European travel always means a quick 8 hour time adjustment to our bodies, but our vivacious thirty-something tour director, Ivana, swept all 12 of us up yesterday at the airport and got us oriented, fed, and settled into our lovely hotel last night in greater Dubrovnik. This is "base camp" for our first three nights.
After a hardy buffet breakfast we began our tour of the old walled city with a local guide, who gave us a crash course in the history of the five former Yugoslav states that are now Croatia, Montenegro, Herzegovina, Bosnia, and Slovenia. The meaning of all this confusing and tumultuous evolution will, hopefully, gain clarity as we visit these counties along our way.
It is the first day of fall and it is hot and sunny along the coast. Old Dubrovnik is a 13th century walled city, filled with narrow streets, red tiled roofs, a mixture of religious institutions which reflects its multicultural history, modern shops and restaurants to please the tourists, and, of course, the great wall which surrounds the city and challenged us to climb the many steps to walk its perimeter. Not for the faint of heart! Lunch at a cool, hidden away courtyard cafe was ample reward for our efforts.
Our sunset gondola ride high above the city offered spectacular views of this most picturesque city and the many islands surrounding it on the Adriatic coastline. What a way to initiate this fine OAT group.
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