Wandering Dubrovnik, walking around the old city, surrounded by other tourists. This is supposed to be low season, not like the madness of August and September, but it is still madly busy here. Walking tour guides hold flags with numbers above their heads, so their charges can follow the right guide. The guides give details in every major language that travels, and the people look obediently up, eft, down. Here is where artillery shells scarred the stone walls from the Yugoslavic aggressions from 1991-1992. Here is the building of priceless art burned from within, incendiary shells smashing through the roof and igniting the contents of the house. The stone walls remained. The interior was rebuilt here, in tourist central. The roof rehung, the terracotta tiles relaid on the roof. The art however, is gone. Here is where the walls were expanded when the Turks became a mounting threat. Here is the harbour they stood off the sea siege sometime in the 600’s.
Here is a city older than a person can easily imagine.
Feral cats roam the streets. Life is hard for them, and sometimes sweet. I spotted a plate of cat kibble left out beside a dish of water. Though the cats do crap wherever they please, they do keep the mice at bay, and give the pigeons something to worry about.
A broad sweep of steps ends in a courtyard that most likely saw gatherings and markets from time out of mind. Now it is given over to outdoor patios for the nearby restaraunts. They put out the tables and huge square sun umbrellas. The people come flocking when hungry.
One part of the square remains the same. Small stands are set up, little more than cardtables, and usually women hawk their wares from the tables. Spices, candles, glasswork, and of course, lavander. It grows prolifically here and so they sell little sachets of the sweet smelling herb. I have been looking for one to remember Croatia by. And also my clothes could use a little help. There are very few dryers here, most people doing their washing and then hanging their clothes to dry. It uses less electricity, doesn’t heat up the house, and of course, things are so space-tight here that most people don’t have room for a dryer. They have tiny washing machines that have little drain hoses you have to stick into the toilet while the machine is in use. So, we have been doing the wash in the sinks of our hostels. With exactly three pairs of foootie socks, two pairs of hiking socks, and the luxury of four pairs of underwear, I don’t have to do laundry that often, but when I do, I really have to get it done! Washing the pants isn’t really high on my prioority list, and shirts only slightly more. So, a lavander sachet would be most welcome.
After searching around for a while, I found the perfect sized sachet. The price listed on the woman’s cart read 15 kuna, or 5 Euro. Well, 15 kuna is actually a little less than 2 eur, so this is like tourist tax for those too lazy to carry the predominent currency. I see this a few times, like candles in the church available for 2 kuna, or 3 euro. So, either 50 cents canadian, or $4 canadian, depending on what currency you can be bothered to carry!
Wherever you are, Be There 