Whilst in Dubrovnik we stayed in the old city. It’s like stepping back in time. It is a walled city and a fortress with cobbled stone streets, towers, a town square, churches and lot of friendly cats. It’s also where much of Game of Thrones is filmed. Dubrovnik is ‘Kings Landing’. This was a peculiar coincidence as I had just finished marking several essays on transmedia storytelling for a film course I taught at university. Many of my students were huge GoT fans and used the series as a case study for their final essay. It was great reading them because the essays showed a genuine enthusiasm for the topic and that makes teaching a pleasure.

The city itself is breathtakingly beautiful. It is majestic while still being warm and inviting. Some ancient walled cities are cold and gloomy, but Dubrovnik has a lightness about it. Maybe this has something to do with the light coloured stone that the buildings are made from, or the way the sun seems to bath the squares and towers. I particularly love its narrow curving ally ways and its steep stone stairs and the many charming restaurants and cafes that fill them.

We had some wonderful food—homely and comforting. At a restaurant called Kopun we had lentil soup, pasta rugusa, roasted capone (young rooster with orange and figs), and barley vegetable risotto. It was at the top of a long stretch of stairs, we ate alfresco and a cat circled us the whole time hoping to get in on the action.

Last Sunday we climbed the wall and walked the perimeter of the city. Looking in on the city the sight of tightly packed three and four storied builds and the cluster of red roofs brought to life the image of a bustling 13century city. Looking out toward the port I could also see how old Dubrovnik was it was a stronghold against invading forces. Its narrow port would make invading ships clearly visible from the wall and its towers. This however was of no use when the heritage-listed city came under attack in the 1990s from the Serbian army who bombed the city with shells from the hill above. Thankfully the city was repairable and survived.