2nd stop - Dubrovnik, Croatia

Before we went on this trip, I had, of course, read lots of reviews on the ports, the ship, etc. Dubrovnik is a place that surprises a lot of people - they don't expect much and then find out it's beautiful and full of history.

The four of us decided to get a taxi to get an overview of sorts before we walked the Old Town. We lucked out, getting a taxi driver who spoke English very well. Robert took us to some nice scenic lookout areas, as well as a couple spots that have a little more history to them.

Personally I would enjoy going back to the area, not so much to see the city of Dubrovnik again, but more to see the surrounding area. The Dalmatian coastline and islands are supposed to be absolutely beautiful, and I can understand that from the little bit we could see.

What struck me most was the casual talk about the recent 1991-1995 Bosnian war. The first place Robert took us to was the marina - he showed us a nice little creek/waterfall, and pointed out where the Serb border was. Then after a few photo opps, he took us to an old fort at the top of a hill overlooking Dubrovnik. The old fort area was interesting for a couple reasons.

First, the fort was built by Napoleon. Wow - that was kind of neat. In my mind - Napoleon is "old" history, and I just never thought about seeing something built by/for him. Robert pointed out the stables and a few other structures that aren't as obvious as to their purpose. But the fort itself was still standing too.

More thought-provoking, the fort was basically the "last stand" for Dubrovnik during the Bosnian war. The townspeople used that fort to keep the Serbs out of Dubrovnik. Robert commented about hearing gunfire every day in town. He told us how everyone did what they could to keep their town safe. And I'm not talking about a couple of days or weeks, it was YEARS. We could see the damage done to the walls during the war. Right near the fort was a small building that was the top end of a gondola that brought people up from town - the building was pretty much demolished, and the gondola is gone. Robert pointed out some of the memorials to townspeople who had died during the fighting. It really made me think about how fortunate we are in the States. The thought of waking up every morning to gunfire, the possibility of a sniper or a stray bullet, of friends and family being shot.... OMG. In the city there is a museum, I guess it would be called, that has a "spec" poster on every person who lost their life fighting to keep Dubrovnik out of Serb hands - it really personalized the war to me, seeing the young faces of the men who fought and died there.

On a lighter note, yes, Dubrovnik is a beautiful town. The Old Town, of course, is most interesting to tourists, but even the newer areas are beautiful. The town is built on the sides of hills at the end of the Adriatic Sea. Old Town is on the only flat piece of land in the area, it is right on the sea. It is encircled with a wall - and WHAT A WALL! It must have been incredibly difficult to build that wall without all the modern technology we have now. It hangs right on out over the water, and it's really tall in some spots, with forts on all the corners. From a distance Old Town looks pretty big, but when you actually go into it and walk, it seems like it's only a few blocks each direction.

It is possible to walk on the wall the entire length around the Old Town. It's almost like a sidewalk on top of the wall, with sidewalls to protect people from falling off. The views from the wall are incredible - gotta love the tile roofs - so colorful!! And the water is just fab - clear and vibrantly colored. The picture to the left is from a tower of a corner fort on the wall.

It was very intriguing being on the wall overlooking the Old Town. We could see laundry flapping in the breeze, reminding us that it is still a living city - people really do live there, it isn't just a museum for tourists. Most of the homes had satellite dishes. Sometimes as we walked and looked, I felt like a peeping Tom, looking down into people's yards and gardens. Sometimes their windows were only a few feet away from the wall. It made me wonder how I would feel about living there - do you get used to being on display to tourists all the time?

Just like Venice, the streets in Dubrovnik are narrow. The town was obviously built when travel was done by foot, not even by horse. The buildings are beautiful, and there are neat courtyards and squares.

There are wonderful restaurants with outside dining. In fact, we had a light lunch at one - very good as a matter of fact. But the funny thing - after we paid, the waiter came up to us and told us we left too much tip. We told him we didn't, and he said yes. Back and forth, finally we convinced him and he left. As we were leaving, he ran up to us, again, saying we gave him too much tip. His manager insisted he talk to us. We said no, the amount was right. So we left. A while later we walked by that same restaurant again. And guess what? You got it! The waiter AGAIN came up to us and said we left him too much tip. argh! We think that his manager was watching that third time... but again, we said no, it was the correct amount. It wasn't until later that it dawned on me that the usual tip in Europe is 10%, not 15-20% as here in the States.

For a little history lesson - most of the town was leveled in an earthquake in 1667. Only two buildings, both palaces (in photo with arched entrance), survived with their Renaissance architecture. The rest of the city was rebuilt in a uniform baroque style. Because almost the entire city was rebuilt at the same time, it is all the same stone, same style, so it is pleasing to the eye. It was perfectly preserved, with the wall keeping out autos.

However, the town suffered a lot of damage during the Bosnian war - estimated at US $10 million at the time. Pretty much every building had some sort of damage. The streets and the wall suffered many direct hits. The town has been restored as authentically as possible, and it looks beautiful once more.