Dubrovnik, Croatia

One arrives in Dubrovnik across a magnificent suspension bridge from which one can look at the new part of the city and the harbour. The old city is hidden behind hills on the far side of the peninsula. The city is so hilly, that the entrance is through a tunnel that snakes down the side underneath the homes and buildings. We arrive in the Gruz or harbour area and investigate accommodation. There are a zillion tourist offices around town selling excursions and linking travellers with private rooms, about 1100 rooms available. The hotels are expensive apparently especially near the old city. We pick two studio apartments where we can get parking and they are about 50E each per night. Nearby is a bus stop that takes us in 10 minutes to the gate of the old city and there is a restaurant 2 min down from our place. We have a beautiful garden with an orange tree that wafts sweet scents around the place. As long as we take short showers we have hot water.
The old town is amazing..the shiny marble main street, the warren of alleys heading up from there on both sides and the walls that surround the whole area. The walls were never breeched and the city state of Dubrovnik only fell to Napolean by trickery in the early 1800's and eventually was taken over by the monster AHE. We walk the walls ..quite a cardio workout. We take the cable car to the top of Mt Srd for the amazing view and we take a boat ride to see the city from the water. There is only one cruise ship here today...so things are not too crowded and we can enjoy everything. We visit the War Museum at the top of the mountain..and see the 1991-2 shelling of Dubrovnik by the Serbs and Montenegrians. One can feel the hatred in the language on the signs..it is too soon to have any dedication to peace. I wonder how these small countries work things out today as they share such long borders...Serbia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Montenegro. So much is religion and ethnically based. Even in WW2 Croatia was with the Germans and Italians, Serbia and the others were with Russia and the allies. But most of the city is restored now very skillfully...so the surface looks good.
We spend a few days here and travel down to Montenegro for a day..have to show all the passports and the vehicle registration. Probably because of Albania and all the car thefts, they are more careful. Montenegro is so beautiful...but in the rain we don't see much. Maybe another trip?