MONDAY, MAY 20
More stairs, hundreds of stairs, up and down and up again we climbed to a narrow road skirting Old Town’s city wall. Then down again, to visit the oldest continuously operating pharmacy in the world, located in the monastery by the Main Gate, to buy some famous rose cream.
Instead of returning to Gruz on the usual path, we decided to try another route, from the back of Old Town along the ocean. More stairs took us to Park Gradac, where no one else was going, and soon it became apparent why. There is no way out of the park, and the cliffs edge sneaks precariously near. We returned to the paved road, Ul. branitelja Dubrovnika.
Instead of continuing along Ul. branitelja Dubrovnika, we walked into the adjoining hills toward Lapad and through the neighborhood. There were no tourists, the apartment buildings were larger, and it showed a slice of dense living that we hadn’t seen elsewhere.
Heading back to Gruz, we stopped at the “mall,” a large building but with few stores and fewer people. Like the locals, we had coffee at a coffeeshop adjoining the mall, overlooking the a busy street and docks. It seemed everyone was smoking.
