My first day in Dubrovnik

We arrived in Dubrovnik at midday, after a short flight and a hassle-free transfer, without many specific expectations beyond "pretty walls" — the typical flat idea you have of a place before you actually set foot in it and let it surprise you.

We dropped our bags at the hotel and headed straight for the old town, without even showering, with that typical "I want to see it now" urge. Walking through the Pile Gate for the first time is a moment that's hard to forget: from the ordinary street of a modern city, you cross an arch and suddenly find yourself on Stradun, the main marble street that looks pulled from an entirely different era.

We walked with no rush, letting ourselves wander: the Onofrio Fountain, the Franciscan Monastery with its centuries-old pharmacy, the Clock Tower. We didn't try to see everything with a guidebook in hand, ticking boxes — we simply strolled, and I think that was the right call for a first encounter with the city.

We had a late dinner and went out for a night walk, and that's when the city completely transformed. I'm not exaggerating when I say it felt like a different place.

What surprised me most was how the city changes with the light. In the mid-afternoon, Stradun feels touristy and crowded, almost overwhelming at times. But at night the crowds thinned out, the stones took on a different color under the streetlamp light, and for the first time we understood, without anyone needing to explain it, why so many people say Dubrovnik at night is far more magical than during the day.