Christine in Dubrovnik, Croatia

Dubrovnik, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a walled city.  And there are no cars within the walls.  You'll see that in a few.  

From on/within the wall.  

A picture I'll one day paint.

Ok, this last one was from the wall, looking at the old port.  

The main street is Stradun.  Yes it is marble (I think). 

Little ones playing on the ground.

I think this is my favorite picture-some kids sneaking a ride.

The original bell tower was from 1444, but rebuilt in 1920 when it started to lean.  The clock is wound every 2 days.  

Cool architecture

During the Middle Ages, they built a large water duct system and fountain.

St. Blaise is the patron saint.  At his church, I lit a candle here for my Great Aunt Jo.  A little while later, the nun extinguished them all, kicked everyone out, and locked the door.  I tried.  But notice how I'm visiting a place with Catholic churches....

The Croatians fought the Defense of the Homeland War against the Yugoslav Army.  The Croatians used the fortress at the high point (Mount Srd) above the city to defend it.  The original cable car and cross were destroyed in the the fighting.  The landmines were removed and in 2010 a new cable car was built.  In a 2003 visit, Pope John Paul blessed the rubble of the old cross.  

You can walk up to Mount Srd or take the cable car.  I took the cable car up (why not I use them all the time to ski) mostly because I couldn't find the foot path.  I managed to find the path for the walk down (45 minutes).  I would have preferred to walk up.  

The mountain view from the cross area is breathtaking.  If it weren't for the fighting, I would have liked to hike around there.  But I'm not that stupid.  I'll stick to the well worn path.  (Yes this is a real picture from my amazing new camera that I love.  Even if the mountain and clouds look fake because it is that good.)

About 56 percent of the buildings were damaged by artillery.  The buildings with bright orange tile are the ones damaged and replaced.  

If you look closely, you can see the shrapnel damage, from the war, on the building.  

Croatia is suppose to be a cheap country to visit.  Maybe this is true.  If you don't go to the tourist part.  I went to Dubrovnik to see the beaches.  I figured that end of May would be warm enough to lay there on the beach and be happy.  Evil weather in Europe had other plans.  As it turns out, this is the oddest year for weather.  It feels like March 1st, not early June.  So I didn't get to lay on the beach in my swim suit.  But I did visit the beach.  It is beautiful.  There is sand there and then pebbles/rocks as well.  And the water is amazing clear and such vivid colors of blue and green.

Remember, not a film major (I'll work on taking better videos in the future).

I loved the octupus salad at Konoba Kamenice.  Best octupus salad I've ever had.  And I've had a few good ones.  And the seafood risotto I ate.  Also, wonderful Americanish breakfast.  Not quite American bacon, but close and I'll take it.  ha ha  Plus I recommend Dolce  Vita for the orange or chocolate chip ice cream.  But I doubt you could go wrong with any flavor there.

Christine

Me on top of the world, er wall.

And they play ball over here.  Well, there is a court to do so.