Day Nine - Dubrovnik

Throughout this journey the clocks have been changing regularly, going forward an hour on two occasions and last night going back one, meaning we are now only one hour in front of UK time. We were therefore awake early and standing on the balcony we soon spotted the Dalmatian coast approaching.

Today was another first for the cruise as we were to be tendered ashore and we wondered how well this could be completed. With the ship securely anchored in the bay of Dubrovnik, we made our way to the lounge to pick up our tender ticket. We barely had time to sit down before our number was called and we were on our way to the shore. The most efficient tender operation I have seen.

Again we had not booked any excursions as we wanted to explore the spectacular old town, in particular the one and a quarter mile walk around the city walls.

The walk although steep in places with many steps offers spectacular views over the town, the harbour and the sea beyond.

Leaving the ship early was a good move as it was very quiet on the walls allowing plenty of opportunities for photographs. It later appeared much busier as the coaches of tourists arrived.

Many of the rooftops of the old town have been replaced as a result of the civil war of the early 1990s, but as this is an UNESCO World Heritage site, the restoration has been carried out with great authenticity.

The complete walk took a little over an hour and although the sky had stayed overcast it was warming up. We decided to stop and have a drink. We watched the hundreds of other tourists in their groups, their leaders holding numbers aloft, hurriedly walking down the street to the next important sight.

We looked at several churches and a monastery that had been badly damaged in the recent war, still showing the holes in the wall where missiles had hit.Inside was a museum housing one of the oldest pharmacies in Europe.

We returned to the ship after the customary visits to the souvenir shops and sat on deck watching a film about Amelia Earhart. Ironically as the film reached it’s climax with Amelia’s plane disappearing into the Pacific, a small plane flew over the ship to many cheers from the assembled audience! After tea I persuaded Sylvia to attend the Tate quiz with me and we won two lovely books on Tate Modern and Tate Britain. Incidentally the score was the highest that the Tate people had known for one of their quizzes, perhaps we have turned the corner in our quiz journey!!

Entertainment tonight was very soul and Motown based, with firstly Jimmy James playing at the theatre closely followed by the singers from the ship’s company performing Motown hits. Jimmy James was superb, effortless in his style and he made it look so easy. It was worth waiting for the show after his flight delay. If we had seen the ship’s singers prior to seeing Jimmy James we would have thought that the show was good, but afterwards it paled in comparison. Yes, it was professional, beautifully lit and the costumes were great, but the singing was not quite there. But perhaps I am being too critical, a really enjoyable show never the less. An early night now as Venice tomorrow.