Our time on the islands gone too soon, we headed off to our last town in the beautiful country of Croatia: Dubrovnik. Another town that we knew had been heavily bombarded during the war in the 1990s, I was interested to learn more about its history.
The drive was scenic as usual, and we stopped for a quick look at a recent forest fire which spread out from the road like a scar on the landscape. We also had another important stop where we pulled over to the side of the road to buy some rather delicious wine from a little wine shop clearly selling what they produced directly.
We didn't arrive until the evening in Dubrovnik, and thus we passed a rather enjoyable dinner dining on our excellent wine and an antipasto that Yannick arranged artfully. Tired by this time, I decided to have an early night whilst my travelling companions went to see the city by night; to hear about their adventures you will have to read my comrade Necia's blog which can be found here
We woke in the morning to another day of sunshine and exploring. Dubrovnik is a beautifully fortified old city, which made it very enjoyable to wander around although it was very touristy.
We also went to another photo gallery with more photos depicting the war, specifically the siege of Dubrovnik which occurred in 1991 after Croatia declared independence. It was extremely interesting and in my mind, definitely worth going.
Civilians affected by the brutal siege.
One of the most eye-catching photos from the gallery for me was this one, enemy fire engulfing the ancient city in a hellish glow.
We also visited the Sponza palace which dated from the 16th century and had a variety of different functions through history. Nowadays it holds a small memorial to those who died in the siege, and some utterly traumatizing modern art (oh my eyes!)
It's funny how new graffiti is considered such a problem but old graffiti is treated as history in its own right and is actually pretty interesting, often being the only mark left by the everyday people of the past. This piece of writing, whether it was graffiti or the mark of the architect or something else entirely I couldn't be sure (though I imagine it would have taken a long time to carve the letters so deeply!) was rather striking to me. A piece of history within history if you like.
After examining this smug monks nose which has clearly been rubbed a few too many times for luck, we fled the tourist crowds.
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