Dubrovnik, Croatia

Our next Mediterranean port is Dubrovnik, Croatia. We were here in 2010 and I fell I love with the country. I was expecting a war torn city. But it was not to be. After their conflict, world organizations came back in and helped rebuild the city. The people were so nice and genuine when we went out into the country side, away from the tourist areas.

Since then, I have met many crew members from Croatia and they are a special people.

So, on this trip we are going out to the countryside again and visit a county home where the family has opened there house to tourists.

As we leave the city, we pass the new bridge that takes the road north to the capital. There is a dock under the bridge and only certain ships can dock there. Take a look at the picture and you can see why. Yes, it is as close as it looks.

As we begin our ascent in the hillside, people have houses right next to the road.

We make a photo stop high above the old city. The last time we were here, it was foggy and we were barely able to see the old city. Today is not a problem. Croatia has many islands and you can see one of them on the left as the old city can be seen from about three miles away.

We will get a chance to stop and visit the old city later in the day.

As we get near the house, we can see some of the fields below us. Almost everything in Croatia is grown on terraces as few farms have actual level land in this part of Croatia.

The old farmhouse is of stone construction, like most of the old buildings in Croatia. This family has lived here for generations producing brandy, olive oil, and wine in the traditional Croatian way.

At one time over 30 family members lived in this house and on the farm. Today, there are only 6 left and I am sure they have opened their home to us to help pay the bills. Many of the children that have moved away have become very prominent as they count a doctor, engineer, university professor, and a politician in their ranks.

As we enter their farm, we are invited to a roof top patio and offered a traditional vodka drink in a shot glass that we are to drink in one swallow. I can see why they need to down it in one swallow after tasting it.

Next, we are offered dry figs. These help counteract the bitter taste of the vodka drink.

We are now welcome to their home and we have a small band welcoming us.

We are truly welcomed to their home by the Mother of the house.

As we wander the various working parts of the farm, we are told about the traditional method of cooking ham and sheep. The food is placed under the bell and then the fire is put on top. I can attest to the fact that this method of cooking makes the food taste awesome. 

The next room we visit is used for making their olive oil and for curing the hams the traditional way. Here you can see the wheels used to make olive oil.

The hams are put on hooks while they cure.

Next, we are invited into the house for lunch. Mama welcomes us. Her husband died last winter and is the custom, she will wear black for one year.

There are approximately 60 of us here, but I can just imagine this dining room being used for family meals when there were 30 family members of them living here.

The band came in and serenaded us during our meal. Because there are so few of the family members still living here, they have had to bring others in from the community to take care of us.

This is the place mat, which shows the name of the family residing in the city of Poljice, in the area of Konavle, Croatia.

As we leave, Mary gets a picture with our tour guide for the day. For the life of me, I am unable to remember her name. First, I am terrible at remember names and we have had a new tour guide each port.

Next, we stop at the old city for some free time. This is the gate we walk through.

As luck would have it, immediately inside the gate were two mail boxes. If you have been reading my blog very long, I seem to have a thing about mail boxes in different countries.

This is a neat old city as you can see from my initial pictures.

As we walk down the main street, there are many of these narrow little alleys that branch off from the street.

As we get to the end of the street, we have the main square.

Here you can see the high fortress wall at the end of the street.

Some more pictures of the old city.

As we make a couple of turns we find the old church.

Inside was quite remarkable.

Rexie decided to buy a few gifts and have her picture taken with the vendor who was in costume.

The old city was built as a fortress and the old wall is intact and can be hiked if one so desires. It is about a 2 mile walk should you decide to walk it. Obviously we did not.

As we exit the old city, there is a map that shows the damage done during the conflict they had several years ago. While most people think the conflict was religious, we found out some interesting things about what happened.  Behind the city is a mountain range and beyond that the area was originally settled by the Turks. In the early days, the people of Dubrovnik paid the Turks a yearly peace offering so they would not attack the city. Therefore, third area remained protestant while the area beyond the mountains was Muslim.

While it appeared to be a religious war, what happened is that certain people in Bosnia wanted access to the Mediterranean Sea and therefore the entire war was going land and water access.

During this time period, the Bosnian troops occupied the top of the mountain and placed their guns about three miles away from the city. They bombarded the city relentlessly and the city was damaged considerably. This map and legend shows the buildings that were hit by bombs, by shrapnel, burned, as well as damage to the streets.

It is amazing that the damage for the most parts has been fixed. The reason for the orange roofs is that when the world organizations rebuilt the city, they were requested to put orange roofs on the buildings as that is the color of their national flag. When you see all the orange, it is amazing that the city was not razed instead of being rebuilt.

As we make our way back to the ship, I can say we had a great day. Still, I love Croatia.

I must be off!