SUNDAY, MAY 19
We decided to leave the tourists and the deluge of history behind and explore more of Dubrovnik. It was a perfect walk, with a long pause in the middle at a Sunset Beach restaurant, while we waited, over an hour, for the heavy rains to pass.
GRUZ TO SUNSET BEACH
From where we are staying high on the hill in Gruz, we walked to the department store, along the water past all the small docked boats, to a park with exercise equipment (we took a little stop there), up Ulica od Batale, along the edge of the park and dropped back down to the beach.
Sunset Beach is surrounded by large restaurants, lounge chairs, and some high end hotels. On this cloudy day, it was quiet. Only a few other people sat on the cement wall next to the pebble beach. Dark clouds were rolling in over the clear jade-colored water.
REFUGE FROM A DOWNPOUR
We found refuge from a downpour under an umbrella, where we had lunch and planted ourselves for two hours, shielded from the rain, as everyone else slowly, and sometimes rapidly, retreated to inside the nearby hotel. When we finally left, the rains had slowed enough that we could walk without being soaked.
A MOST BEAUTIFUL WATERSIDE TRAIL
We followed along a seawall, below a cliff where many fancy hotels provide visitors full-on retreats from the loud and busy world. They can take steep stairs down to the sea, drink cocktails, and lounge in the sun with the most spectacular of water views. The water is great for swimming — warm and clear. They have every element of the finest resorts in the world. We were reminded of our one fancy vacation (a bargain deal) in Oaxaca, Mexico, at the Dreams Hotel.
Once we’d rounded the tip of the peninsula, we turned into more local territory. A small path wove through the thick undergrowth along the water then dropped down to a small beach-like area (pebbles not sand, concrete dock area, broken stones). A man and his child were catching crabs, a few older women were picking up stones and slowly walking and talking when we got there. It was quiet, sweet and unpretentious. Across the harbor, two large cruise ships were docked awaiting the return of their passengers.
LOOP COMPLETED
The last part of the loop passed the local port with wood docks leading to small boats, and old stone houses along the street. It was raining lightly but the sun was also out. There was a rainbow somewhere. It took us about three hours to walk the full distance.
