The Amalfi Coast

At the Amalfi Coast

     Naples  came into view as dawn ushered in the day.  We had planned a "Fun Ashore" excursion that would take the whole day.  So we got up early and had breakfast delivered to our room. Then we went down to the Liquid Lounge at 7:45, turned in our tickets and got a red sticker with a number 10 to stick on our shirt.  Then we looked for an available seat in the crowded auditorium and  waited for our numbered to be called.  The room was full of people who would be taking one of nineteen tours that were offered by the ship.  There were tours to Sorento, local wineries, Pompey, Amalfi Coast, Isle of Capri, and a climb to Mt. Vesuvius just to name a few.  We had planned a ride to the Amalfi coast where we would have lunch and then in the afternoon proceed to Pompeii.

Naples at dawn

      We waited patiently and finally our number 10 was called. We grabbed out water bottles and headed outside to the dock to board our number 10 bus.  There were a fleet of buses just waiting for passengers ready to make an assault on the highways around Naples and beyond.  In no time at all, our bus was completely full of passengers. It seemed this was a popular tour.  We had heard that the drive on the Amalfi Coast was a white knuckle drive being very curvy and narrow.  We couldn't trust ourselves to drive and sight see at the same time, so this was the best alternative.
       Our tour guide introduced herself as "Angelina" and said that we would all be her, big,  happy family.  To be in her charge we would have to obey, do as we were told, and above all stay together.  She showed us her "Popsicle Stick" sign with a number 10, and told us to always stay behind the sign when we were touring.  She introduced our driver as Paolo and said he was the best driver of the fleet.  She informed us that we would be driving for about an hour and then we would stop and have a bathroom break.    

  
     We began the drive out of the city and headed for the coast.  The highway built in 1815 by Ferdinand II of Bourbon is known as the "Nastro Azzuro" (Blue Ribbon) because it hugs the coast line, and the blue sea is always in sight. It was very narrow with lots of hair pin turns that were difficult for our large bus to navigate.  This was especially true if there was an on coming car coming the other directon.  What happened on several occasions was that the on coming car had to back up enough to allow the bus to make the turn. For this reason the large tour buses can only go one way from west to east. Luckily, everyone goes slowly enough, so that even on blind turns we could continue our tour.  One of our groups were not so lucky and the bus crashed into the car.  They then had to wait for another bus.
 

 As we drove on the edge of the cliffs, we were entertained by Angelina's knowledge of the Campania area that extends from Positano in the west to Vietri sul Mare in the east.  Historically, this area was first settled by Greeks around the 8th century BC.  Angelina pointed out three islands known today as "Li Gaili" that were known in ancient times as the Sirenes. The legend tells that the three Sirenes: Ligea, Leucosia and Partenope committed suicide when Odessus did not fall for their enchanting song.  This was related by Homer noting that the sailors of those days knew the dangers of navigating this coast.     
    

Li Galli Island

     Gallo Lungo is the biggest island and the only one that is inhabited.  In 1924 the American choreographer Leonide Massine had a majestic villa built on those ruins, which later on the architect Le Corbusier made even more charming. Among the last owners of the Island was also the Russian Ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev who bought the island and remained the owner until his death in 1994, where by it was acquired by a wealthy Italian family from Sorrento, Italy.     
     The Greeks that settled here were then harassed by the Etruscans who were fought off by the Greeks.  Then came the Samnites, Lucans and finally the Romans. After the last Roman emperor died int the fifth century, many Romans sought refuge in the mountainous coastline when they were invaded by the Barbarians.  For the next five centuries the lovely coast was dominated by the Goths, Byzantines, Lombards, Normans, Swabians, Angvins, Argonese, and Burbons.  In the 11th century, Amalfi became a major maritime trading city and became the capital of the powerful Amalfian Republic that rivaled Genoa and Pizza while Venice was in its infancy.  The coastal towns where fortified and connected by watchtowers that still can be seen in various outcrops or islands.

 

 We looked out the window and could see produce was growing in every bit of terrace available.
There were olive trees with the netting wrapped around the trunks that is used in harvest time.   Also several grove of lemons can be seen growing everywhere.  Lemons are important in making limoncello a popular drink made with lemons vodka and sugar.  There were produce stands on the edge of the road for people to buy produce if they could find a parking space.

Olive trees

    The bay of Positano was beautiful in the morning sun.

    The beauty of this coastline has been a favorite of celebrities.  There have also been several movies that have been filmed here.  Angelina asked us if we knew of any.  Several people in the front of the bus mentioned "Under the Tuscan Sun." She then added others that we may want to see when we got home:  "The Good Woman"  a remake of Oscar Wilde"s Lady Windermere's Fan  with Helen Hunt and Scarlett Johansson and Tom Wilkinson.  Another is" Only You" featuring Robert Downey Jr. and Marisa Tomei and "Beat the Devil" a 1953 film with Humphrey Bogart and Jennifer Jones and Gina Lollobrigida.

  

Ceramic shop

Angelina announce, "We are here!" as Paolo parked our bus in front of a ceramic shop.  The shop had a well equipped bathroom facilities to enable tourist to relieve themselves and hopefully buy something in the shop.  This area is well known for its pottery, and we had at least half hour to stretch our legs and do some window shopping!  I bought a lovely Oil Vase that wouldn't take too much space in my suit case.

     We boarded the bus and Paolo continued the drive east to Almalfi.  On our way we noticed several beautiful resorts hugging the cliff below.

Angelina pointed to one resort in particular where she and her husband had spent their honeymoon.
Nine months later she had a baby.  They frequented this resort again two more time during their marriage because it was such a special place, and she became pregnant again!  After the third time, she said she would not go the this resort again...three babies was enough!

Angelina's Honeymoon Resort

 Little settlements were clustered on the dolomite cliffs around every bend.  Capo de Orso was a small settlement that could only be approached by sea. Near the Furofe gorge where a stream once powered a paper mill. The water descends to the sea opening to the small beach at the Conca dei Marini

There were places here and there where there was parking for small cars and then tourist could walk down long flights of stairs to reach resorts down below.

Buses and bikes share the road!

In many cases this caused a traffic jam when a car needed to parallel park!

We continued along as Angelina pointed out the types of natural vital vegetation that grows to keep the dolomite cliffs intact. The area is scattered with holm oaks, arbutus berries, mastic trees, heather, myrtle, and honeysuckle bushes.  Planting is done in terraces or is open space if it is available.

Plants growing in terraced plots

A rare piece of flat ground for a garden.

There are other areas that are only accessible by sea. One of these is the Grottta dello Smeraldo or the Emerald Grotto.

Emerald Grott

     Daylight  filters through an entrance way which lies almost 12 meters underwater causing it to refract and change color, reappearing as an intense emerald green inside the cavern.   As you enter, Angelina said, that you could see stalactites and stalagmites some rising out of the water.
Going on, we look down on the village of Vettica Minore whose church and majolica-tiled bell tower is home to the Madonna of the Rosary.  It was built in the 16th century after the previous church of
 St. Pancratius what demolished by Turkish galleys the the 1543.

Church of the Madonna of the Rosary

 Soon we came to the sea side town of Amalfi.  It was equipped with a heliport and a dock.

 Paolo drove to the center of town and  parked the bus near a park called piazza de Flavio Gioia named for the inventor of the compass.  Angelina had us all give a standing ovation to our fantastic driver, Paolo who got us here safe and sound!

Statue of Flavio  Gioia inventor of the compas in 15th century

In the piazza

     Angelina lead us to a near by restaurant for lunch.  It was part of the second story building and a beautiful panoramic view on the outside veranda.  We chose a table with a young couple from Indiana.  They were both beginning teachers and we had a lot in common as we ate through a wonderful meal specially order for us by Angelina.  Together with a wonderful bottle of local wine that was provided gratis by the travel agency, we sat back and enjoyed the view.  Before we left we took pictures of each other against the lovely Amalfi Bay.

Amalfi Beach

Tennis at the park

Posing at the Restaurant

After our meal Angelina gave us time to go to the town to visit the church and buy keepsakes.  She said we had one hour and we were to meet at the park.  If we were not there then she would surmise that we planned to stay in Amalfi the rest of our life...which was a pretty good thing!
    We entered the town though the Porta de la Marina.

 It consisted of one large thoroughfare that slowly climbed up the hill.  Next to the entrance was a old ceramic  map of the eastern Mediterranean Sea

Ceramic map of eastern Mediterranean Sea

We walked through the portal and into another piazza with a fountain of St Andrew the patron saint of sailors.

Fountain of St. Andrews the patron saint of sailors.

         Walking on we were mezmirized by the long length of steps leading up the the Cathedral of St Andrew.

     There are 57 steps that lead to the atrium of the cathedral.  John wanted to race up to the top but I said not just yet. It said that St Andrew has been buried in this cathedral since1208. There are two celebrations to the saint: in November 30th and June 27th.  They celebration is to commemorate the defeat of the ferocious corsair chief known as Barbarossa in 1544.  It is thought that the saint played a major role in the victory over the Muslim fleet.   The celebration begins with guitar music from the boats at sea and a religious processions begins with the brotherhood  caries the saint's statue down to the sea in a slow procession.  The fishermen take over and shoulder the big silver saint carrying him back.  They begin with a slow procession and their pace gets brisker and brisker ending with a race up the steep, lofty staircase taking the saint back into the cathedral.  After the race the saint stand at rest in the middle of the square. I am thinking I would like to enter John in the race and see how he holds up!
    We decide to check the shops.  One shop has samples of the original paper that was made here.   Paper was made in a near by village called Valle dei Mulini.  They learned how to make paper from the Arabs and it became a valuable tool for writing.  One of the important documents that was carried on every ship was the Amalfi Table.  It is one of the oldest documents of navigation law written in the 11th century.  It is a legal reference work for the sailors and merchants who earned their living from the sea.  It is written in Latin and most recent chapters in Italian. It conveys the relationship between the ship owners and merchants, crews, and public institutions.  It was essentially the agreement drawn up between ship owners and crew regulating the services to be performed.  It provides for profit sharing as well as social security benefits for crew members injured at work.  When the ship was at the mercy of a storm, the decision whether or not to throw overboard all the cargo, depended on the crew's vote.  Lastly on board each ship were a scribe and a consul whose task it was to arbitrate disputes as they arose.  That seemed like a pretty democratic way of handling things even then!
     John found a book that he liked and I am grateful because I relied on it for much of this research.

We continued our way down the street and it looked like they were getting ready for their June Festival.

Starting to put up banners for the Fesival!

Around another bend we found another lovely fountain that was low enough for children to get a drink.

Children's fountain

We also entered and looked at many pottery shops.  Pottery making was introduced by the Spanish who settled here for a time and left their mark in these lovely works of art.

Finally we doubled back and went to climb the stairs of the church.

They were small enough to take two at a time and we finally reached the top a bit out of breath.  The church was closed so we could not enter to see the beauty that was inscribed in our book but we did take a look of the portico with the Moorish arches and frescoes.  The church is an amazing mixture of Baroque, Romanesque, and Moorish architecture.  Its an example of all the different influences of people that have inhabited the coast.

     Now it was time to leave, so we descended the staircase and headed for the Porta dela Marina.  We went across the street where our group was gathering in the Piazza de Flavio. and waited for Angelina's directions.  She chose two young men, one of which was Brett our friend we had dined with earlier.  She made them make an arch with their hands and called the "family" to queue up to make a line. She then had each of us go through the arch and she counted: uno, due, tre, quattro cinque....until she came to thirty.  She was delighted that everyone was there, and she would not have to leave anyone behind!

With that, we walked to our bus and resumed our trip to the famous ruins of Pompeii.

Sea Day on the Carnival Sunshine!

Ready for a night on the ship!

       We left Dubrovnik and started our long sail south on the Adriatic Sea.  The plan was to sail all night and the next day and the next night until we arrived at our next port of call.  To us it meant party time!   We planned a lovely early dinner and then take in the show at the Liquid Lounge.  Tonight we were eager to see the "Rock and Roll Experience" performed by singers and dancers sponsored by the Playlist Productions. 
       The show was remarkable, utilizing the special effects screen.  The shows could be instantly transformed by using the video screen and special scrims rolled down captivating the light.  The half-hour show unfolded with full energy without a pause.  It ended with audience participation by dancing in the isles and on the floor below.  The group of six dancers were fantastic in their dancing and singing as they sang through great pop favorites that left everyone in a high mood at the end of the show.

Using the large video screens for special effects

Using small stages among the audience

       We were in such a terrific mood that we continued to party at the cabaret where a band played great disco dance songs. It was only when a large family group from India got on the floor and started dancing with all the little children and having a great old time that we decided to leave.  We ambled to the Comedy Club presented by George Lopez and sat in the front row.  Gerrid our server from the dining room, came up and suggested we sit elsewhere if we didn't want the comic to pick on us.  So we quickly scrambled back a few seats.  We oldered our drinks and waited for the comic.
        The ship flies new comics in to different destinations from ship to ship so there would be a fresh supply of one liners for us to enjoy during our voyage.  This particular comic was recovering from jet lag for a few nights and now he was getting his chance to make us laugh.  We were hoping that he would not use the "F" word in profusion and not tell many sick bathroom jokes.  The comic was introduced and he hoped up to the stage.  He began his patter and from his accent  we could tell that he was from Scotland.  So, he first started off  picking on the people sitting in the front seats asking them about their sex life, then he went into some bathroom humor about flushing the ship's toilets and the noise they make.  Now we waited for the his best one liners but it was a bit difficult to figure out what he was saying due to his Scottish brogue.  So we do the best and give him a few HA -HAs  and drink a few more drinks. He is finally done, and so are we as we get up and head for bed.
        The next day was a sea day and we were eager to check out the workout room which was one floor below us in the Spa.  The room was filled with the top of the line Lifestyle fitness equipment: gliders, treadmills, and stationary bikes.  All of them had TV screens into which you could program  a variety workouts depending on your fitness preference.  We were delighted that they had a program that would give you visuals so that if you chose running, you would actually be running in the Red wood Forest in California or in the trails in New Zealand!  The room was also equipped with free weights and muscle machines.  Since we were pretty familiar with our surrounding, we quickly chose our regime and went to work.
     Unfortunately, all the glider machines and most of the treadmills were taken up by lots of Chinese guests who got up early to start their workout programs.  I found a stationary bike and chose a lovely ride in the Champagne country side of France.  I looked over and found John jogging on one of the treadmills and he was doing a run in the outback of Australia among a group of bouncing kangaroos.
     The spa also had yoga, spinning, and Pilates classes.  We had been given ship board credit for these, so I signed up to do them later in the week.  As it turned out, however, I had little time to do anymore that my own workout. Although I would have loved to do Pilates with Kevin who was a handball player from South Africa and had a great physique.
     After breakfast we went outside and checked out all the activities available to keep people busy.  Most were just pretty happy laying on their lounge chairs reading or sleeping.  We checked out the miniature golf.  It was on the very top level of the ship so we climbed up and found putters and balls.  We had a great time doing the course at least five times and sometimes using two balls each.  It didn't take long to figure out the best putting plan once we knew the undulations of the carpet. 

     We checked that game off the list and went to explore other fun things to do.  The deck below housed the ladder to the slide and another one to the Sports Square sky walk.  There were a bunch of teens packed in the basketball netted area. They were having a great game of half court hoops.  The slides were pretty busy as well, and we thought we would try them out.  John wanted to race on the double race slide and most of the kids liked them too because they were fast dropped you down at the very end. I thought I would try the yellow one because it was longer and and had more turns.  It sent you out on a slowly at first then you would go in and out of dark tunnels which made it mysterious.  I like to make spooky sounds when I am going through these tunnels alerting people sitting down below on lounges.  After lots of turns you finally get flushed down into a trough at the end.
       John tried to get me to race with him and when I didn't,  he got some of the kids to race him.  On the fourth walk up the ladder, I asked one kid if he was beating the "big guy" as I pointed to John up ahead.  He said,  "No, nobody can beat him even if we put our hands across our chest and make like a " pencil," he still beats us! I pondered and said," ... maybe its because he has more mass???"  "I dunno," said the kid as he scampered to take his position at the Green Monster.  I made my way to the Yellow Python for another twisting HOWLER...
 

 At noon we changed out of our bathing suits and went to lunch.  We had built up and appetite and the selections were fantastic.  Before we knew it our dishes were full.  We found a little table in the Ji Ji Asian Table restaurant. It was just our style for a quiet lunch with quiet "elevator" music and an occasional big band sound and Rosemarie Clooney singing lyrics.."Button up your over coat, get to bed by three,  take good care of yourself ..You belong to me!"  Adding to the mood we were surrounded by black and white pictures of old celebrities and older captains with interesting Italian names and pictures of the first vessels of the fleet.   We settled into eating our meal and just as one dish was empty, it would be removed by the waiters buzzing around us like little bees in their yellow outfits.
      Now it was time to relax and to play our afternoon game of gin.  John had bought a an expensive deck of cards in Venice when we found we had forgotten ours.  The cards had pictures of all the great sites in Venice.  We loved the way they shuffled and dealt.  It was one of the best things we bought in Venice.

    So we were ready to deal.  For some odd reason, I happened to win 100 to 32.  It must have been the cards!
       After a restful game we were ready to go back outside and play.  We walked through the snack shop and noticed our group of Chinese ladies had put several tables together and had organized a large group of Ma Jong players.  They were seriously into their game and were not a bit disturbed by the antics that was going on outside.
      The afternoon party had started with the Entertainment kids all dressed in red leading line dancing.  I told John this was the time to join in and make complete fools of ourselves. So we got in line and did the Cupid Shuffle, The Wobble, Electric Slide, and the Macarena.  While we were dancing the guy with the camera was filming us, and we could see ourselves on the jumbo movie screen above.  This was the first party event and the Entertainment crew did a great job of getting a sizable group of lounge lizards off their chairs to join in the dance.  When it was over everyone headed for the Red Frog Bar, the Thirsty Frog, The Red Frog Rum Bar, or the BlueIguana Tequila Bar. We were hot and sweaty so we went up stairs to the Serenity Spa to jump into the pool.

     There was a large group of sunbathers sitting on the perimeter of the pool.  The water looked so inviting with the twelve foot waterfall splashing down one end.  We jumped in like a couple of otters swimming under the waterfall and then letting it hit us on the head and doing handstands on the bottom it was all great fun.  Everyone there was really mellow like they had been there all afternoon.  By the looks of their drink glasses, they had drunk enough to go back to the lawn chair and take a little nap before dinner.   We remembered that we had a special dinner set up at the Ji Ji Chinese Table so we jumped out and headed to our stateroom.
   

At seven we walked into the dining room.  The lovely hostess and owner, Yan Lee, took us to a table next to a window overlooking the sea.  It was still light enough for us to see the water rippling by and watch the sunset on the glassy waves. Our server was Azel Bulakbai a beautiful statuesque girl with lovely pearly skin and slight almond eyes.  She was from Kazakhstan and a college graduate in history.  She had just started working on the ship to improve her English and to learn about people of the world.
        When John heard the word Kazakhstan, he blurted out. "Oh Borat, Shasha Cohan.... the movie!" Azel rolled her eyes, and said, "Yes, that's all people know about Kazakhstan!"
       We talked more about Kazakhstan and I pointed out that it had been on the silk route and was the fist place where apples and other foods fist appeared.  She pointed out that it was also the fist place of domestication of the horse.  These connections were vital in the development of Europe.  She also pointed out that the U.S. had a base in Kazakhstan from which it launched planes into Iraq and Afghanistan. 
     Azel gave us our menus and said she would be back in a few minutes.  We had a chance to look at the menu which was unique in the selection of foods.

These mouth-watering creation were inspired by cuisines from China, Mongolia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam.  Some of the appetizers were Nanjing duck dating back 1,400 years ago, also slow -based pork belly and chicken & Cilantro Root.
    In a few minutes Azel came back with a set of dice to see who would get to chose the dishes on the menu.  She asked me to toss them and I got a 2.  Then John tosses them and got a 7.  We each had to toss again and if we got our number we would be the chooser. After several tosses John got the 7.  I was wondering what he would choose since he is strictly a steak and potato kind of guy!
     Azel waited with pen in hand ready for the order. John looked for anything with beef or shrimp and chose Jade Shrim Har Gow as an appetizer, Peppered Beef in a bird's nest for the entree Himalaya Basami fried rice on the side, and Caramelized Crepes with calamansi citrus ice cream.
The food was fantastic with the most unusual tastes. The presentations were so lovely we hated to disturb them by eating such a work of art.
     When we were done we were served tea and a fortune cookie.  I cracked mine opened and it said, "You will have a long happy life!" "Great, I pondered, It seems I have longevity on my side!" Then John opened his and it said, "Trouble awaits you around the bend of life!" John exclaimed "What! I thought fortune cookies were supposed to say good fortunes!?" Azel said, "Let me see... " she read it and looked. "Oh," she said,"This is a test fortune! It will make you stronger.  but if you want I will give you another cookie!?"  "Yea!"said John, "I don't like this one."  So she brought another cookie and he cracked it open and it said, "You will find much success in your life!"  "Well," said John, "That's better!"
     We left the restaurant in good spirits and went outside to the Lido deck to find a lawn chair where we planned to listen the the out door concert performed by the three tenors singing Italian favorites.  It was a beautiful night with the stars shining above as we sat and listen to all the great Italian songs that I had downloaded on my IPad. As we were heading to Naples and listening and singing, "That's Amore..." as the ship sailed on a calm, Adriatic sea


       

Heading for Dubrovnik, Croatia

         It was time to start our voyage but, we needed to take care of some maritime necessities before we started on our way.  We were called to our muster stations to hear the important information about surviving a ship emergency.  This was serious stuff because of all the ship problems Carnival was having lately with other ships. Our group met at the Liquid Lounge because we were the largest group.  We were told to leave our life vest in our room, but to remember to grab them if we heard the emergency signal. The ship announcer assured us that there would be enough life boats for everyone.  They started announcing each group and gave three numbers for the three life boats they would be using.  When our number was called at last, the speaker said we got one life boat!  We all cracked up in laughter because one hundred people could not fit in one boat!  Then we were all excused.  We all left scratching our heads and hoped our voyage would not have a disaster!

We left four other ships still in dock!

     We headed to our rooms and got ready to pull away from the dock and watch Venice pass by.

Out in the Lagoon

River Boat!

Mt. Mark's Square!

Biennial Festival among the trees

     That evening we ate in the main dining room.  We had open dining which meant that we could have dinner at whatever time we wanted. Sometimes we would have to wait for a table, but this way we were not rushed and ate at different tables in the dining room.  We met many interesting people throughout our cruise and made many friends.
     That evening we went up to our room and there... waiting for us on our bed was a little doggie made with room towels prepared for us by our steward.  We delighted in finding a menagerie of these towel animals every night.  It was such a treat!

John and his friend getting ready for FUN TIMES!

       The next day we cruised into Dubrovnik, Croatia located on the East side of the Adriatic Sea. In the 15th and 16th century this city state was known as a Maritime Republic together with Venice, Amalfi, Pisa and Genoa.   Ragusa, its name in the middle ages was known as the Pearl of the Adriatic.  Ragusa achieved a high level of development due to its diplomacy and wealth.  Like many great city states, it built a wall around the city to protect it from pirates and other invaders.  During the middle ages, it came under the protection of the Byzantine Empire.  After the Crusades it became part of Venice.  With the decline of Venice it established its independence until it was taken over by Napoleon forces. So much for the security of the wall!  Upon the downfall of France, it was taken over by the Austrian Hapsburg Empire. Later, it became part of Yugoslavia at which time the city was renamed Dubrovnik.  When Yugoslavia broke apart, it was besieged by Serb-Montenegrin forces.  The wall could not prevent the shelling that damaged most of the city in 1991.  After the war the damaged caused by the war was repaired.   Now Dubovnik has become a tourist destination.  It boast a large dock for cruise ships and an airport.  The Old Town and the Wall are the destinations for many visitors.
     We took a shuttle bus from the ship to the Old Town.  We planned to do our own tour of the city by first walking around the wall and then coming down to check out the city.  As we entered the city we looked down at the clear water of the Adriatic.

    We were thinking about taking a kayak trip because it was pretty hot. We thought perhaps we would be given a chance to jump into that beautiful water. But as it happened when we spoke to the kayakers later, they said that they had to wear the life vest and they did not get to go in for a swim.
 

Kayakers following the leader.

    Looking up we could see the wall that surrounded the city.  It was a sound fortifications with a draw bridge that would be hard to penetrate in the Medieval days.

John got in line and bought tickets to walk around the wall. The wall is 81 feet high and 1.5 miles around. We walked up some little narrow steps and have our tickets to a little old man who took his job very seriously.   We stepped onto a large walking area, and we joined the crowd to begin our trek.

Pile Gate with draw bridge.  Entrance to the walled city.

We could tell that the people of Dubrovnik did a fantastic job of preparing their town for tourists since the war in 1990.  Bombs were launched right over the wall and destroyed many of the buildings.  All the ones with new shiny tiles were replaced.  The ones with old tiles were not hit with bombs.  Amazingly several of those buildings were churches!
       John pointed out that those old tiles have been on those roofs for thousands of years, yet our home owners association has us repair our tiles in our development every ten years!!!

Shiny tiles on buildings hit with bombs.

This church was spared from the bomb attacks!

Some areas were not reconstructed because the inhabitants wanted to show us how badly the town has hit as a result of the war.

Ruins left as a reminder of the war.

We continued along the wall and noticed life going on as usual with laundry being hung and gardens being sown.

Laundry hung making good use of the sun.

Many homes had small gardens plots.

Basketball court behind a school.

The flag of free Croatia flies in the old wall.

We continued our walk noticing "look out" fortresses in strategic places on the wall.

Looking through one of the lookout towers!

Their mom said they didn't do their chores!

Cannons ready for action!

We continued our walk and it was getting pretty hot.  We looked over and saw a group of people jumping into the sea and swimming down below.  We asked some vendors who were selling drinks if it was possible to go down to the rocks to take a dip? 

Jumping off the rocks and swimming in the sea!

He gave us directions and soon found our way to a place where we could easily jump in.  Lucky of us we were wearing our bathing suits!

John getting ready to jump!

John having a lovely swim in the Adriatic!

I think I will dive in!

You can give me a 5 on my dive with such a big splash!

That was great and the water was soooo cool!

I got out and sat next to a lady that was doing crocheting.  She said her name was Radmilla.  She lived near by and on beautiful days like this she would come out and swim and sunbathe and do some crocheting.  She said that once she used to have a shop and sell her crochet doilies to tourists.  She also had other things in her shop.  She couldn't attend the shop all the time, and when she had young girls tend it, they would sit and talk to their friends and she would lose money.  So the Radmilla decided to close her shop and start a "Bed and Breakfast" at her home. She fixed up her home and set up with local advertisers.   She likes doing this as she loves to cook and meet new people.  The enterprise has become profitable.  Her husband was not too fond of it at first, but goes along with it as it makes money.
     We got dressed and followed the alley into the city to do some exploring.  I was curious about a Jewish synagogue that was advertised. It is Europe's second-oldest Sephardic synagogue.  We asked several people and followed the directions but still had trouble finding it.  Finally, we were lead to a little shop and we were told to walk in and to go the end.  We found a little stair case with a little sign indicating the synagogue.  I was expecting a big building with a dome and big meeting room like a church.  But soon I was reminded by the artifacts in the museum that Jewish people had to worship in back rooms.  Many Jews in Dubrovnik came from the Iberian Peninsula when the Spanish king expelled them in 1492.  They made their way to Venice and its trading states.  There they were usually isolated from other people and were made to wear bands or hats identifying them as Jewish. In many cases they proved themselves by their skills in music and were known and the music makers of Europe.  What would the Renaissance do without Mario Castelnuovo-Tadesco, Jacques Offenback, Felix Mendelssohn and Gustav Mahler?

Jewish musicians

Tabernacle

Ten Commandments

We left this lovely synagogue and went to find something to eat.  We came upon a square with a fountain next to a restaurant that had tables set for lunch under umbrellas.

The fountain with fresh water!

We sat down and ordered some beers.  While we waited I told John that I was going to visit the church in the square.  John stayed and watched the pigeons.

John watches the pigeons as I visit the church.

Lots of interesting people to watch!

So walked into the St Blaise church.  Saint Blaise was born in Armenia in the third century.  He was a physician and became a  Christian performing many miracles. He was arrested for being a Christian and beaten and beheaded by Agricola the governor of Lesser Armenia.  He is now the patron saint of Dubrovnik.

St. Blaise Church

St. Blaise

When I came back from the church, John was enjoying his beer.  I joined him and watched some interesting people all around us.  We finish our beer and walked through the main shops and did some window shopping.  We met a student from Germany and got our picture taken with her.
After catching the shuttle back to the ship, relaxed in our room until it was time to set sail.  Dubrovnik was a lovely stop, and we were glad that we had a chance to see this lovely city.

John watches Dubrovnik as we sail south on the Adriatic Sea