A visit to the old town of Dubrovnik was a certainty for our time along the southern Dalmatian Coast - it was just a matter of when to do it and where to safely moor the boat to allow some care-free site-seeing for the crew. Once we discovered Šipan and its direct ferry service, the decision was easy.
Now, the Sangaris & Deep Blue crews take their sight seeing seriously, so, arising at first light, we dinghied dockside by 6:30 a.m., tied the dinks amongst the local fishing boats, caught our fast ferry and arrived in Dub-town at 8 a.m., well before any tourists arrived from nearby hotels or the four cruise ships anchored off.
A short hop on a local bus took us to the "Pile Gate" on the north end of the old walled city and we crossed the bridge over the moat that dates from 1471; it's now filled with fruit trees, not water.
Just inside the gate was Donofrio's "large fountain", a most unusual domed design where, back in the middle ages, to guard against the plague, visitors had to wash themselves. We were happy just to take water bottle refills from the splashing spigots and cool our wrists as the day was already promising to be a scorcher.
A short stroll along the main street or "stradum", with its shiny limestone buffed surface, took us to a sidewalk café to fuel up so we could 'walk the city walls'. This well-trodden walkway follows the full circuit of battlements totally enclosing the city and provided an ideal vantage point for us to enjoy Dubrovnik's medieval and Baroque facades. The fantastic views showed a surprising predominance of bright new orange tile roofs contrasting with weathered old roofs that you can clearly see in the pictures in the montage - the result of the extensive shelling the town took in the conflagration of 1991-92.
But the restoration is essentially complete and the historic character of the city is well maintained, with identical door frames and green shuttered windows on the houses, names of tourist shops, restaurants and boutiques discreetly inscribed on lanterns hanging above each doorway - no flashy signs, please. And, of course, the historic highlights were grand from the Cathedral, the Sponza and Rector's Palaces, a Franciscan Monastery and the ancient pharmacy.
We had it mostly to ourselves for the first hour or so, but then both the heat and crowds arrived with gusto. We found a cool respite off the beaten track high atop the city in a vine covered shady restaurant called "Lady PiPi" that an American ex-pat we met in town had recommended. (Center, left picture in the montage above) Then, heading back for our return ferry we capped off a grand day of sightseeing with the requisite ice cream cones and "a paddle" (a bit of wading) to cool our hot feet.
But not to draw the curtain too quickly, back in Šipan, there was still time for a cooling evening swim off the boats and then a sunset dinner at a waterfront "Restauran" - all-in-all a super day.