Seeing the sights in Dubrovnik….

We did not spend quite all our time in Dubrovnik eating and going to concerts!

We did visit most of the  noteworthy sights….going at times of day when the least number of persons were there from the cruise ships!

First off….. the Franciscan Monastery just inside the Pile Gate.

This has a fantastic cloister area……..

and the oldest pharmacy in continuous use in Europe, from 1317…..

Locals can still go there even today to fill a prescription……

It did suffer some damage in the Serbian aggression in the early 90s.

Then on to the Dominican Monastery…  and another beautiful, peaceful cloister...

This had a beautiful museum which was very tastefully laid out…definitely worth a visit!  No photos allowed..but I did sneak this one…..

The church was quite stark except for this cross, which is from the 14th century, by Paolo Veneziano, who moved to Dubrovnik to escape the Black Plague in Venice…....

We felt in need of a rest before seeing any other sights so made our way to the Buza bar….. a rather different sight and a little difficult to find!  But well worth at the effort. Locals come to dive in, swim, fish…….

….. the cats also liked it there……presumably hoping that some fish might actually be caught!

Next was the Rector's Palace…. again definitely worth a visit!  No photos allowed within the rooms….which was pointed out to me, after I took 2 photos!  I had not noticed….

However exterior photos were OK…..

…...loved this handrail…..

and this is a reminder to forget private affairs and concentrate on public ones!

Last but not least we walked up to the Lovrijenac Fort.  This we saw every day from our apartment!

The way up had 200+ steps before one reached the actual fort….which had still more numerous steps inside.

From the entrance to the fort we had a fabulous view of the little cove we overlooked…..

But from the top we had fantastic views over all of Dubrovnik…

and also a view to our apartment… to the left of the small church.

The fort itself is very impressive…..

Many years ago I went to a performance of Hamlet in this fort…..fabulous! It is used for performances every summer during the Dubrovnik Summer Festival…. and is also now used in the TV series
 'Game of Thrones".

I actually did make it to the top…..if somewhat hesitantly……...

Music in the air………in Dubrovnik….

We tried to find information on line about music events in Dubrovnik while we would be there….without much success.

However after we arrived we knew we didn't need to worry…..we just needed to choose!

So we first went to a Duo, then a Quartet and then a Symphony!!

The Duo was a Guitar and a Flute in a small courtyard in the Natural History Museum…..
The acoustics were great….as were the musicians….

Next was the Quartet….held in a small church just inside the Pile Gate….

again an excellent performance…….

and then we went to a symphony performance in the Rector's Palace….

again superb…..in a fantastic place….

Of course there was other music available……

….in the main square, with disco type lights….

on the streets……..

and even in a nightclub on the main street just behind our apartment…

….and,yes, we could hear the beat!!  And the working hours were 10pm to 6am!!!