Walking the Walls

Just do it.

Mea Culpa

As the name, "My Guilt", suggests, Mea Culpa serves good and extremely filling pizza.  Always a queue at peak hours.

The Fountain

A source of pride for those in the Old Town. A historic part of Dubrovnik, it was shelled in the war but has since been restored.

German Modern Art

A piece of modern art I rather like.  By a German artist, it was built to celebrate independance in the modern era.  Just outside Pile Gate

Nautika and Gil's

Widely-toted, but basically crap.  So don't bother.

Poklisar

In the old port. This is a family-run restaurant with good food, service and a great location. In the evening the live music adds to the atmosphere. Possibly my favorite.

Gradska Kavana

Been around forever, this is where you sit and watch the world go by from a slightly elevated position.

Cele, Orlando, Festival

These are good cafes to sit and watch the world go by.

Watching the world go by

Sitting in a cafe on Stradun and watching people walk past seems like a strange pastime, but in Dubrovnik it is just part of the experience.

Swimming

Whatever you do, swim.

Steak House Domino

A landmark restaurant.  They do great steak and always have done.

Saint Blaise's Church

The Church of St. Blaise, my namesake.  The patron saint of throats, he saved a boy from choking to death on a bone by the sign of the cross.  Originally Armenian, he is Dubrovnik's patron saint.  Atop every archway is his figure, holding the town in his hand.

JournoList

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/22/AR2010072206024.html

Aaaaaah....

Orlando's Statue

Built in 1427, the statue of Roland (alias Orlando, Hruodland and others) stands in front of the Church of St. Blaise.  A knight of Charlemagne and a prominent figure throughout Europe and European history since the 9th century, it was erected as a symbol of the freedom of the Ragusan Republic.  A freedom that is, due to the events of recent years as well as the past, especially poignant.

Richard the Lionheart's Cathedral

The Cathedral up ahead was built at the bequest of the 12th Century English King, Richard I (or Richard the Lionheart), as a token of thanks to Dubrovnik.  When his ship was caught in a storm he sought refuge in the town and the people welcomed him graciously. 

The building itself has since been rebuilt, but the original foundations remain.

Karmen: The Goal

For most of my life, this goal was just graffiti on the wall.

Karmen

Karmen is one of the oldest parts of the walled city.  It is on the side closest to the sea, and has historically been known as the poorer section of the Old Town, though the term hardly applies now.

It is a labyrinthine, casbah-like place.  You can find in it the most obvious remnants of the early 1990s war: rubble and stray cats are still quite visible.  Thankfully, the Old Town's has been restored zealously over the years.  

George Bernard Shaw

I generally disagree with G. B. Shaw on many subjects, but not on his appraisal of Dubrovnik: "If you want to see heaven on earth, come to Dubrovnik."

Lokrum: The Dead Sea

In the middle of the island is a place referred to as the Dead Sea.  A channel runs from the sea to this point in the island, making it a popular swimming spot, particularly among locals.

Lokrum

Apologies for the delay in getting this post to you, I was wrapped up for a couple of days.

Across the sea from the Old Town, more or less a kilometer out, is the island of Lokrum.  It broke off the mainland in a massive earthquake many years ago.  As a result of this, there are species of plant on the island found nowhere else in the world.  There are also peacocks.

It is my favorite place to go swimming, and there are many places to go for it.  Piers, rocks and a nudist beach if you are so inclined.  Inside what used to be an 11th century monastery is a botanical garden.  There is a fort on the highest peak of the island, and a cross marking the death of the sailors on a German World War I warship that sunk in a storm between the island and the mainland. 

For 40 kunas, you can get a return ticket on a ferry which leaves every half hour from the Old Town.  The ride is 10-15 minutes.  The last boat back is at 8 p.m., after which the island is scouted for stragglers.  As a nature reserve and essentially a huge tinderbox, it is zealously maintained and protected. 

The Market

Every morning there is a market in the Old Town.  It's not where you go to buy fish (that's a couple of miles away, and much larger).  You go here for fruit, herb brandy, lavender and embroidery.

Beach Dreams

When you fall asleep in the heat the day you can have really strange dreams.  This one was strange enough I'm going to write about.

I was in London with my sister and her friends, at home.  We were watching TV, my parents were out, and we had to order dinner.  Since I was going to see friends, my sister said she would call the curryhouse in time for my arrival back home.  

So I went out, did some shopping, and ended up meeting some mates along Holland Park.  Somehow I ended up in the my friend's mother's Land Rover, where my shopping got mixed up with hers.  Amongst the group was a friend from America.  He was constantly vomiting. 

I got separated and locked in the car until my friend and his mother got in.  I could not speak until we were in the middle of nowhere, where they kindly let me out.  

I wandered until dawn, when I found myself at a boarding school that seemed to think I was a pupil, or at least an exchange.  I saw a friend there I met on an actual exchange I went on a few years ago.  He was still cool.

The Headmistress called me in.  She was not cool.  Having made plain to me all the constraints I was under, I suddenly could not speak.  Again.  I was trapped in a staff meeting but eventually escaped.  

I spoke to countless students and eventually got directions to a train station.  After several hours I hit on a small commuter town.  While asking for directions to double check where I was headed I dropped my wallet down a trashcan.  I was getting help when there was a flash and I was suddenly at the train station.  I immediately checked my bag and thankfully the wallet was in there, so I shoved it into my pocket.  I still had all my shopping.  

I looked up at the train map but nothing made any sense.  I literally did not know the name of a single station.  The staff wanted nothing to do with me, but I had to keep asking people, despite everyone ignoring me.  One woman even wailed "No, no, no" when I approached her.  

Running out of options, I decided to get on a train and take my chances.  On the platform I could see the sky.  It was dark once again.  There were some Texans there, apparently enrolled at a technical college nearby, who were stoking a confrontation with some Englishmen on the other side.  Not wanting to be associated with them, I turned and began strolling back to the other end and the stairs from which I came.  

As I turned I noticed a woman get down on the tracks and begin to crawl across.  It was the same woman who had cried "No, no no" at me.  I flicked my head up to see a train bearing down on her, not 30 feet away. 

My stroll turned into a run as I made for the stairs.  I knew what would happen and I did not want to be there for it.  Just as I leaped up the first three I heard a thump, and then a soft spray on the back of my neck.  There were audible splats from the platform behind.  

I made it up the first flight where a woman, one who had run away from me earlier, stood shaken and watching out of a window.

"Happen?" she asked.

"It happened, it happened," I said.  Then I grabbed her and we headed up and away from the platform, back into the station.  

Suddenly, I was in a flat in Paddington.  I was surrounded by people I did not know, and they were all doing drugs.

A flash, and I woke up.

Buza

Buza is the name of a gate on the outer side of the city walls, or just 'the hole in the wall.'  A big attraction. apart from the Motown-playing cafe (great for sunset), is the jump.  It's doable, but not really safe.  

For a video, follow this link.  http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=268386155045 

Photo courtesy of Luke Jordan.

Dinner

I heard a story at dinner tonight about a friend of a friend doing his military service in South Korea.  One night, a young man in his barracks shot himself in the head by his bunk.  When the officers on duty confirmed the death, they could not touch the crime scene until the next day when those responsible for investigations and forensics were back on duty.  So the 20 soldiers in that barracks slept in their bunks as usual, beside the body.

Early Morning

The clean-up crew moves in, and the travelers move out.

The Weird Rock Thing

Jutting out from the side of a cathedral is shiny outcrop of stone highly polished by years of shoes slipping on it.  The challenge is to stand on it, take off your shirt, and put it back on, without falling off.  It is best done by small children, and other than one very small and skinny woman, everyone older than 12 has failed.  

Nonetheless, people continue to try, especially as the night gets later and the crowd gets more enthusiastic.

The seven year old son of Kreso Dolencic, a famous theatrical director in town for the Libertas festival, plays Japanese Folk music on a recorder to boost his pocket money.

McEnroe vs. Ivanisevic

John McEnroe and Goran Ivanisevic are playing on a court set up in the Old Town today.  

McEnroe:  "Hey Umpire, could you move that church a little bit?"

During the tie break after the second set, McEnroe got a beer from the crowd, downed it, and hit an ace.  Ivanisevic then did exactly the same.  At one point Ivanisevic let a ball boy take his place for a few points and climbed into the crowd to hand one of his bottles of water to a sweating female spectator.  

Ivanisevic won 6-3 4-6 10-6.

I'm going to the opening of art exhibition tonight.

Dubrovnik: Intro

I'm not showing you pictures of the sea yet - set yourself in the town first.  

Before detail you need tone; sea is obvious.  Summer in Dubrovnik is about tourists, sun and sea.  And fish.  

Take your time.  

The Swiss

For the young, the best part of Dubrovnik is the night.  Travelers from all over converge, go out.   

Last night I met a Swiss trio whose names I can't quite grasp, who traveled in a camper van.  After the clubs closed, we watched Smokin' Aces back at mine.  The left me a note the next morning with a cigarette placed on top. 

Dubrovnik: Way In

Sometimes when you fly into Dubrovnik you get a glimpse of the town, but the general impression is often of gleaming water set by rugged mountains.  
The taxi ride is the best part. 20-30 minutes long, you wind through small villages on a winding road that occasionally lets you see through the trees and the coastline ahead of you. Pulling past a sign for the Hotel Astarea, you know that you are in Mlini and that you haven't been paying attention to the road signs. Then, far above the town you see Lokrum, the island just off the town that broke off from the land a while ago. Now you start swinging left and right, descending to the walls. Suddenly you make a left and you're running alongside them. You stop at Ploce gate; there are no cars in the Old Town. Saint Blaise meets you on top of every archway as you walk down and eventually onto Stradun, the thoroughfare that bisects Dubrovnik.
I walk down, turn right, and take out my keys.

Al-Quaeda Go Glossy

So, Al-Quaeda have launched an English language magazine, obviously to get at the militant wanabees who can’t speak Arabic. Who said print was dead?