The crowds are thick around the Rector’s Palace, the magnificence of that 15th-century baroque and renaissance structure seemingly under siege from the crowds. In the harbor, several ships sit at anchor, their orange tenders rolling through the blue waters toward shore, bringing more and more tourists. They fill the shops, and the courtyards, the colonnade of the palace packed, the al fresco tables nearby, all full up.
And yet—just a few steps takes me away from it all. Dubrovnik may be a mecca for seasonal visitors, but it’s also a city with plenty of ways to get away. Fleeing the hustle and bustle, I make a couple turns, winding onto a small passageway, old stone steps climbing an incline, this solitude not more than 90 seconds from the dull roar on the main squares. And immediately I’m surrounded by the city, as it’s existed for centuries, laundry strung above, plants and flowers blooming in windows, shutters open, the sounds of home life emanating into the alley.
