Waking bleary eyed later on New Years Day morning I am none too disappointed to hear that the rain has returned.

I fall back to sleep comforted by the sound of cascading water running down the stone stairs beside our apartment.

The wet weather has set in, it rains for the rest of New Year’s Day and the day following.

Two days without walking has Pam champing at the bit to get out and about.

It is still raining lightly in the early morning of the third day of the New Year however by midmorning it looks like the rain is done.

We still have not walked up to the top of Mt Srd as we had proposed to do daily however I am none to keen to set off on a long hike with the inclement weather looking like it could turn at any moment.

I propose a compromise, despite having stayed in Dubrovnik longer than anywhere, other than Bantard, France, that we have been thus far, we still have not yet fully explored the streets of the Old City.

‘Lets get out and about in the old town, if it starts to rain we can just come back’

Compromise accepted, we set off, dodging puddles on the stone stairs on the way down to the Stradun.

In our quest for restaurants, bars and exits we have already walked most of the high Northern side of the Old City, it is the seaward Southern side from the Stradun we are still unfamiliar with.

Despite the huge stone and tile catchment area inside the Dubrovnik Walls the low areas such as the Stradun drain very effectively. The engineers and designers of this town really knew their stuff.

Creatures of habit, we find ourselves at the Franciscan Monastery, Pile Gate and  Onofrijeva Fountain without really planning it.

Nearby a walled courtyard has opened its doors for the first time since Pam and I have been in Dubrovnik, shops line the entry corridor and fruiting orange trees the interior arched walls.

We wander on without real aim or purpose and end up in the leafy environs of a small courtyard in front of a retirement facility for Dubrovnik’s older residents.

Back on another of the paved side streets that run parallel to the Stradun we walk up the streets branching off each side. These streets are mostly residential areas and inevitably end in stairs climbing towards the Old City walls.

Soon we are back in the square that houses the supermarket, butcher and bakery where we have been many times.

Climbing broad stone stairs takes us to the Church of Sv Ignacije.

From here we hug the Old City walls, a sign offering tempting rewards leads us to a low arch in the Southern wall.

A bar built on the rocks above the sea clings to the sheer face of the wall.

On the hot sunny day when we walked the wall circuit above, this bar was busy, with music pumping and people drinking and laughing in the sun.

Today we are the only patrons and we are not drinking.

Beautiful sea views will have to suffice.

Back inside the walls we come across a second arch leading through the sea wall onto the rocks beyond. One of the hordes of feral cats living in Dubrovnik is leisurely sunning itself and moves reluctantly out of the way of our boots.

The labyrinth of narrow streets brings us back to Church St Vlaho and the harbour gate.

By now the sun is sinking low in the sky. We make our way out past the harbour to see if we can catch the sunset over the Adriatic.

Golden light suffuses the air as the sun sinks towards the water.

Later that night we go to the movies for the first time since leaving Australia. The lastest Martin Scorsese move ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ is playing at 8:30.

The cinema is located on the second floor of the city hall. We purchase our tickets and discover that confectionary needs to be prepaid at the ticket booth when we attempt to purchase some popcorn.

Pam heads straight for the back row however despite there only being perhaps thirty people in the 200 seat cinema the seats are allocated by ticket and we end up having to move into the center.

It is fortunate that we got there on time for there is absolutely no advertising prior to the movie commencement. At 8:29 the lights go down, at 8:30 Leonardo di Caprio is strutting his stuff.

Brilliant.

PLL

Pam and Mick