Europe
2010
The challenges of traveling when you’re older
Part 6
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Tom is 70; his partner Greta is 68. They are currently on a 10-day cruise with
the first stop, Dubrovnik.
Cruise Day 2 Thursday, April 22, 2010
When Greta awoke me at 6:30 a.m. in our stateroom, I was surprised. The entire day before whenever we looked out from our window all
we saw was beautiful, blue ocean and an occasional island. That morning, the ship was already secured to the pier in Dubrovnik, Croatia,
with the hillside homes as a backdrop.
 We were off the ship by 8:10 a.m. We took a 15-minute shuttle bus ride ($15 each, roundtrip) arranged by Holland America to the Old
City where we arrived by 8:40. Dubrovnik is a walled city on the water with an extensive history of defending itself from invading
armies. In the 1991-1992 war, the city took a few shelling hits from the hills above from the Serbs and Montenegros.
Greta, who lived on Catalina Island off the Southern California Coast for a few years, said Dubrovnik reminded her of the people who
live year around on Catalina, a small, tightly- knit group of 2,000 or so who get ready for tourists as a way of life and hope to sell
their wares and jewelry when the tourists arrive.
 On that Thursday, it seemed not many tourists were buying. We only purchased a Crotian coffee mug. The woman shop owner had no cash
register, just a cardboard box for her change drawer. There are no passenger automobiles within the walls, only government mini-trucks
such as garbage trucks.
At that time in the morning, to provision restaurants and shops, supplies are wheeled in on hand carts or brought in by the shop
owners in bags. And you see empty bottles and other recyclable materials hauled out on those same hand carts. We were the only cruise
ship in port so for our ship members it was not crowded in the small Old City.
The sidewalks, even the rain gutters that are cut out of the sidewalks, are all made out of marble. One can walk the length of the
city in 10 minutes. There is no need to purchase a detailed map of Dubrovnik, unless one plans to study the city for more than a day.
We walked the entire Old City and toured the museum that featured art, antique furniture, and weapons from many wars. We looked into
cathedrals and churches. I enjoyed the Jesuit church up the hill with a monastery attached.
Dubrovnik is a quaint, clean city. Many of the streets are more like alleyways,
about 8-10 feet wide. Laundry is often dried on clotheslines that are suspended
across the streets, and attached to the opposite buildings, usually at the third
or fourth floor levels. Each side has a pulley. Neighbors must work out a co-op
system of alternate times drying clothes. There were lots of clean clothes out
drying on the day we visited.
We stopped at an outdoor market where all kinds of vegetables and items the
Croatians make by hand were for sale.
After five hours, we were hungry. We checked a few of the menus in restaurant
windows and were surprised that dining in Dubrovnik wasn’t cheap. Instead, with
the wonderful food onboard ship, we decided to head back to the ship a bit
early, and catch a late lunch there.
 There is a very modern bridge (opened May, 2002) in the area of Dubrovnik near
where the cruise ships dock—the Gruz docks harbor. It is named after the first
president in the post-Communist era, the Dr. Franjo Tudman suspension bridge.
Here is a photo of that bridge from the ship as we were leaving the port.
Entering or leaving, Dubrovnik is beautiful. Here is a picture of the Port of
Dubrovnik as the ship was departing.
To access Tom's ebook, "Italy: 23 Days by Train" follow this link:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/9907
| 
