{"id":9671,"date":"2019-01-22T06:15:55","date_gmt":"2019-01-22T14:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/?p=9671"},"modified":"2019-12-09T09:26:13","modified_gmt":"2019-12-09T17:26:13","slug":"dubrovnik-croatia-the-old-walled-city-avas-12th-birthday-and-an-animal-shelter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/2019\/01\/22\/dubrovnik-croatia-the-old-walled-city-avas-12th-birthday-and-an-animal-shelter\/","title":{"rendered":"Dubrovnik, Croatia: The old walled city, Ava&#8217;s 12th birthday and an animal shelter."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dan and I visited Dubrovnik a couple times pre-kids but this week we get to explore the ancient city with the entire family in tow.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46813166641\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4827\/46813166641_25f2da1c3e_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Before we entered the city at the Pile Gate, we were greeted by a couple hungry cats. We actually forgot to bring a bag of Yoda&#8217;s kibbles with us today so while we bought some quick drinks at the corner store, we also threw a little bag of kibble on the conveyor belt as well.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"31871701767\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7809\/31871701767_287cec21cd_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And then one of the cats proceeded to photobomb my photo of the kids. Ha.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"31871685757\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4899\/31871685757_6c0b985817_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Oops. Forget to ask them to put their drinks down before saying cheese.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46813147621\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4810\/46813147621_862f4769e6_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Excited to get to explore in the off-season. No bumping into sweaty tourists today. Just us, the locals and maybe a handful of other tourists.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46813152031\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7868\/46813152031_d6071509fd_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>As you enter the main gate, you are greeted by a 15th century round structure called Big Onofrio&#8217;s fountain. The 16-sided fountain is part of the city&#8217;s water supply which is pulled from a mountainside water source.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46813260471\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4812\/46813260471_778fc76bef_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"31871809447\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7877\/31871809447_8c1c04c96f_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Creating fun wherever they go.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46088275164\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4831\/46088275164_e87fa12b3c_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>One of the many beautiful palaces inside the walled city.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"45898164755\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7925\/45898164755_5449dc8135_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"39847861793\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4862\/39847861793_78c08d4b0b_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And in the Sponza Palace you&#8217;ll some fascinating artwork and details.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46088215184\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4897\/46088215184_5f4f9b73cf_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46813205371\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4844\/46813205371_bab3347a15_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46088218664\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7899\/46088218664_e25382c903_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And a sleeping cat in a box littered with fresh sardines.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"32937397148\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7825\/32937397148_171ce60ea1_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This one didn&#8217;t get the fancy treatment so we fed it our kibbles.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"39847851483\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7828\/39847851483_1c93724d94_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"31871741957\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7803\/31871741957_a756c86617_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Love this little tree growing from a planter above a church&#8217;s doorway.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46760699112\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4807\/46760699112_8d852ffd3e_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>So many cats, so little time.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"32937352108\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4848\/32937352108_2f1e19f889_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"32937338298\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7817\/32937338298_e0c5fb9e19_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We only ended up visiting the old city once during our stay in Dubrovnik. We were hoping to walk the walls but the outrageous prices steered us away from that experience. I swear it was free or nearly free pre-kids. I guess this place is waaaaayyyyy more popular now than 15 years ago. But it&#8217;s the middle of the slow season. Lower your prices, wall people!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"39847837713\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7826\/39847837713_8c5776c238_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Ava&#8217;s 12th birthday overlapped our visit to Dubrovnik so we surprised her with a stay in an AirBnB.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46088021544\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4818\/46088021544_7204d54053_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And 12-year-old&#8217;s in our family get to pick out a pocket knife. Ava ended up picking this crab multi-tool. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"39847606843\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4869\/39847606843_c6a514d003_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Not much is open this time of year so we tried our best to make her day as special as could be.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46760521132\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4822\/46760521132_6dae38e746_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"32937142458\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7801\/32937142458_fd45d82e01_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We decided to walk up a million stone steps to a hotel on the hill.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"32937142968\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7836\/32937142968_9d4c47fa0b_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We all agreed it was worth the tough walk to get here. Look at this view!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46760518502\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7906\/46760518502_f4c403350d_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And look at that smile!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"45897855655\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4878\/45897855655_5364931961_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"32937139288\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7869\/32937139288_886a8dde0c_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s so funny kids?<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"31871488567\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7908\/31871488567_35186ae381_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Standing on their daddy in the pool, that&#8217;s what.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"31871486327\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4887\/31871486327_3f77232db2_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>All bundled up for the walk back down the hill.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"45897842095\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4909\/45897842095_4f3de27277_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"45897847805\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4804\/45897847805_a8c040f31b_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>My 12 year old &lt;3<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"32937137588\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7835\/32937137588_c95724bb63_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"45897868545\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7839\/45897868545_3d97617afe_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46760533092\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4865\/46760533092_a599c3f30c_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>One of the things the kids love doing for their birthdays is baking a cake. Another reason for an AirBnB tonight. An oven!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"32937147188\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7817\/32937147188_c53c42b273_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"31871510337\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7815\/31871510337_0c7dd1b68c_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46088020264\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4898\/46088020264_43ae9a5c1b_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46760519812\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7916\/46760519812_b55c4cf141_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46760513962\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7868\/46760513962_660fbf9b74_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46813000111\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7907\/46813000111_a6b72438d4_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46760515112\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4911\/46760515112_236a69f224_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Lighting 12 candles is no joke.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"31871486167\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7835\/31871486167_16598f4d28_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46760510522\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7872\/46760510522_de9ecb5924_c.jpg\" alt=\"Ava\u2019s 12th birthday Dubrovnik Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Before we left town, we drove up a narrow road in search of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/%C5%BDarkovica-Animal-Shelter\/1066995843318468\">\u017darkovica Animal Shelter<\/a>\u00a0.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46760759782\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7841\/46760759782_22f2e36c56_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We have been carrying a bunch of medication from Yoda that we wanted to donate and thought this was the perfect place for it.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46813205321\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4867\/46813205321_26457ba765_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>At times, there can be up to 300 dogs here. Some loose, some on leads, some behind gates and all looking for a good home.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"39847774493\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4808\/39847774493_7aeafb4678_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"39847923613\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7917\/39847923613_e13c26ba25_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"31871809037\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4887\/31871809037_6268ab8c93_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46813261261\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7864\/46813261261_6b2d0ec623_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This guy grabbed his bowl during feeding time.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"45898166505\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7815\/45898166505_ece54f5b0b_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And this one had the best view of the the old city from his perch.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"31871814167\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7866\/31871814167_4e0da6f8c0_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We tried to pet as many as we could.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46760791062\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7835\/46760791062_fcb1b32bfe_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"31871733067\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4823\/31871733067_edb38f3ac5_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"39847826633\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7922\/39847826633_2fe2eeaed5_c.jpg\" alt=\"Dubrovnik, Croatia blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And here is a video Dan created during our stay in Dubrovnik. Enjoy!<\/p>\n<p><code><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MpHHD0pnTZA\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/code><\/p>\n<p>Thanks for following along on our adventures,<br \/>\nMarlene<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dan and I visited Dubrovnik a couple times pre-kids but this week we get to explore the ancient city with the entire family in tow. Before we entered the city at the Pile Gate, we were greeted by a couple hungry cats. We actually forgot to bring a bag of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,215],"tags":[225,220],"class_list":["post-9671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily","category-europe","tag-birthday","tag-croatia"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/46088275164_e87fa12b3c_c.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pkBzA-2vZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}