Nothing Special

 June 10, 2017

On this our last day in Dubrovnik, it strikes me as appropriate to find ourselves at a local cafe that Adele identified during a morning walk that took us to the many stone stairs and side streets of the old city. We like to discover places that are local, quirky and authentic...'nothing special' to the untrained eye. Tinsel is such a place. It is totally nondescript and easily missed. Adele did not notice Tinsel as such. Rather, she glancingly spied an old lady sitting by herself, smoking, at a tiny granite table top in a narrow alley. It spoke to her in ways that moved us to circle around the main drag back to the spot where the craggy senior puffed and mused.

We sat down in a haze of cigarette smoke and fumes of Croatian conversations. Residents, real people who, although only 70 feet from 'Studan' the major tourist street, could have been thousands of kilometers and hundred of years afar. Their lives, lived in the bowels of the center of life in Dubrovnik, seemed strangely akimbo. Residents are not unawares of their surroundings, rather they live in disregard of the goings-on of those who today trample on 12th century cobble stones and tomorrow float away on their Carnival Cruise. Their voices were unrestrainedly loud, like neighbors calling one another from tenement windows despite the fact that an ashtray was the only distance between them. 

One cup of coffee...hours of relaxing pleasure. 

 Cushions line the stairs of the streets where you can relax with a cup of espresso.

The flight from Saint Petersburg landed at 11 PM and we did not arrive at the apartment until about midnight. Our host, Marijana, was waiting for us. Indeed, she gave us a lot of time (given the late hour) to orient us. She was most kind and provided a great deal of information. However, driving in the darkness of night I was not prepared for what turned out to be the dramatic 'introduction' to Dubrovnik. That was the large, floor to ceiling, sliding window in our apartment that afforded us a view of the harbor, the 'old city' walls and streets below.

When Adele and I lived in Brooklyn Heights, New York, we would almost daily walk along the Promenade, that famous 1/3 mile strip over the Brooklyn/Queens Expressway with a view of lower Manhattan: South Street Seaport; the Financial Center; and the World Trade Center buildings (before 9/11). Never boring, this testimony to human capacity, along with the endlessly diverse and changing sky, always offered exceptional and rare beauty. This is how we felt of the view from our apartment.

MORNING

NIGHT

...AND NOON

One day, we took a motorboat tour of the surrounding islands. On the way to all points North, our skipper told us of natural caves where you can swim underneath rock openings into 15 meter high recesses that were lightless, yet reflected a strange blue shimmering light. So, we drove to a location and Lorin, our guy, dropped the ladder for me to swim into the vacant darkness. I can't say that I was thrilled with the prospect of being on my own, feeling that a 'buddy' might give me greater confidence. But, I breathed and convinced myself that my swimming stroke was more than adequate to take me into and out of the cave...and any imagined danger.

Technically, the opening to the cave was off to the right of the photo and demanded that I swim beneath rock. What you see immediately behind us is simply a recess. Notice that we have not been starving.

Would you mind walking the walls with me? Adele and I began one day at the opening of the walk atop the city "walls". The parapet is above the roof tops but not so high that you lose the 'on the ground' perspective. Dubrovnik dates back to the 7th century. History is not one of my strong points, neither do I wish to bore you with "Wikipedia" like facts about the city. Suffice it to say, that like many historical sites, Dubrovnik has had its share of conflicts and conflagrations. Yet, through it all and with the assistance of walls that are 1.5-3 meters thick, most of the structural stone is original.

We started our self-guided tour at 8:30 in the morning, a full hour before the "tours" of the walls began. This gave us ample time to explore, walk at a natural pace, hold hands and peak over the edges without having to scramble and navigate tourists. [i will shortly publish another post about tourists and 'prejudice'] The views are exceptional. The sky was a deep coral blue reflecting the literally crystaline clear water. I read an article about 'testing' that was just conducted on all waterways and bathing areas in and around Dubrovnik - 16 locations in all. Each of these beach areas received the highest score for purity and clarity except for two which were a single level lower than the top rated.

Looking out toward the harbor.

Getting our 10,000 steps a day in.

A colorful private courtyard. 

Rooftops. 

Getting "high" in Dubrovnik. 

I really liked Dubrovnik. The old city is most certainly commercial. But, it is not blighted by international name brand stores that insinuate Main St., USA making one wonder why you left in the first place. Local olive growers sell oil; a costumed lady sells handmade lace doilies and fabric dolls in native garb; a shop sells homemade natural fruit bars; and homemade ice cream and gelato shops abound. We left Dubrovnik after 6 days ready for our next stop (Split - up the Dalmatian Coast) - but energized by our return to Western Civilization.