Croatia and the medieval city state of Ragusa...

Dubrovnik, Croatia

A Medieval city, Sea Food galore and the unfortunate incident of the speedo that blocked my view…

Croatia - our eighth country so far on this trip! Hard to believe we’ve been travelling for so long, but overall it seems like a blink of the proverbial eye. We have all found our travel rhythm and I can’t say any of us are travel weary yet. Not a single utterance of the dreaded phrase “can we go home now” has occurred… In fact we are all thirsty for more sights, history and gastronomy! The kids are living up to our family motto of the travelling family.

 

Today we are visiting the town that Lord Byron proclaimed as the “pearl of the Adriatic” - Dubrovnik, the nearly intact medieval town that crowns the southern Croatian coastline. It’s just a little taste of the Balkan states for us as we only have a morning stop before heading up the coast to Venice, but you couldn’t ask for a more picturesque place.

And one filled with it’s own unique history. It’s said that a town was founded here in the 6^th or 7^th century AD, but more than likely there was an earlier Greek settlement. The town of Dubrovnik has been a UNESCO world heritage sight since the 1970’s and is probably one of the top ten well-preserved medieval cities that you can still visit today.

Originally the Republic of Ragusa, the city of Dubrovnik (called Ragusa until 1918), reached its heyday in the 15^th and 16^th century AD when it’s maritime powers rivalled that of Venice herself. Ruled with the principles of town planning left by the Romans it was a wealthy and flourishing republic with almshouses, hospitals, plentiful public works and a society that valued the freedom of its citizens. In fact it abolished the slave trade in 1418 – how many hundreds of years before England and America?! It sounds like it was quite the enlightened place of medieval Europe. Unfortunately I don’t know that much about this old country, when someone says Dubrovnik to me I immediately think of the Balkan wars of the 1990’s.  

 

I was here as a very little girl with my parents, but the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990’s and the ensuing war kept all tourism at bay for quite a long time. Sadly the Yugoslav army needlessly bombed Dubrovnik for over seven months catching the outrage of the international community. I remember my mother crying when she read about it in the newspaper. There was no military reason for the Yugoslavs to do so, as it was of no military use, simply an old medieval town. Over 50% of the old town had been bombed with considerable loss of life, but the residents restored their beloved city (with substantial foreign aide) and followed the UNESCO guidelines for restoring their city to it’s former charm. Once the dust had settled in the war, the general in charge of the Yugoslav army was tried by the international Criminal Tribunal and sentenced for his destruction of Dubrovnik. Such needless waste.

So the city we walk through today is half rebuilt from when I was there as a child. There is simmering anger from the people of the town that such an outrage could be perpetrated on the city. There are many signs and posters documenting the bombing, and even a walking tour dedicated to seeing exactly where the bombs fell. It is still so fresh in all the citizen’s minds; they probably can hear the bombs falling in their sleep.

Entering through the main city gate

Inside the "aquarium"

looking across the town

It’s another perfectly beautiful day when Randall, Liam and I catch a taxi from the dock into the town. The skies are so blue and the walls of the town are a sandy colour with a distinct colour of red roof, it make you want to just stop and stare. 

Once we are close to the old town the taxi lets us off, as there are no cars in the old town. Pedestrian only. We get the full medieval effect by walking in on foot, through the huge main gates and down the Placa, or main street. Liam was suitably impressed by the thickness of the walls and the remains of many a cannon. We do a good several hours of walking around the town, drinking in the ambiance, and trying to capture the feel of the medieval world. The old church and the saints that are built into the outside of the sea walls all are now familiar to us from our travels, but are different enough to appreciate the difference of this once enlightened city state.

The sea walls of the old town

some of the amazing red coral jewelry

We take a quick tour through the town’s aquarium, which is a bit of a disappointment on the piscine side, but is a remarkable tour through the insides of the outer town wall.

We also go into a coral shop (initially because it is called Clara’s Stones) and get a first hand demonstration on how the coral is carved. There are so many stores in this part of the world that sells this uniquely coloured coral. It come from the Mediterranean and legend has it that when Perseus cut off Medusa’s head the blood the came from her neck dripped into the deep of the sea and the red sea corals are all that is left. Oh yes, how I love Greek legends. It’s spectacular jewelry, but a bit our of our price range, so we end up finishing our day with a taste of the local seafood, the most gigantic platter of fish, squid and mussels I’ve ever seen. The fresh flavor and the relaxing atmosphere ended our stay in the ancient town of Ragusa, but it was just perfect.

the heart of the old city

A seafood feast!

I was the very last passenger back on the ship before it hauled up the gangplanks, departing for Venice. The ship, not a highlight of our trip to be honest, due to the poor management, poor food and general lack of hygiene was at least very tall and offered the most amazing views of our trip out of Dubrovnik. Its mid day so I head up to the very top of the deck to avoid the herds of over tanned Italian sun worshippers that are literally fighting over deck chairs. Something about the greasy bodies is cloying to me. I get myself a chair on deck 16 and relax enjoying the view, and relishing the alone time. I am the only person on this side of the deck as there is a stiff wind up here that the sunbathers weren’t appreciating.

Unluckily for me, just as I had the camera raised to my eye, poised to take a stunning picture of the Franjo Tudman Bridge, the most foul and heinous crime was perpetrated upon me. A gigantic hairy (sweaty) man wearing what can only be said to be severely undersized speedo decided to stop directly in front of me and lean on the rail. (Remember I was alone on the big old deck, so he could have chosen anywhere.) It was a scaring event, one that I may never, ever get over. But at least for you my friends I was so utterly dumbstruck that I was unable to grace this blog with a photo.

just after the speedo incident, I was too traumatized to get a proper photo of the bridge. LOL

And so I end today’s blog about our experience in this medieval Croatian town and it is time to steam our way up the Adriatic… getting ever closer to the most serene republic of Venice….

If you want to see heaven on earth, come to Dubrovnik.

George Bernard Shaw

 

The many faces of Juliet!