Dubrovnik

Last year I had the amazing opportunity to live in Croatia with my older daughter for 5 months. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime chance. We lived in Zagreb and traveled as much as possible. Some of my travels helped inspire a novel that I recently submitted to a publisher.

But today I wanted to share one of my favorite cities in the world, Dubrovnik, the Pearl of the Adriatic. It's located in Dalmatia, way down near the southern tip of Croatia. It has a really interesting history--as the free republic of Ragusa, it was one of the first places to recognize the USA as a country back in 1776. You can feel a strong Venetian influence there, although the locals claim that their  tower with a couple of metal guys banging a bell is older than the one in Piazza San Marco.

Dubrovnik's recent history is tragic, as the city was under seige for 7 months during the war that tore apart Yugoslavia. Civilians were killed and much of the beautiful walled city was damaged by artillery. When we were there, a local man told what it was like during the seige to have to carry water and supplies up and down the steep terrain, especially for the city's elderly inhabitants.

Fortunately, the damage was repaired, and Dubrovnik is now a vibrant place. It's full of well-fed feral cats, cafes, breathtaking views, and, sometimes, cruise ship tourists. You can walk around the top of the entire city wall. It's where parts of the second season of Game of Thrones were filmed. The food is excellent and the locals very friendly.

I took something like 200 photos during my 2 days in Dubrovnik. Here's a sampling. You can click on them to see them larger. If you want more (mwah-hah-hah) just comment and let me know.

The old city, as seen from the hill behind it. Even when you're standing there, this looks photoshopped.

 Stradun, the city's main street. Spike travels with me and often ends up in my photos.

 That's Fort Lovrijenac, as seen from the city walls.

 See those people on the rocks outside the city wall? They're actually at my favorite cafe-bar in the world, Buza. (There are actually two Buzas in Dubrovnik.) You can sit there forever with the wall on one side and the Adriatic on the other, and just watch the ships sail by.

 Ships like this one, which happened to come around the corner just as I was taking this picture.

 My daughter looks pretty happy to be there, doesn't she?

 Our apartment was halfway up this stairway. I love how green things grow in every nook and cranny.