Walking the city walls of Dubrovnik
The Stradun from the city walls.
City walls from outside the city
Fountain in
Clock Tower in the old Renaissance squareThe order for the good weather finally came in. We had two days of thunderstorms and heavy rains as we toured Dubrovnik. It was quite pretty despite the deluge. We walked the walls of this ancient city which is the best way to see the place. The main street known as the Stradun was a washed limestone finish from many years of pedestrian traffic.
The street was created to join the old Roman town of Ragusa with the newer settlement of the Croats...thus creating the city of Dubrovnik. Ragusa was hence originally an island with a different language and people. There is a mosque, a synagogue, and over a hundred churches and one cathedral. The old middle square has a Venetian palace called Sponza which houses the memorial to the defenders of the city during the aggression of the Bosnians and Montenegrins in 1991, In fact, several houses were destroyed by fire and the city walls were damaged too.
Our city guide was called Paulo, an Italian ex pat who was quite flamboyant and I suspect gay as well. He had dyed blond hair and orange trimmed sunglasses. He spoke animately and passionately about his adopted city with speedy and colorful descriptions and with theatrical gestures. Although he may not have always been factual, he was definitely entertaining.
We wander through the old Franciscan monastery, the orthodox church of St. Nicolas and St. Blasie church who is the patron saint of the city. At the end, we finally exited through a hole in the wall facing the sea to small bar called Burz at land's end to gaze on the towering 25m walls from outside the city. We took an extended walk of the city walls the following day. The occasional downpour did not diminish the grandeur of Dubrovnik.
Today, the sun came up and Noel and I worked on our tans. It was hot enough that I braved a swim in the cool and fresh waters of the Adriatic in Lombarda beach. We are now in Korcula, the reputed home town of Marco Polo. Boy have the locals milked their association with this traveller for all its worth. There is a hotel, restaurant, tower, local house, a bar and several souvenir shops with the Polo adage! We are taking a break from our seafood diet today to try some local beef and lamb specialities.
