24.09 - Day 253 - Dubrovnik, CRO

Tuesday 24th September - Dubrovnik, Croatia (Day 253)

We probably wouldn’t have done the Wall Walk yesterday after Ston the day before but the forecast was rain this morning and boy did it deliver the rain in buckets. Time then to catch up on yesterday’s school work at Tete Mare all the way through to lunch. 

If yesterday’s museums were more Filler after the Wall Walk then today’s - if not Thriller - we had higher expectations for. 

The cobbled streets in the Old Town are almost dried out despite the downpour - we head first to the Rector's Palace, an expansive house in contrast to the rest of the buildings crammed together. 

The prison cells are daunting - little chance of Andy Dufrasne digging out here - though the kids prefer the rather more modern VR headsets immersing you into a religious procession several years prior. Sienna also likes the Sedans - the idea of being carried around in a private box she finds appealing. 

Passing through narrow alleyways - photogenic arches, doorways, windows at every turn we next head into the Maritime Museum - on our Pass of course. 

Downstairs is a history of Dubrovnik naval and merchant exploits whilst upstairs the kids enjoy a small wooden boat, steering whilst looking out the window raising the flag up the mast. Intricate model ships also make the museum a worthwhile venture. 

The last stop for all of us is the Natural History / Science Museum. Our expectations have been raised after the surprising equivalent in Augsburg, Germany but these animals look a little more worn - though the bugs and butterflies still impress. 

Both the Maritime and Natural History Museums have signs / plaques and most of them are also translated into English making them more enjoyable for everyone. 

Kate takes Sienna and Seb back on the bus while I power walk to a final museum of Modern Art. Set in an old (successful) merchant's home just outside the walls it contains, as most modern art museums do, a mixture of genuinely impressive paintings and then installations / carvings / stuff which is very much a case of art-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder. Some of it I like, some of it I’d question even if Seb had produced it. 

Meanwhile the kids have been happy watching Croatian cartoons, but now it’s time for card games and bed.