Dubrovnik

our "beach in Dubrovnik"
Bear in the Adriatic

typical street in Old Town

another

looking back towards our hotel from the top of the wall. The large light colored building on the right across the harbor is The American School of Business and Technology (the Dubrovnik campus of the Rochester Institute of Technology). My niece, MaineCutie, is currently going to RIT at their Rochester, NY campus.

Dubrovnik is the largest city on the south Dalmation coast. The “Old City” is enclosed in a large wall with defensive towers in the corners. We decided to avail ourselves of the assistance of a travel agency to find a room. How it works here is you decide roughly where you want to stay and then stop at a travel agency, tell them what you want in a room and they check around and find one for you. We wanted to be near the Old Town because between the traffic and the one-way streets, driving was a bit hairy. The room they found for us was perfect! It was in a very old building owned by the same guy who owned the really nice restaurant next door and only a couple of blocks from Old Town and, as we found out, from the beach! While we were checking in the owner told us how to get to the beach so, since I was HOT the first thing we did was to dip our bodies in the Adriatic. It was so nice and refreshing!

We came back, had a fabulous dinner and then went wandering in Old Town. That definitely was the “swinging” part of town. Tourists and teenagers everywhere! There were some groups putting on a concert in the mail square. One of them was the Dubrovnik Girls Choir. They were so good! They sang a capella (probably misspelled and for you non-music types, it means without accompanment) under some arches and the sound was lovely. Later we saw the director on the street with one of her girls. I told her how much I enjoyed their music and asked if she had a business card or something with her so I could follow up. She didn’t have a card but gave me one of their CDs. It is lovely. We then went back to our hotel/restaurant for a wonderful dessert – strawberry cake.

The next morning we wandered through Old Town again. This time the shops were all open. Most were junky, overpriced souvenirs but there were a few gems. Bear noticed a shop with fabric in the door so, of course I had to look. It had some beautiful fabric that the woman said was woven by a local woman in her home using a traditional design. I had to get a piece and will let you know when the jacket is all done. We looked at some great jewelry and then I went to look in a Croatian designer’s shop while Bear climbed the wall and walked the ramparts. We each got to do what we love best.