We took an early morning bus out of Plitvice and arrived at the populated city of Zagreb this afternoon. Zagreb is the capitol of Croatia. It is very modern with a lot of shopping, malls, and high- tech transportation that includes electric trams.
Our studio apartment is perfect and a nice treat after a few days of hostels. The door to our stairway leads right out onto the outdoor Dolac market. That means we can get fruits, vegetables, and cheeses by just stepping out our door. A delicious bakery is right around the corner. This afternoon we did a bit of a walk around and ended up at the Museum of Naive Art. It is a little hard to explain Naive Art, but I’ll give it a try: themes often come from rural roots, the artists are talented but usually not formally trained, and it is often painted with oil on glass rather than canvas. It became very popular in Croatia in the 1930’s. I liked mostly all of it. Cows Hauling Wood by Ivan Vecenaj was one of my favourites. What do you think of this style? Looking forward to more of Zagreb tomorrow. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom.
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A short walk from our hostel and we were at the Mestrovic Gallery in the sculptor’s former mansion. Ivan Mestrovic sketched the original inspiration for his work titled Job while he was imprisoned by the Ustase in 1941 and the sculpture itself was carved by the artist in exile during World War II. Although the powerful piece technically dramatizes the religious theme Job, commentators say that Mestrovic drew on his experiences to characterize “a silent scream against the insanity of war”. It is very moving regardless which context you view it in.
After a long and complicated bus ride we are near the Plitvice Falls. It is a lot cooler here with kind of an Austrian feel. Quite a contrast from Split. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. We left the Port of Dubrovnik very early this morning by catamaran ferry. For seven hours our boat deked around islands to finally arrive at Split. We knew we had hit a bit of a rough patch about an hour off our destination when they started handing out motion sickness bags. Proud to report we didn’t need them.
Split’s old town is built on bits and chunks of Roman Emperor Diocletian’s palace—actually his retirement home. Modern mixes with ancient. You can peek in bank windows and see computer terminals set up beside ancient pillars. You can even say hello to an ancient Sphinx Diocletian brought from Egypt on your way for pizza. Dad and I spent hours rooting around the ancient ruins. The tiny but elaborate cathedral used to be Diocletian’s mausoleum before Rome fell. Definitely karma as he did some really cruel things to believers in the Early Christian church ( 300-ish AD). Thinking of you all back home. You are Always in My Prayers. Love Mom. When the weekend arrives in Dubrovnik both savvy tourists and locals head out to Lokrum Island. Only 600 m from the old town by boat the island is surprisingly free from crowds. Lokrum is complete with the ruins of an old Royal Fort and an abandoned Benedictine Monastery. The Monastery houses a replica of “The” Game of Thrones Iron Throne—which Dad had to try out.
There are olive groves, orange trees, and flowering cacti. Metal ladders hang off the rocks so you can lower yourself into the salty Adriatic for a swim. Peacocks and really big fat rabbits wander among the sunbathers looking for snacks. And of course there was a Gelato stand! It was an absolutely perfect spot to spend the day. When we landed back in Dubrovnik we were excited to enjoy another local tradition. Saturday must be a popular day for weddings. The bride and groom and all their friends parade through the old town behind a flag bearer. There are guitarist and accordions and singing. So much fun! Tomorrow morning we leave Dubrovnik early (7 a.m.) on what Dad calls the poor man’s cruise ship—the ferry. So, the next time we post we will be in Split, Croatia. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. Bosnia Herzegovina is a country of threes: three official languages, three religions, three flags, three presidents, three peoples. Our guide considers the 1992 fighting in Mostar a civil war—neighbours against neighbours. Everyone lost someone. A stencil on the wall near our restaurant reads, “All Gave Some, Some Gave All”
The bombing took down their bridge—their symbol of peace between peoples. (You can actually see this War Footage on YouTube https://youtu.be/_5tTbXAQ4uA ) In 2004 the bridge was reopened using as much of the original material as possible. The bridge is mended. Mending Trust and building on forgiveness among the Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs may take longer. You are Always in My Prayers. Love Mom. Today was fun, fun, fun. Our kayaking adventure started right below the Pile Gate. To our left were the walls of Dubrovnik. As you paddled along you felt very small in comparison. Just beyond the spot where the wall ended was a cave which was great for snorkelling. The water felt refreshing after working so hard to get there. There were about four different types of fish. They weren’t very colourful, but there were lots of them. Then the hard part.....this really pushed me. We kayaked all the way around Lokrum Island which is only about 6 km. It looked so beautiful that I think we are going to head back over there this weekend. After our adventure we climbed up to see Fort St Lawrence (the picture is from the top of the Fort and you can see some Kayaks in the water—they look really tiny). Are any of you Game of Thrones fans? Well, a lot of the TV series is filmed here in Dubrovnik and especially around the Fort. They even have Game of Thrones tours that take you to all of the places where they film. So, essentially we are living in a real life fantasy world😄 Off to Bosnia for the day tomorrow. You are Always in My Prayers. Love Mom. The Croatians are definitely serious about their border; so it was great to have a guide to help us pass into Montenegro. Montenegro is NOT part of the European Union, but uses the Euro. Croatia is part of the EU but has their own unique currency. Go figure??
We took a small bus to Perast and then took a water-taxi to Our Lady of the Rock, back to Perast, and then over to Kotor. The bay is quite stunning. But the best stories of the day involve birds and cats. First the bird. “Be Careful”, she said.—“There is a giant pigeon up there and he is vicious.” Instead of deterring us this somehow encouraged us to climb the bell tower of the Church of St Nicholas in Perast. The steep and winding staircase was so low that Dad had to crawl at points. Getting to the top was well worth it until Dad “accidentally” rang the bell signalling 1 o’clock (it wasn’t one o’clock). Well, this excited the vicious pigeon who promptly flew over Dad’s head and deposited a giant pile of pigeon poop on Dad’s shoulder. If getting pooped on by a bird is considered lucky—let’s just say Dad is very, very lucky. The fortified city of Kotor in Montenegro has been parcelled out to many different empires over the centuries. The quotation above the city gate celebrates its liberation from the Nazis on November 21, 1944. Along with the date is a quote from Tito that translates to something like, “We do not need other people's things, and we do not give our own." Or my version of it...”just leave us alone”. What everyone seems to be letting them keep are the cats. They sell cat t-shirts , cat bells, toy cats, ceramic cats...you name it...everything cats. And of course there are cats everywhere. I asked a vendor in the market what was with all the cats. She said that the symbol for Venice is the lion and their symbol is the kitty cat. Apparently every home has a least one cat—and of course they have NO mice. So if you are a cat person you might want to head to Kotor. Fabulous day. We had pizza in the square in Kotor. It doesn’t come with tomato sauce. They bring you a gravy boat of tomato sauce on the side and you can add what you want. I am still trying to decide if I like it that way—leaning toward Yes. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. |
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Ray & Diane
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