Thrane Of Gomez

The next day we took it easy. The last fortnight has been, if not a punishing schedule, one of long trips on coaches, walking tours, and strange new beds, which had been taking a toll on my back after a while. We had planned to take an island tour today, but have now rescheduled that for Monday. As it turned out, the day wasn’t too flash weather-wise, with thunderstorms in the afternoon, so we may have done ourselves a favour there. 

The following morning we were up with the ubiquitous swifts that swoop around everywhere we’ve been so far. To what end? To get to the Old Town before the inevitable cruise ship disgorged its masses of unruly tourists. We got there a little before 8:00am and so were able to get some photo opportunities on the steps of the Walk Of Shame, and elsewhere. 

Nicola's Walk Of Shame

At 9:30 we joined a Thrane Of Gomez tour around the city. This is extremely popular in Dubrovnik – our group (one of three setting out at the same time from the same company; other companies were also running tours) contained 25 people, which I feel is slightly unwieldy for a walking tour. We had headsets so we could hear our guide, Dražen (pronounced Dražen). He first checked who had seen GoT. I confessed to only watching the first season, which was filmed in Malta, not Croatia, so most of what he was talking about was lost on me. Nicola knew what it was all about though.

He took us through the gate, down to the water, and up to the fortress, all the while talking and illustrating the scenes that were filmed in each location with stills from the series. He also told us that he’d been an extra (Peasant 57, apparently), and can identify his two seconds of actual screen-time. He explained about the filming process as well, what it’s like to be on set on such a large production, and the difficulties they faced; particularly in later seasons when the popularity of the show had increased tourist numbers to the city dramatically.

Dražen tells it like it is

Near the end of the tour he took us to the famous steps, which were by now thronged with people, both tour groups and general tourists. The chances of getting a decent shot were slim so it was a good job we’d been there earlier. 

We finished our section of the tour after two hours (“that’s enough GoT” – Ed), but most of the group had booked the longer, three-hour version which involves a ferry ride to Lokrum Island, and a photo opportunity on the Iron Throne, which we missed. Instead we strolled around and found a location for lunch: Zurori Restaurant, where they delivered a beer, orange juice, spaghetti vongole and salmon salad for €59.80. The spaghetti was €19.90, or NZD40. To paraphrase Vincent Vega, “that’s gotta be some pretty fucking good spaghetti”. <Morgan Freeman> But, it was not pretty fucking good spaghetti. </Morgan Freeman> 

After lunch, we visited the Aquarium, where (shock!) they had a variety of local fish in tanks. No super-big enormous tank like many modern aquaria have, but a good variety...some of which looked quite tasty! We didn’t spend long there. 

When you swim in the sea, and an eel bites your knee...

I'm going to call you...dinner

We then set out on a shopping expedition. Nicola’s suitcase has become quite decrepit after many decades’ service, so we headed to a shopping centre for an upgrade. We found one, but then had to find our way back to the bus route 4, which was a 14-minute walk in the afternoon sun. We made it though (obvs!) and arrived back at the hotel to cool down with a dip in the pool.