrigued.
The viewpoint is only a little further away. In fact, you can get a magnificent view all along the road here. This island is called Lokrum and is a short 10 minute boat ride from Dubrovnik old town. You can also see the island in my other photo with the WorldMapPin sticker and you'll get an idea of how high I've ascended.
And finally, this is the view of Dubrovnik's old town that I've come to see. It's really quite breathtaking and a sense of achievement since I walked all the way up instead of catching any public transport. This is as far out as I dared to stand, there's no railings or anything, and I was feeling a bit jelly legs already!
I got a better view of the old town by zooming in on my phone, and could clearly see The Wall and the Fort Lovrijenac, both which I had been the previous days. They will be for another post. Stay tuned!
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Wise decision to invest your money in food and not in a mobile box hahahaha. Walking is always the best option xD especially if, after climbing the starways to heaven, everything turns out better, as much as leaving your sticker with the pin! ( Yeah, you can really appreciate the difference in height between the two photos of the island!)
Oh oh now I feel like I have to go back to Croatia soon to try that Peka there! I love that you got to see how they prepared it, it's wonderful to learn that part of the culture hahaha a lot of people call me crazy when I do that, so I'm glad I'm not that weird after all.
The last photo, it's beautiful, I really liked the depth of field.
Learning about the culture and history of a place is the best thing about travelling. I feel it's nice to see amazing buildings and structures but if you knew more about its background and story, it really enhances your experience
Ahahahaha I didn't had lunch there, but besides that did the exact thing you did when I was there: looked at the cable price and said "Hellll no!". And found out you could walk there too. The views alone while climbing definitely make the trip worth it!
What a coincidence! Great minds think alike ☺️
Indeed they do! :)))
I'm glad I did the walk, it made a nice change from staying in the old town all the time, and I got to learn some history.
When I saw the post's title and Dubrovnik's location, I somehow knew what I would see in this post. Dubrovnik is at the top of my bucket list. I am a huge Game of Thrones Fan and that's why I want to see this location in person especially the wall and Lovrijenac Fortress. Did you manage time to go to Lovrijenac Fortress or St. Dominika Street? Amazing Viewpoint...
Yes, I managed to get to those famous landmarks. The Livrijenac Fort was very nice, we got there first thing in the morning before most of the tourists arrived and it was very nice. And the wall is definitely worth going. It was in two minds at first but I'm glad I did it. If you're a big GOT fan, I hope you can make it there one day
Wow, I will be waiting to read about those places you visited. Yes, I definitely feel sad that I couldn't make it to HF but sooner or later I am gonna have a trip to Dubrovnik. Early morning trips are always nice, you can avoid a large number of tourists...Thanks LUT
Such a scenic and beautiful trail to walk in the old village. It is reminding me of my tour to Taxila, Pakistan. There were many broken and damaged walls like that...I assume it was a doorway or something. Who knows.... I am bad at guessing.
This is obviously first time that I am reading about this unique and old dish peka ! Great.
If cable car is that much expensive then it's good to spend money on food 😂.I also do that a lot.
A big part of travelling is discovering local dishes, killing two birds with one stone!
Dubrovnik is such a popular place in Croatia. I especially love the view of the coastal town from the higher part of the hill. I heard this is kind of a busy place, but it looks so peaceful and relaxing from above.
!LADY
The Old Town was very busy, loads of tourists and it wasn't even the peak season, I can imagine how crowded it would be in the summer. Getting away further up the viewpoint was very nice
Way better choosing to walk and experience the sights plus that special meal, food cooked over a wood fire stove is a rare treat, gives the food so much flavour!
Awfully sad about the invasion, it's unreal that people behave so barbaric, even in this day and age!
What a breathtaking view of the old city, you must have done quite a bit of climbing!
Luckily the path was very well maintained so it was a nice climb despite being a little steep times. Overall it was a very enjoyable walk with lots to see and do, and eat not course 😄
i remember my first trip in a cable car it was so memorable though i'am with my boss and her family at that time but they didn't made me feel like others they treated me as a friend a member of their family
That's very nice of your boss, good bosses are often hard to find
wow I didn't even know there was a cable car there😄 apparently the walls of the old city of Dubrovnik occupied my attention too much. but I was surprised by such an unexpectedly spontaneous story about the fact that you chose to walk instead of climbing the cable car, (I wouldn't do that🤣) but I hope that the reward as an unsurpassed Peka at the Konoba Dubrava restaurant was worth the effort 😃And these goats look so cute ( in fact I would run away cause I'm really scary of such animals), and the view of the city is truly breathtaking😍
The restaurant was a nice unexpected find when I was seeing what was around Bosanka. When I saw it, it was a no brainer to walk up there. That and the views was a big bonus
Ah, understand
That's amazing! I always opt for a walk not matter how long it is rather than having a cable car. It just feels like not enjoying the full experience anymore!
That's very true, unless it's so steep that it's not walkable. I've been to some places where the ascent is so high up the mountain where cable car is the only option
The old town of Dubrovnik surprised me, it was very densely populated and of course with the best view by the beach.
The most beautiful when you take pictures up there at the vantage point.
It's great that you were able to explore on foot, I've never traveled as far as you did without public transportation in my life.
Distance wise it wasn't very far, it was the ascent that took a little while but the views were worth it
The scenery is amazing, and you did well, my friend.
I felt like I was climbing the mountain with you when I saw the photos you captured.
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Ah yes, Dubrovnik is amazing for sure.
I only spent a few days here, mainly at the Old Town, it was a nice experience
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Lots of histories are being hidden even worst. Anyways am more interested in that food it looks yummy
The meal was definitely the best I had on the whole trip.
It definitely looks like so
nice end to the fest, good to see you contributing to the local sticker art world!!!
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