Dubrovnik, Croatia...next to Monte Carlo, one of the nicest cities we've visited this trip, though one with a recent tragic past. It was only about 25 years ago that Serbia bombed the living daylights out of the harbor here and as I'm sure you know, with significant loss of life. Much of the harbor has since been rebuilt which is why it looks so nice. A few of the big hotel & resort chains have invested heavily in the area, and most of the beachfront homes have been rebuilt - but if you venture out over the hillsides and into the average neighborhood, it's a lot like Mexico when you leave the main, commercial roads. Things are coming back here, but they say it'll be several years, and maybe a generation before life as they once knew it returns to 'normal'.
We had one primary mission here, and that was to visit both the castle and the many corners of Old Town where HBO films Game of Thrones. The new TV season is scheduled to begin here in less than a month once tourism lightens. We're not huge fans of the show because of the violence, but it was an interesting experience to visit some of the sets. With that said, and with the exception of a few hanging production lights, it was challenge to envision the the real thing - but they can work wonders back in Hollywood with technology.
We were docked by 7:30 and Cheryl and I were among the first off the ship as we'd not booked a formal tour. The ship will typically put together anywhere from four to eight good shore excursions in each port, but this stop they had seventeen listed - most were north of $200 p/couple. I think we spent less than $75, which included a large pizza and 4 beers for lunch...and still saw everything we wanted to see. The only downside to Dubrovnik, is that it's hilly in most places. Some extremely steep, but for the most part, reasonably accessible. The only thing we booked was a ship-shuttle from the port to the town square - about a 3-mile drive - and available roundtrip several times a day. Since we were not leaving until 10:30pm, we felt it to be a wise investment at $28 total. And just adjacent to the town center or city square, the castle where they film Game of Thrones...at least a few of the initial seasons. The show is filmed in several locations around the world.
Most all of the photos I share today were taken either inside/outside the castle location where the series was/is filmed, or in parts of nearby Old Town where specialty scenes were shot, such as the 'walk of shame'. Once at the base of the castle, we had to ask ourselves how they managed to transport all the filming eqiuipment up - not to mention the actors themselves. It's a hike, folks - we had to stop a few times ourselves to catch our breath, but then again...well...you know the rest of THAT story! It's a beautiful trek, and at the base, are several heavily treed and garden areas where some of the scenes were shot. Once we reached the top and entered the first door, there was a lone ticket office there and the admission price was $12 each. A few things we noticed as we were touring each chamber & every floor: electrical boxes, thick cables, suspended TV lights, and backdrops tucked away in corners for future use. We also stumbled on what appeared to be a small kitchen area with a sink, and several empty coat hangers suspended above it. In one of the castle chambers was a long wooden structure that we suspect was used in several of the bar or 'drinking' scenes. Of course, they'd installed restrooms for the crew and actors to use, and there was no charge for the public to use. There may have been a dozen other folks in the castle with us - that's it. The daily group tours hadn't yet started, but I can tell you, when we checked back about 4 hours later, there were hundreds & hundeds of folks crawling all over the facility. We were very fortunate to have started our day early and made that the first stop.
On the other side of the town square is Old Town. The entire area is surrounded by a fortress with a drawbridge. Hundreds of shops and cafes - sidestreets are very narrow - barely large enough for three people to walk side-by-side - and very steep. The main streets are made of marble and wide enough to play football. Very nicely done, but by the time we reached Old Town, there were several hundred tourists. We bought tickets to walk the upper staircases that circle Old Town - which is a one-way hike completely around, and roughly 2 miles in length. Some amazing views up there of the both the city & sea, but not for the weak or those with breathing issues. I really struggled with some of the stairs - nearly straight up in some places and not evenly constructed.
Once down, we returned to the town square and had our lunch (pizza) along with two ice cold beers. We were back on the ship by 2pm and grabbed short naps. It's 4pm as I write this. Ship dinner's at 5:30, and we're not sure if we're going back out or not. As I mentioned, we don't leave here until 10:30pm because of low tides. We're not really night people by nature and for those of you who know me well, 9:00 is my normal bedtime, sometimes much earlier, but I'm always up by 4am whether at sea or at home. On the other hand, Cheryl's the night owl, but it works well for us..at least for the past 30 years!
Tomorrow...Kotor, Montenegro. And you history buffs will recall that Montenegro was also involved in the wars back in the early 90's, so we're not sure quite what to expect.
We had one primary mission here, and that was to visit both the castle and the many corners of Old Town where HBO films Game of Thrones. The new TV season is scheduled to begin here in less than a month once tourism lightens. We're not huge fans of the show because of the violence, but it was an interesting experience to visit some of the sets. With that said, and with the exception of a few hanging production lights, it was challenge to envision the the real thing - but they can work wonders back in Hollywood with technology.
We were docked by 7:30 and Cheryl and I were among the first off the ship as we'd not booked a formal tour. The ship will typically put together anywhere from four to eight good shore excursions in each port, but this stop they had seventeen listed - most were north of $200 p/couple. I think we spent less than $75, which included a large pizza and 4 beers for lunch...and still saw everything we wanted to see. The only downside to Dubrovnik, is that it's hilly in most places. Some extremely steep, but for the most part, reasonably accessible. The only thing we booked was a ship-shuttle from the port to the town square - about a 3-mile drive - and available roundtrip several times a day. Since we were not leaving until 10:30pm, we felt it to be a wise investment at $28 total. And just adjacent to the town center or city square, the castle where they film Game of Thrones...at least a few of the initial seasons. The show is filmed in several locations around the world.
Most all of the photos I share today were taken either inside/outside the castle location where the series was/is filmed, or in parts of nearby Old Town where specialty scenes were shot, such as the 'walk of shame'. Once at the base of the castle, we had to ask ourselves how they managed to transport all the filming eqiuipment up - not to mention the actors themselves. It's a hike, folks - we had to stop a few times ourselves to catch our breath, but then again...well...you know the rest of THAT story! It's a beautiful trek, and at the base, are several heavily treed and garden areas where some of the scenes were shot. Once we reached the top and entered the first door, there was a lone ticket office there and the admission price was $12 each. A few things we noticed as we were touring each chamber & every floor: electrical boxes, thick cables, suspended TV lights, and backdrops tucked away in corners for future use. We also stumbled on what appeared to be a small kitchen area with a sink, and several empty coat hangers suspended above it. In one of the castle chambers was a long wooden structure that we suspect was used in several of the bar or 'drinking' scenes. Of course, they'd installed restrooms for the crew and actors to use, and there was no charge for the public to use. There may have been a dozen other folks in the castle with us - that's it. The daily group tours hadn't yet started, but I can tell you, when we checked back about 4 hours later, there were hundreds & hundeds of folks crawling all over the facility. We were very fortunate to have started our day early and made that the first stop.
On the other side of the town square is Old Town. The entire area is surrounded by a fortress with a drawbridge. Hundreds of shops and cafes - sidestreets are very narrow - barely large enough for three people to walk side-by-side - and very steep. The main streets are made of marble and wide enough to play football. Very nicely done, but by the time we reached Old Town, there were several hundred tourists. We bought tickets to walk the upper staircases that circle Old Town - which is a one-way hike completely around, and roughly 2 miles in length. Some amazing views up there of the both the city & sea, but not for the weak or those with breathing issues. I really struggled with some of the stairs - nearly straight up in some places and not evenly constructed.
Once down, we returned to the town square and had our lunch (pizza) along with two ice cold beers. We were back on the ship by 2pm and grabbed short naps. It's 4pm as I write this. Ship dinner's at 5:30, and we're not sure if we're going back out or not. As I mentioned, we don't leave here until 10:30pm because of low tides. We're not really night people by nature and for those of you who know me well, 9:00 is my normal bedtime, sometimes much earlier, but I'm always up by 4am whether at sea or at home. On the other hand, Cheryl's the night owl, but it works well for us..at least for the past 30 years!
Tomorrow...Kotor, Montenegro. And you history buffs will recall that Montenegro was also involved in the wars back in the early 90's, so we're not sure quite what to expect.
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