Plans today for you to have a panoramic view of Dubrovnik were blown away by high winds. The cable car to the mountain above the city was cancelled.  Because of this, we wandered down into the old city and forced ourselves to indulge in coffee, retail therapy, coffee, looking at the architectural details , coffee and retail therapy.

Here are the promised photos.     

     

       

Now imagine collecting the water from here And then having  To carry it home, up or down the stairs and through narrow walkways. Bath and wash day must have been a nightmare .

 

In quite a few places, we saw women quietly sitting and sewing. They use traditional methods and patterns to create runners, table centrepieces and tablecloths. The workmanship is amazing. The reverse is as beautiful as the front.  

Among the purchases made during retail therapy time was shoes.I bought noddy shoes to go with my blue car!Now I will have to look for a hat with a bell…….don’t think I will look for Big Ears though.

Tonight we are going to share a traditional Dalmatian coast meal. We have found a family restaurant that uses family recipes passed down to each new generation. The meat or fish is cooked in hot coals under a bell shaped metal dish, called a “peka”,  for at least 3 hours. You have to order it in advance. It is then served with grilled or roasted vegetables. Surprise, it’s called meat / fish under the bell.

 

 

     

Tomorrow we leave Croatia and fly to Helsinki. There will be a short train trip from the airport , for those in train withdrawal ,so readers there may not be much to share with you, but wait and see.

 

You will be so impressed by our physical prowess. Before we even start, we have to walk down the 153 steps to the road or 153 steps up to the road. We chose……..drum roll……down. Off we went down to the Old City  gate. The first thing you notice is the moat, pass over it, through the gate, to an entry passage and ,what would have been, a second gate entrance.

If you didn’t want someone to come in, they would have had  a difficult time entering. This was put to the test in modern times when the city was besieged during the War of Independence from Yugoslavia. Some of the city was bombed , but the people resisted. It is still in the process of being rebuilt ,using a combination of old materials retrieved from the rubble and new materials.

  To walk the entire walls of the city is approximately two kilometres. This is up and down stairs, round corners, through towers but always with the beauty of the sea in your sights. It is easy to see why it has been used in movies and television programmes. See what you think …. Is this the castle fortress as you imagined it in fairy tales?
 

    

     

     

Modern life continues within the walls. Houses have been built to fit the available space, with narrow streets, steep stairs and tiny courtyards. There are a few large squares ,where people would have gathered in the past and now ,are filled with vendors and tourists. Houses , even if they have been repaired, have used traditional looking materials so to fit into the cityscape.  

   

   

People swim around the base of the city wall and of course there are tourist boats. Watch out pirates!

 

 

Now I have heaps more to show you but I don’t want to exhaust you,especially after surviving that battle. These two certainly needed to discuss the events.

A father and son, they had immigrated to Australia to work on projects , and now have retired to
Croatia. They come to the family restaurant each day to the “Aussie” corner.

Tomorrow you will see the city from above , if the weather holds and some pictures of the churches….simple outside ,stunning inside. Relax, think of us going down the stairs,  just for you…..well ,we are curious too so we will see , and share.