Croatia  Sept 20 – 27, 2018

Our next adventure begins with a late night flight to Dubrovnik, Croatia with a layover in Frankfurt, Germany.  After a seemingly endless travel day, we arrived at the Hotel Bellevue, ready to meet our friends from California, and find dinner.

We found our way to the old town and were immediately struck with the beauty, and antiquity of it.  So – some background –

Not knowing anything about this area of the world (I’m embarrassed to admit), I had no expectations – You can’t imagine my surprise and wonder at the beauty of this city and its fairy-tale image.  500 years ago it was a major maritime power with the third biggest navy in the Mediterranean.  Its nickname is “Pearl of the Sea” and is much deserved. 

 The old city is surrounded by a medieval wall, and is closed to traffic – which makes it unique.  It has had its share of earthquakes and ensuing fires and as recently as 1991, a war, that all our guides made sure to mention.  The post-quake architecture is Baroque, though a few Gothic/Renaissance mix remains. 

  
 

We had arranged for private guided walking tours, and our first tour was of the walls.  We entered the walls, through a series of steep steps, where Marina proceeded to point out the city highlights. The Main Street or “Strada” extends the length from the main city square to its eastern gate.  The street is comprised of limestone, and is very shiny (or polished) – from hundreds of years of being tread upon!  Our point of entry was overlooking Onofrio’s Great Fountain.

This fountain is next to the votive church of St Salvation, on the most beautiful sacral structures constructed soon after an earthquake in 1520.  This fountain has numerous spigots that deliver great water from miles away

The Franciscan monastery and museum, cloister and The apothecary were adjacent to the entrance of the wall’s steps.  This apothecary is one of the oldest pharmacies in Europe, established in 1317.  It was amazing to see original handwritten prescriptions from that era!

The walls surrounding the city measure appox 1 1/12 miles.  It is one of the most beautiful fortification systems of Europe with 3 round, 12 rectangular and 2 corner fortresses. 

The people of Dubrovnik were quite brilliant in their approach to being “occupied”.  The city councils were always one step ahead of their “enemies” and offered payment in return for protection and the ability to continue trade.  This was evident with Napoléon, the Turks, Serbs, and Venetians.  They were an independent nation for 500 years and are very proud of that… until the establishment of Yugoslavia of which they were a part.

1991 saw Croatia violently separating from Yugoslavia, and Dubrovnik became the only coastal city to be pulled into the fighting.  Our guides shared with us, their recollections of this horrific time.  Our guide, Nick, brought us to a bombed out military installation that has not been renovated.  It was hard to imagine living through that. 
 

St Blaise is the patron saint of the city and his image is on all the important buildings.  In the central part of the square in front of the church of St Blaise stands a high stone column with a statue of the famous knight Orlando.  It is a symbol or freedom and independence of the Dubrovnik Republic.  Important state decisions were proclaimed from the little platform on the top.

The Rector’s Palace was the seat of state authority and the government.  It is currently home to a museum where one can tour the infamous prisons and dungeons.

We were then driven to the suburbs, and eventually to the countryside for an authentic, traditional lunch.  It was fabulous, along with the homemade grappa!

These tours provided us with just a glimpse into Dubrovnik with a desire to perhaps return!

Sunday, we left the city by motor coach for Trogir, our next stop.  It is a tiny, medieval-architecture-packed town surrounded by water.  This village attracts many tourists, and is popular with yachters.  The harbor is filled with tall ships and excursion vessels. 

 Though it was extremely warm when we arrived, we ventured into town to have a look-see.  With Karen and Conrad, we went to the town’s centerpiece, the Cathedral of St Lawrence.  The bell tower, which we climbed, took 200 years to build and includes 3 styles of architecture.  Straightforward Gothic at the bottom, Venetian Gothic in the middle, and Renaissance at the top.  The interior of the church is dark and very old-feeling and packed with altars.  The treasury features some beautiful 15^th century carved wood cabinets filled with art, while the display cases contain relics and artifacts.

We meandered for a while through alleyways and found ourselves on the promenade where we stopped to sit in the shade, people watch and have a drink.  Dinner was at Karmalengo where Lenny and Conrad selected the fish we would eat.  It was prepared on an open grill - we enjoyed being “misted” as the poor griller cooked our dinner!

Travel and heat made for a winning combination to call it a day and turn in early.

Monday, the 24^th, we were met at the hotel by our VBT guide.  She took us to Split where we were to get the ferry to Brac.  In order to get to the harbor, we walked quickly through the palace of Diocletian, a Roman emperor, that dates back to the 3^rd century!!!  She also pointed out to us the aqua duct from that era, that still operates today.  I was pretty impressed with that!

As we approached the island, the heavens opened, the wind blew in, and needless to say, we’ve been in the hotel since.  The hotel is in a charming village, nestled between ocean and hill.  It is surrounded by centuries old olive fields and pine groves.  We had to forego our warmup ride, but it gave us a chance to recoup.  Tonight, we’re being taken to the village of Dol to a family owned castle for a welcome cocktail reception of homemade grappa on the terrace (we’ll probably not be outside tonight), followed by a traditional Brac Island dinner.  Hopefully, the weather will clear for our first ride tomorrow!