Old Town

Today was our day to discover Old Town Dubrovnik. We headed down early to get to the walls when they opened at 8am, heeding Rick Steves' advice to avoid some heat and crowds. As is the case 90% of the time, Rick did not steer us wrong (the tiny coastal road he sent us down to find the best winery in Croatia a few days ago is a whole different story though...).

The walls were not crowded for the first half (until the cruise ship tours showed up), and really wasn't too hot. After his description in his guidebook, I was expecting a much more arduous task to walk around the top of theses old defensive walls and towers (there are something like 650+ steps along the loop). We were rewarded with amazing views of the city, surrounding area, and Adriatic sea. Well worth an early morning! It's easy to see how the walls defended the Republic of Dubrovnik from invading Venetians, Ottomans, etc for so many years. They are no joke (at some points 18 feet thick). They were even used in 1991-1992 during the siege of Dubrovnik by the Yugoslavian/Serbian army to protect themselves against bombing/other attacks. Amazing they are still so useful today.

I can definitely see why Dubrovnik is discussing limiting the number of cruise ship passengers per day. Today was a relatively light day we think, with only 2 cruise ships in town (a large Royal Caribbean and a smaller local one). Old Town was an absolute madhouse by 12:30 or so when we descended from the cable car and made our way out of the town gates to our lunch cafe just outside the walls. There was literally a line of people waiting to enter the Old Town area. At that point, we'd enjoyed wandering and seeing the Old Town sights for several hours, so we happily enjoyed the breezes at the cafe, ate delicious mussels, had a few beers, and then meandered back to our hotel area to find the local rocky beach (complete with kids jumping off the cliffs into the sea).

We had a random brief respite from the humidity when it dropped from 50% to only 30% in the few hours before dinner. Sadly by the time we got back to our hotel a few hours later, humidity levels were back up near 65%. Ugh. Amazing what a difference the humidity can make in feeling comfortable or miserable (we all had sweated through our clothes - again - by about 10am).

Our dinner tonight was at a restaurant recommended by a local and was just outside the city walls. Another amazing meal (with fantastic cheese from the island of Pag), and beautiful views of the walls through sunset and getting lit up at night.

Tomorrow beth, erin and i are sea kayaking out to a nearby island. If there are no further posts on this blog, you'll know it didn't go well for us (kidding - mostly...). I'm worried my arms will fall off before we make it to the island, and I'll just be floating along in the Adriatic unable to help myself. Luckily, there's a motorboat that follows us, so I can always hitch a ride if I get too tired. My parents are heading to different islands via a boat, so they could always stop to pick us up too :)

Hot times in the city

While Chicago/most of the US is sweltering in record-breaking heat, rest assured that we are not escaping the heat or humidity over here either. Korcula had a lovely breeze which kept it pleasant in the shade most of the time, but back on the mainland today, that breeze seems to have disappeared. Even when we stopped for drinks outside on Dubrovnik's city walls, overlooking the Adriatic, it was sweltering in the shade. I was jealous of the people swimming in the sea below us.

After dinner, Old Town was much more pleasant, when temps dropped to the mid 80s and humidity levels seemed to drop a wee bit too. Old Town's Stradun (main drag) is hopping at night, with busy restaurants, cafes, bars, shops, and people just strolling and soaking it all in (while eating gelato). We had a fantastic dinner of Bosnian meats (including the Jengis Kan aka Ghengis Khan platter) and fried dough at what seemed to be the most popular restaurant in town, in a little side alley within Old Town. And why wouldn't you name your Bosnian restaurant Taj Mahal? Only slightly misleading (and undoubtably disappointing to those hoping for Indian food). So completed another fantastic food day, with our seafood lunch (oysters, mussels, etc) on the bay in Mali Ston being one of our top meals yet!

Do we have to leave?

As predicted by people we know who have been to Croatia/Croatian islands before, we really don't want to leave. Korcula slows the pace down, relaxes you in a way that only the islands can. We spent the morning at one of the few sandy beaches in Croatia(most ste pebbly) followed by an afternoon wandering around old town and swimming off the rocks here. The water is amazingly clear (even our where we couldn't stand, we could seep our feet/rocks on the bottom). I spent quite a bit of time today sitting in the shallow waves, reading and watching the beautiful blue water and fun crowd. Yes, definitely men wearing Euro banana hammocks, and quite a few naked kids running around (nudity is not just for babies in Europe). Saw only one topless lady though, sorry guys. Though I'm sure you would have enjoyed the stretching/work out class in front of us in the water today. Island life rocks.

Tonight's dinner was more seafood and pasta, followed by cocktails on top of one of the surviving turrets/towers of the old town walls. Anyplace that involves a ladder to climb is probably touristy but worth the extra few dollars. So after a few cocktails under the full moon (and another scoop of gelato) we say good night to Korcula and sadly prepare to leave for wineries en route to Dubrovnik in the morning.

Split to Korcula

One word: Ow.

Maybe we should have realized that a three hour late morning to early afternoon ferry ride might lead to redness, despite the sunscreen attempts. Oh well.

The ferry ride over from the mainland to the island is a gorgeous stretch of scenery.  Lots of blue water and white rocky islands in the distance.

Arrival in Korcula, via way of Vela Luka, greeted us as a phone call to our apartment manager who instructed us to "follow the white van" we saw parked two kilometers out of town. While that may sound like a horror film opening, its because there is no parking in old town where we are staying and this made it much simplier to find our accommodation.

First impressions of Korcula are lovely. A small town, touristy but not gaudy, and with endless views. And the water. Oh gosh the water. Even after dinner and after the sunset, the water is so clear you can see straight to the bottom, at least ten or twenty feet down. Unreal.

Speaking of dinner though we had a lovely meal at a small restaurant in old town. The street is so small that five of us couldn't fit at one table outside and we sat half inside and half outside, combined through an open dooorway. Certainly unique.  But the fish was outstanding, and my dad claims the calamari to be the best he's ever had (and he's certainly no stranger to the calamari).

All and all... Not a bad introduction to island life. I think after a half day we are already giving Korcula a big thumbs up.

Diocletian's Palace

Today we learned more about the Roman emperor Diocletian than we ever thought we'd know. Turns out he was originally from Croatia, worked his way up the Roman hierarchy, and ruled as emperor for 20 years (ad284-305). He wanted to retire to his homeland, so he built himself a giant palace in Split.

So while we didn't see any ancient Roman ruins in Italy, we certainly saw some today! After Diocletian died, his palace gradually stopped being used by the Roman empire. It remained empty for a time, until villagers used it to take refuge from invaders. Today, the palaces is a mishmash of ancient ruins, medieval homes, renaissance palaces, and more modern structures. About 2000 people live inside the palace walls, surrounded daily by tourists, people dressed up as Roman gladiators, vendors, and restaurants. It's truly the most unique "palace" I've ever visited. In what other palace would you see laundry hanging out to dry, gardens being kept, and cats sunning themselves?

Split is also home to a great waterfront street known as the Riva. While it was way too hot to enjoy it much during the day, this evening it was jam packed with tourists, vendors, and even Split residents enjoying the cooler air. Food at the restaurants along the street is overpriced and mediocre, but the people watching and ambience are top notch.

Tomorrow we're off on the morning ferry to Korcula island. Weather reports show it approaching 100 there tomorrow, so I'm hoping their beaches are as alluring as promised. Also hoping we have wifi, otherwise we will update the blog from Dubrovnik in a few days.

Polic history

On our way to Split, Croatia today, we met up with our parents in Zlobin, Croatia. Our great grandparents Stephen Polic and Helena Kruzic were married in Zlobin in 1904 and moved to America in the early 1910's due to lack of work in the area.

In our visit to our ancestors tiny hometown, we got to visit the church in which they were married (with our Dad arriving earlier in the day, in time to visit with the priest and some villagers), as well as the home in which Helena lived (Stephen's home has since been destroyed). We stopped at the cemetery where we found many, many Polic and Kruzic headstones but none for my grandpa's siblings who had been born but died in the Old Country before his parents left Croatia. They'd apparently been destroyed years before (perhaps during one of the wars?).

In Croatia and other Slavic languages (such as Serbian), the "c" is pronounced as a "ch". When my great grandpa moved to northern Michigan, he changed his name from Polic to Polich so it would be pronounced correctly in America. In Croatia, our surname is still spelled without the "h" on the end.

There is some speculation on various ancestry sites that the Polic family may be related to the famous Marco Polo. While Marco is known as a Venetian explorer and by his Italian name, he was almost assuredly born on the Croatian island of Korcula (which was part of the Venetian Republic, under whose flag he sailed). His Croatian name would have been Pili or Poli (which later became Polic). I've decided random Internet postings and rumors are good enough for me, so I declare Marco Polo as my ancestor, many centuries ago. Why not, right?

Ode to air conditioning

Last weekend in Nashville, I learned to appreciate air conditioning in the South, especially in time time of corsets and petticoats (think Gone With the Wind. Whoa Nellie was it hot. In Venice, I learned the appreciation of air conditioning in even earlier times, during the heyday of the Venetian Republic (1200s-1700s). When we sweated our way the Doges Palace in 90+ degree weather, it was an absolute delight to catch a fresh breeze from the windows or finally make it back to our air conditioned room. Just imagine the poor women in their huge dresses, and men in their Venetian finest. Even a gondola ride couldn't cool them down in the summer swelter.

Despite the heat, the Doges palace was very interesting to tour, with both the Doges' (leaders') apartments as well as the Republic's public spaces. Their Grand Council meeting room is simply stunning. One might even call it grand...

Finished our time in Venice with more delightful strolls around town, dinner on a residential street with kids flying kites and dogs being walked, and of course more gelato. We are really hoping Croatia has a gelato equivalent, as we've become addicted in three nights.