Sitting 300 feet or more above the northern side of the city walls, DuView Dubrovnik View Apartment (“apartman” in local parlance) has a glorious view of the Old Town, a cluster of buff-hued limestone buildings with red tiles. The apartment itself consists of a bedroom about the size of a cruise ship cabin, a small but fully-equipped kitchen, including a four-burner stove with an oven and a table for two with a handy wall socket ideal for setting up the laptop. A corridor connects the two rooms. You won't need the kitchen table for eating because you will have the use of a lovely terrace sheltered by a grape arbor. One table is large enough to seat six; another to the side seats two. Rimming the terrace are narrow flower beds abloom (in June) with crimson salvia, oranges zinnias and small lavender and red flowers whose names I didn’t know. Pots on the terrace itself held pink and blue hydrangeas.
At sunset and at dawn, a wave of lemony light bathed the Old Town. On our first evening, we watched a brief squall move across the water. Bring binoculars! It's great fun to look at the yachts, the kayakers an the tourists walking the city walls. We awoke to the toll of bells from the cathedral and, in the evening, could hear amplified music from the bars along the old port. The whole scene looked familiar, of course, as King’s Landing from “Game of Thrones.”
The nicest thing about our apartment was our hosts, Milena and Milo Soso, who gave us the warmest welcome we’ve received anywhere. Except for rum and cola, we needn’t have stopped at the Lidl on our way in from the airport. Milena had stocked the kitchen not just with basic seasonings but with milk, bread, coffee, butter, yoghurt, cold cuts and sliced cheese. She had also laid out a bowl of wrapped sweets and a plate of tasty cookies. As we sat on the terrace contemplating our plans for the upcoming five days, she brought us slices of yummy home-baked carrot cake. The next morning, she delivered fresh chocolate crepes.
Getting down to the Old Town (and back up again) does offer a workout. Don't worry if you can't find a gym! You will stay fit just by going down and up the lane, with its occasional stairs, and the steeper stairs at the bottom of the hill. However, these stairs offer the benefit of handrails. I have problems with balance and was able to manage, slowly, with the help of a walking stick. (I was sorry I had left my trekking poles at home.) The path to the apartment begins at the base of the stairs, catty-corner from the fire station, and below that the stop for the cable car (which, alas, only runs to the top of the mountain), so you can easily find your way back.
For food shopping, I highly recommend the farmer's market in the main square of the Old Town. It's smallish but open every day from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and carries local honey, lavender sachets and some tourist trinkets, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables, almost all from within 100 kilometers of Dubrovnik. A small and not especially well-stocked Konsum supermarket is next to what locals call the Green Market. (There's also a Green Market several miles away, well outside the walls, next to the new port, but it reportedly has no greater variety than the one in Old Town.) For stocking up on staples, liquor, sodas, etc., we recommend the larger Konsum or the Lidl, which sit next to each other about a kilometer off the road in from the airport. Arrange for your cab driver to stop there (we paid ours an additional five euros for the slight detour and the wait) or drive there on the way in if you have your own car. A warning: Restaurant prices in Dubrovnik are breathtaking. One restaurant near the main gate asked $120 US for a five-course menu -- without wine. Buying fresh and cooking in the apartment is a better choice.
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