April 28
Few countries in the world have as many geographical and natural diversities on such a small land surface as Croatia. Stretching from the northern most harbor of Rijeka to Dubrovnik in the south. Croatia’s coast is a stunning seascape of rare beauty. The true highlight is the legendary Dalmatian Coast where pristine beaches and deep blue waters merge into the cool Mediterranean. With approximately 1200 islands the Dalmatian Coast boosts the largest archipelago but also the cleanest and clearest waters in the Mediterranean. Dubrovnik is situated on the southern most section of Croatia. It is one of the most unique cities in the world, it is a place of ancient streets lined with stone palaces, Venetian style buildings and bell towers. It was recognized in 1979 as one of UNESCO’s world heritage treasures due to the numerous restoration projects executed over the past several centuries. Its people take pride in their uncompromised commitment to the restoration of the city at all cost.
We went ashore at 9:00 a.m with John and Maureen and took the shuttle to the ancient entrance at the Pile Gate of Old Walled City.
Pile Gate to Walled City
The walls were built between the 13th and 17th centuries. They are 3 to 19 feet thick and are 6200 feet long with several bastions and two great fortresses guarding each approach. We entered the walled city and it was unbelievable, the only problem was that there were 12,000 people from the 6 cruise ships in port. We avoided a lot of the crowd by taking side alleyways. Our first stop was the world’s oldest working pharmacy operating since the 14th century. Next to it was the 14th century monastery. John had to have his morning coffee so we stopped at a small cafe. I had a beer instead, it will be posted to the Beer List. We decided to do a little shopping, then had lunch. Our friend Shirley said the Bolognese Spaghetti was good here so we went to the Barracuda Spaghetti and Pizza Restaurant. It was excellent and we had a few more cold ones. We then walked around the city and enjoyed the atmosphere and shopped a little more. As if we have room to pack it for the journey home. The old walled city is just beautiful and clean. We ended up going to the café where we had coffee in the morning and had a few beers, which I will list shortly. It was getting late so we had to head back outside the walled city and get the shuttle back to the ship. We all wished the ship would overnight here. Once aboard the ship, we sat on the balcony as we cruised back out of the harbor. This is a place we would love to return to some day.
Old Port
Franciscan Priest on Placa Street
Old Saviour Church
The old pharmacy
We went to the buffet for a light dinner and were joined by John and Maureen so in John’s honor I had a Foster’s Oil Can with my dinner.
We sailed back out to the Adriatic Sea and set a west north westerly heading passing the islands along the Croatian coast before we alter onto a North Westerly course then at midnight we enter a traffic separation scheme as we head toward Koper, Slovenia.
