Dubrovnik: An Itinerary by a Local

When to Visit

Even bigger children know the difference between the off and seasonal months: if into the sun and sea, your slot is happening sometime in July and August. The period coincides with the Summer Festival so you are bound to find most action taking place then. June and September are also popular – less crowds but still hot enough. September is the month of the newest Dubrovnik classical event: the Julian Rachlin Festival. Starting next year, May will feature the Shakespeare festival, in English or translated to boot.

However, what children do not know is that they will be old as well and change their habits. The elderly dislike weather that is too hot and may opt for spring or winter indeed, which is mild in Dubrovnik. Equally thrilling are the bouts of dazzling sun, stark showers and the unforgiving bura wind. If into peace and quiet, winter’s your high season in Dubrovnik, especially if you couple it with great spa and wellness amenities.

What to See

This itinerary revolves around an eclectic axis: beside the most popular sights it also includes some stops along the off-the-beaten track routes. It combines action and a sort of Robinsonian moments we all crave for when on holiday. True tourist experience does require some time and effort though – one cannot appreciate stuff if you are in-between departing planes.

If asked to rank the attractions of Dubrovnik, I would probably proceed in the following direction: sun&sea, physical monuments, a sense of history, cuisine. Recommended reading comes in the form of Robin Harris’ Dubrovnik: A History. Not a complicated nor lengthy read, it truly brings to life the stones you set your eyes upon.

What to Eat

Even though you can find international cuisine in Dubrovnik, the acquired tourist taste is to go for something local. If this is your case, the first option is definitely fish and seafood, peppered with olive oil and dark red wine. The prices may be ludicrously high, so check first. Dingač, the local red wine, may be expensive, but at least there is a reason behind this.

What to Avoid

Coming back to food once again, refrain from the Babylon of pizza cuts places, hamburger joints and pasta for 50 kuna. Fast food may be an option if in a hurry and starving but there must be a minimum benchmark for any tourist site. Another issue is the souvenirs. Most of the shops import glaring, kitschy reminders from China and are not worth a visit. If you want to try something authentic, go for the artisans’ street of Dubrovnik – Ulica od puča. This is where you can still find remnants of medieval shop-keepers and find, for example, great jewellery. Perhaps coral. Make sure it’s real.

Day 1: Old Town

A must in any Dubrovnik itinerary is the Rector’s Palace, the once seat of power in Ragusa, the Sveti Vlaho Church (St Blaise, the town patron saint) and the cloister of the Franciscan Monastery and its still-operating pharmacy. City walls are a great experience but beware of strain and sun and heat. Next, take a boat to the nearby island of Lokrum. It boasts some great rocks and a villa of Maximilian Habsburg. It also contains a botanical garden. Spend the evening at Buža (the Hole), named so after a few literal holes-openings were cut in city walls after Napoleon. This is a quaint cafe right by the walls and next to the sea. Mostly a romantic setting, it also features an occasional concert. The service may be substandard, especially taking prices into account, but it’s worth it.

Day 2: Islands

Don’t take one of the 3 islands packaged tours. Act local, head for the Gruž Port and get a ticket to a Jadrolinija boat. There is usually a morning departure and an afternoon return. The busiest island by far is Lopud and there is a reason for this: a superb sand beach. It tends to be crowded though and the addition of music can be a pain for the ears. Koločep (locally called Kalamota) and Šipan may prove to be alternatives in this case. Smaller and quieter. Mljet requires at least two days but has the wonderful option of renting small convertible VWs and exploring the somewhat bigger coast by yourself. Mljet includes a lake national park too. Lastovo, a part of the Republic of Ragusa, can be visited but from Split these days. This is as remote as it gets, in all possible sense, not taking lighthouse accommodation into account. There are even two such venues: Grebeni and Sveti Andrija.

Day 3: Hinterland

To see what life here was about, one must visit the villages and the summerhouses of nobles. By far the prettiest and among the best preserved summer villas is found next to the boat marina in Komolac. The majestic staircase leading to the sea will not be a disappointment. The village of Gromača (northern hinterland, Primorje) and those in Konavle, to the south, have really well developed rural tourism infrastructure. Konavoski dvori, a restaurant, is located next to a cold brook, so the result is a cool-off during your meal. You get to pick the fish from the pond. Next to be mentioned, Trsteno. This is an arboretum – a place where local naval men brought plants to from all over the globe. If motorised, Ston is an option. The border of the Republic, it contains newly reconstructed walls across the mountain. A few steps from there is the peninsula of Pelješac, with some of the greatest wine in the country.

Day 4: Culture

Theatre in your case is not doable on account of linguistic issues. However, concerts can prove to be real treats and opportunities to see some of the greatest local architecture in a different light. You are expected to be somewhat dressed up. By far the greatest event of the Festival is its opening, when the Hymn to Liberty is publicly performed and the ancient flag hoisted. This is a huge event so expect thousands to be there as well. Another sight worth exploring during the day is the Rupe Museum. This is the old town granary, cut in rock. It also contains other exhibits. Perhaps you’d care to take the cable car to Mt Srđ. It offers great vistas and is a joyride. If in a tipsy mood in the evening, the safest option is the East-West Club at Banje beach, with its usual mixture of easy-going foreigners.

Make sure you mail your postcards – forget email and phone for a few days.

Unhooked

My addiction to the new medium is too much; and if you have stumbled upon this page - so is yours.
I shall probably add a post or two as I need to "hyper-ventilate" but having squandered the past month is enough.
I am currently busy studying a course called Stanislavski-Brecht-Artaud. 17 titles to go.

Alan Ford: the comic

This is what my teenage years looked like: before I started reading proper, at 18, I spent endless hours perusing the Italian comic. Insightful commentary on society, funny too, it practically raised a generation in Yugoslavia. Moreover, translation matters were not taken lightly: what we call strip was done by the faculty of the Zagreb Faculty of Philosophy Italian Dept.
Here are my favourite examples of great drawing ("It's best to inject myself a little drugs to calm down excitement") and script ("the sweeper who decides to rob poor wretches and give to the rich, who are clean and tidy"):

Ballad of Immoral Earnings

MAC: There was a time, now very far away 
When we set up together, I and she. 
I’d got the brain, and she supplied the breast. 
I saw her right, and she looked after me – 
A way of life then, if not quite the best. 
And when a client came I’d slide out of our bed 
And treat him nice, and go and have a drink instead 
And when he paid up I’d address him: Sir 
Come any night you feel you fancy her. 
That time’s long past, but what would I not give 
To see that whorehouse where we used to live? 
JENNY: That was the time, now very far away 
He was so sweet and bashed me where it hurt. 
And when the cash ran out the feathers really flew 
He’d up and say: I’m going to pawn your skirt. 
A skirt is nicer, but no skirt will do. 
Just like his cheek, he had me fairly stewing 
I’d ask him straight to say what he thought he was doing 
Then he’d lash out and knock me headlong down the stairs. 
I had the bruises off and on for years. 
That time’s long past, but what would I not give 
To see that whorehouse where we used to live? 

BOTH: That was the time, now very far away 
MAC: Not that the bloody times seem to have looked up. 
JENNY: When afternoons were all I had for you. 
MAC: I told you she was generally booked up. 
(The night’s more normal, but daytime will do.) 
JENNY: Once I was pregnant, so the doctor said. 
MAC: So we reversed positions on the bed. 
JENNY: He though his weight would make it premature. 
MAC: But in the end we flushed it down the sewer. 
BOTH: That could not last, but what would I not give 
To see that whorehouse where we used to live? 

Barbara Song

POLLY:
 I once used to think, in my innocent youth 
(And I once was as innocent as you) 
That someone someday might come my way 
And then how should I know what’s best to do? 
And if he’d got money 
And seemed a nice chap 
And his workday shirts were white as snow 
And if he knew how to treat a girl with due respect 
I’d have to tell him: No. 
That’s where you must keep your head screwed on 
And insist on going slow. 
Sure, the moon will shine throughout the night 
Sure, the boat is on the river, tied up tight. 
That’s as far as things can go. 
Oh, you can’t lie back, you must stay cold at heart 
Oh you must not let your feelings show.
Oh, whenever you feel it might start 
Ah, then your only answer’s: No. 


The first one that came was man of Kent 
And all that a man ought to be. 
The second one owned three ships down at Wapping 
And the third was crazy about me, 
And as they’d got money 
And all seemed nice chaps 
And their workday shirts were white as snow 
And as they knew how to treat a girl with due respect 
Each time I told them: No. 
That’s where I still kept my head screwed on 
And I chose to take it slow. 
Sure, the moon could shine throughout the night 
Sure, the boat was on the river, tied up tight 
That’s as far as things could go. 
Oh, you can’t lie back, you must stay cold at heart 
Oh, you must not let your feelings show. 
Oh, whenever you feel it might start 
Ah, then your only answer’s: No.


But then one day, and that day was blue 
Came someone who didn’t ask at all 
And he went and hung his hat on the nail in my little attic 
And what happened I can’t quite recall. 
And as he’d got no money 
And was not a nice chap 
And his Sunday shirts, even, were not like snow 
And as he’d no idea of treating a girl with due respect 
I could not tell him: No. 
That’s the time my head was not screwed on 
And to hell with going slow. 
Oh, the moon was shining clear and bright 
Oh, the boat kept drifting downstream all that night 
That was how it simply had to go. 
Yes, you must lie back, you can’t stay cold at heart 
In the end you have to let your feelings show 
Oh, the moment you know it must start 
Ah, then’s no time for saying: No.

Šaban

"nowhere do i have noone
no country neither next kin
no friend no i don't have none
oh damned is my destiny

i wander the world alone
searching for love every day
i haven't mother no father
nowhere do i have noone
my life is a sad dream plight
i have no darkness no light
i have no peace i have none
oh damned Gypsy destiny"

The Passions

I have gone through a war. I sympathise with all who have suffered. But - celebrations? Indeed I repeat myself, a word for refinement and gravity. We still have a world to construct.

Sloth

Still watching. This time it's the Agora and Holding Trevor.

However, the world is ahead of me. Assange inspired the wet dreams of every conspiracy theory crackpot with his interview to RT ("There's a whole hidden world out there.."), and Obama the comedian performed. I wonder if his daughters still think their old man is a cool fellow.

However, what's truly interesting is the tenacity of the American Dream. With all the inadequacies, it still holds the central attention of human dribble. This must be just about the only thing we can blame on the young. As I once read: all the history lessons, all the squalor - yet they think it'll be different for them.

Movie Week Wrapped Up

Impossible to know every damn thing, I follow my own pace: I remember how I was amazed at seeing a pre-quake documentary on Haiti, that had been but a snippet of a news item in the local press, even with the US intervention (I hope I got some of it right; it's still a blur).
Now, having seen the Endgame, the apratheid mess in South Africa is shed some brighter light on, but the movie has greater aspirations: the final scenes declare the negotiations to be almost a blueprint for salvaging the world from its most bloody conflicts.
I was more interested in all the petty behind-the-scene levereging. According to this, the world is truly, and deeply, paranoid. Which is further evidenced by the German film on German raised terrorism in 1970s aired in my place the night before. Imagine the absurdity - the peace talks inefficacy reverberates through the mass gone violent, which in turn ruins the perfection of peace talks.
And who says the world is out of joint? What's great is that literally all groups and institutions have own villains - one perfect mess. While the small turn rotten as soon as they sense some greatness. Being a serious politician is an underpaid and undervalued profession, I tell you. But they soon go numb as any.
Perhaps the local reader has witnessed all of it during the Dayton conference. If Hollywood ever opts for shooting a tragedy, I can lend advice on the chorus of Croatian idiots. This I know by heart by now.

Lokrum

Well, it's picnic day. Yes, it's getting away from it some.
Should you find me, I recommend a piece of lyrics from Imbruglia's Torn - God, that must have been some ten years back:

You're a little late
I'm already torn


So, no need for text or words today. Let nature (and the love shrills of peacocks) soothe.

Sign of the Times

I've always wanted to translate this poem by Krleza. Unfortunately, his rendering of the plight of poor peasants is in a Croatian dialect I do not fully understand. The bit is, however, telling:


It has never been that bad
That we haven't some luck had
So it will not always be
That through we won't somehow see
..

Quote of the Month

People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest.
Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)

The Serbian Film

Yes, I'm procrastinating - and watching films.
Did you know there's a whole genre called gore? Must say I was initially worried a bit - there's this film festival gone heavily commercial in Dubrovnik, and, a few years back, the arty screenings being half empty, the Hostel attracted a crowd. But it seems ever since the Chainsaw Massacre, there's a steady following, though I do not expect them to shake up the foundations of the civilisation.
I looked for critiques of the Serbian film and found a fitting one. The title is: "Can Baby Sacrifice be a Critique of Society?" Some emotions are generated though, I'll grant that, but a word for refinement here.
However, this is the second film from Serbia to deal with the horrible killings and rape on camera filmed for the enjoyment of supposed wealthy perverts. Makes you wonder whether there's something to that.

Incredible: Bauman, Eagleton, Negri, Spivak and Zizek in Zagreb!

Conference programme:

East-West. Welcome.

The fool thinks Americans have won the war. The perceptive sees they are merely wallowing.
The supreme irony of the Cold War is that neither society was sane. You would get misfits in both, dreaming of paradise across the ocean, only to discover known totalitarianism in USSR and, a bit less known, secret services and supreme ruthlessness in USA.
As any epoch, the time had its share of deluded, sacrificed individuals. But it is always about individuals, even if part of lubricated cog machinery. Step out.

Bora

It must be the years: I feel ever so tired. During one of the gay pride protests in Zagreb, one of participants was carrying a placard saying: "I'm sick of explaining". It's not just that you have to explain culture to economists, I tell you - most people, including me, are incorrigible. Ancient Greeks wondered why "those that engender seeds in the soul" do not opt for those old and ugly souls but supple boys instead. It's because the old are incorrigible. The young promise little.
Since I already started quoting Bora from Riblja Corba, it's time for another one of his catchy tunes, from his early phase - understandably, since he later went the national chauvinist way, as most around here. Just about the most laughable ones are the "converts": for example, Mr Bilandzic in Croatia went from a devout Communist to a devout Tudjman adherent. Anyway:

What beauty to be dumb
O, how beautiful to be dumb
The mob just might get on your nerve
Why not swallow what they serve
How beautiful it is to be dumb
..
Don't do politics
Sleep, work, quiet!, eat
And trust nobody
Sleep, rise, up, sit
..

What beauty to be dumb

O, how beautiful to be dumb

Forget the head, chew the hay

you're dumb, what's right wrong becomes one day

How beautiful it is to be dumb

Handel Away!

Not wanting to spoil the wedding, Libya is to UK, what Iraq is to USA?

Naivete

Okay, the last few posts sound bad. As I said, the trick is to write something each day. And yes, when I was 22 I did think they hire the best and wondered if I'm gonna shoot up to the mark and wanted to tell off the bad guys to the mayor, just like Bill Murray in Ember.
But now, at median 37, I believe you must be naive. The "you don't know how the world works" I find gruelling and mad. It's as if our look at the world should be slanted by 29 degrees if we are to retain an inkling of sanity. The way I see it, we're so well grafted we don't even know how to be fed properly.
Think about it - yup, now you begin to see.

Endless Scheming

Giving the issue further thought, thought I'd suggest that inter-national summits be purged of secret diplomacy. Not only does the practice allow for deception and intimidation, not only is it not safe, but is not particularly prudent either.
I say let's make it criminal. According to the plan, all transcripts would be public and any shady business heavily penalised by bans on political life and, yes, even imprisonment. The mob would do wise to throw in some shame as well.
What have we learned from WikiLeaks? I learnt something, obviously.

The Sex Student

Just saw the film on Kinsey and am now more convinced than ever the fundamental social division is the one between the adapted and the misfit, as ideal types of course.
Kinsey actually found out the same thing Freud did: it's the civilisation that brings discontent, and that we are are also conscious hypocrites in this case.
There's a darling scene, among all the attacks of prudes of this woman visiting him, he stating things had not improved much in society: "What are you talking about? Things are so much better now - it's because of you!"
There's good for every evil - would be the verdict of Croatian folk wisdom. This is why I insist on the division of conformity versus not. And it's pretty hard to be smart here, take anyone's word for it.
What is also interesting to note is the amount of sexual experimentation within Kinsey's team: Kinsey tries homosexuality, while other opt for adultery. It is impossible to keep the spirit contained once you start.
Perhaps the answer lies in the richness and fullness of life. I once read they did a survey in old people's home, finding out the greatest regrets are for the things not done. And the standard is an individual guess at best. Kinsey talks, much as Darwin, of "biological variety".