The Pearl of the Adriatic

We just left the city of Dubrovnik-which by far, is the most beautiful city we have seen thus far...it is on the southern coast, and is encompassed by a fortress. During the many wars, especially during the Serbian aggression, it was sought after and for this reason, heavily bombed. It sustained quite a bit of damage, however it is crazy how well it has been rebuilt to near perfection. We had 4 days here-the first we spent roaming around the Old Town, which was inside these massive iron gates, and was a city of marble streets, narrow alleys, historic churches and statues. We sat at cafes, enjoying cappucinos and chocolate pastries right in the middle of this old scenic town. We walked so much everywhere, trying to make sure and hit all of the "must see" sights and since we were at the mercy of Tarak's compass (on his watch of course) and navigational skills (which is not much-although I have no room to comment at all), we probably walked a "few" extra circles trying to find places. The 2nd day, we took a trip to the island of Mljet where legend has it that Odysseus spent many years. We took a ferry ride there, and then rented 2 bikes and rode along these 2 beautiful lakes, visited an old monastery on an island in the lake, and then took the ferry back and watched the sunset on the Adriatic. The 3rd day, we roamed around Dubrovnik again, (recovering from riding bikes on cheap seats for several hours) and walked the city walls (which took 3 hours!). The place we stayed at was pretty funny..it was this Bosnian woman who initially attacked us (or I should say Tarak) at the bus station. Since he (of course) is so nice, he had a swarm of little old Croatian ladies with signs offering private accomodations. I (the rude one) glared at all of them, because we had not even had a chance to get all of our luggage, let alone, even step off the bus, before they were running up to us. Needless to say, no one was around me. Anyway, we waited for the crowd to thin, and then bargained with her. She, of course, kept talking to us in German and kept kissing and hugging me...we have no idea why..but she was enthralled with us, and (it can't back to bite me) I used to tell Tarak (back in the states) how good I was at German ("German student of the year" and sort)..and there I was, I couldn't even remember how to ask where the bus station was. My high school German teacher would die if he saw my pathetic attempt to recover my lost German (mixed with the Spanish I learned in Ecuador)....
Anyway, we had a fabulous time in Dubrovnik and Croatia!!