Dubrovnik ... The unexpected beauty

And here we are in Dubrovnik. I have to go to my field lab (class trip) on the first day for my International Economics class. Once I saw the view from the windows, I felt I were in a postcard! Dubrovnik is insanely beautiful. The view of the water with the houses on multiple levels by the mountain in the back is just incredible.

So, my field lab ended up to be so much better than my International relations class trip. We went to the old town of Dubrovnik and walked along the city walls. The city is really old, and you can tell by the way the buildings were built, and the fact that almost no one really lives there. It is mainly aimed at tourists. That means that it is full of restaurants and souvenir shops. There are beautiful fountains and many city wall entrances as well. We then went to the University of Dubrovnik for a lecture by a Croatian professor about whether Croatia will join the euro zone any time soon or not, and its pros and cons. I am not getting there because this is a whole different issue :P

City Walls

Going back to beautiful Dubrovnik, the following day we went back and enjoyed the old city. My friends went to the city walls, and I wandered around. I got a taste of Dubrovnik and was able to grasp its beauty with some time on my own. I explored the side alleyways and saw some of the small buildings with actual houses and real people, not tourists. I ran into a store called, Blanc du Nil, which I have also seen in Mexico. The saleswomen went like, "Everything here is 100% Egyptian cotton" and I said, oh cool! I am from Egypt, and we then had a conversation about Cairo, Alexandria and of course the Pyramids.

                               

I ate a lot of Burek, a pastry filled with cheese and spinach, potatoes or beef. All of them are soooo good and mouthwatering. If you get them out of the old town, they are cheaper because of course, it is not a touristy area. My friends and I went kayaking. It was my first time ever to kayak. It's so much fun. We snorkelled, swam and watched the sunset close to Lokrum island. We bargained with the lady to give us a group discount, as well. Always bargain and ask for discounts, you never know how much you would save ;)

Hongyu enjoying her burek

We had dinner with Haimeng's teachers and spent the last night together. We had a good time and experienced Dubrovnik at night. On our way there, a sales guy asked where we were from and once he knew that I am from Egypt, he asked to touch me because he felt so honored to meet an Egyptian. Haha, he was really crazy! :D Noot and Haimeng took the bus, Rachel and I wanted to walk back but then decided to take the bus. I missed my station and kept going further and further. At the end, I made it to the ship safely, but at least I got to see the other side of Dubrovnik. It reminded me of Heliopolis in Egypt at night.

P.S. Dubrovnik has never been on the list, but it absolutely should have been.