Here we are, sitting at the wall of Dubrovnik. We are in awe, words don’t come easily to me but now I really do not have the right English vocabulary to describe what we see. But I will try. We are at the highest point of the wall surrounding Grad Dubrovnik. Grad means old, it’s the old town that is surrounded by a wall. The city is built by refugees, their homes – 15 km away – was destroyed and they sought refuge here. Then just a small town, but refugees learn. Thus they built a wall, a wall to protect the city and now to host hundreds, thousands of tourists. After Game of Thrones, a wave of tourism arrived and in 2016 it was the first time that Dubrovnik counted 1 million visitors a year.
But, not now. Covid-19 has locked the world, freedom has a different meaning now and travelling isn’t advertised.
Anyway, I was going to describe what we see. Well, terracotta rooftops that’s for sure. High roofs, low roofs but they are all in this beautiful terracotta colour. The church bells tower over the roofs and a few trees give some ambiance to the scenery. It breaths old, everywhere you look it feels like you are looking right into history. From the highest tower we can see two small islands and the castle on the rock. No wonder this place is a well known spot to film a movie. It’s incredible, marvellous and so so picturesque. We are lucky as we do not have to fight our way over the wall for a nice view point.
Far away in the water I see a fishing boat. The city must look marvellous and maybe a bit frightening from the sea. I imagine merchants arriving here ready to roam the Dubrovnik streets and sell their goods. And sailors coming here in awe of the majestic wall. But also intruders not sure how on earth they would get through these thick walls.
The cities streets are now relatively quiet except for cats and pigeons. But it must have been so busy hundred years back. Merchants everywhere, people selling their goods, walking the streets. It was probably dirty as well, smelly as there is almost no green where animals can do their business. It has a sewage system though, a pretty good one as well. They say the sewage system back then is still in use today.
I now sit at the wall and hear some people, builders and traffic far away. There must’ve been so much more noise back then. And have the people of Dubrovnik been on this wall to see their own city? Probably the guards of the city walls didn’t let them. It must have been a dream for many to once stand upon this wall and look at their own city from above. Breath the fresh air, hear the bustling noise and the bells of the church ringing. Watching the sea and the island from so high. They never got to see it like we can today, so we take another breath, another photo and have another good look at this marvellous city.
I wish for everyone, locals and tourists alike, to see the city like we do. Rather quiet but still alive ♥️
I’m sure my words don’t do the city justice, I’m not a writer, not a poet nor a good blogger. But where words fail, photos take over and I’m alright at taking photos so let us just look and imagine the sound 😘
Love Milene & Yuri
