Dubrovnic

First  pics of Michael at the local Lido for a swim,our last dinner in Michael's flat (cooked by himself) and our departure from Stansted.

Dubrovnic is the first ancient city that I have seen with no 'centre' or history of kings or emporers etc, which makes it a bit frustrating to study.

It's weird, in a way.  It was built entirely by merchants in response to commercial needs and continus that way now.

The local (dolomite?) rocks are easily worked and the place is an enormous and fascinating warren of ancient  limestone buildings and roads, the latter becoming horrendously slippery when wet.

We saw this when we had a sudden thunderstorm and the cathedral experienced it's biggest congregation ever when everyone sheltered inside!. To get a coastal view we had to trek around the coast  and climb over this wall where Mary is standing.

The memory of the mindless and barbarous act of the  shelling of the city in 1991 by the Serbs is still very much alive.

Finally boarding the boat, there is a pic of our cabin beds and one through the window of the dining cabin and finally we were at sea with 21 other passengers from Spain--Martha and her mother, France- Celene, Croatia- Susannah and David, Mocedonia, Germany- Marie and Clara, USA- Shelley,  NZ-Rebecca and the UK-- Helen and Paul, Maxine and Andrew plus one elderly Irishman, Matthew.