Wow! That is the best way to describe a day touring Dubrovnik. The city is so clean and modern, it is a welcome relief from Vlore! The buses are incredibly modern with a highly efficient system in place that is also timely. So getting around the town is a breeze.

There is an "old town" in Dubrovnik that was way more impressive to us than the walled cities of Rhodos or Methoni. Will and I took over 250 pictures between us!! Dubrovnik has been around for awhile. But it wasn't until the Christian crusades of the Dark Ages that it really came into its own.

Up to that time it was under the thumb of the Venetians. But after that empire topped out, Dubrovnik really started to flourish on its own as a trading center for maritime cargo in the Adriatic and Med. The walls to the city were built in the 14th century and we got up on top of them and took about an hour and a half walking all around the city. It was incredible seeing the city and surrounding area from all those vantage points!

We stepped inside an old Catholic church that would simply knock your socks off! The ornate altar; the Christian paintings; the stained glass. It all just went on and on. We just sat and took it all in in awe. It works so much better for me that way than to go through a museum for hours and hours. I get bored after awhile doing that. But if I can take in 20-30 min. of sheer amazement at the majesty and aura of a building, I come away awe struck and indelibly influenced.

The Treasury was no different. The Treasury is where the Church has accumulated and stored its massive wealth over the past 7 centuries. As you might guess, it had quite the treasure trove! Today was apparently a very lucky day for me.

First I had the lady let me into the main room where the really good stuff is kept. They normally charge 15 kuna ($3), but I didn't know that when I approached her. I just came up to her and waited for her to lift the rope so I could go in. She mumbled something about 'there is only one of you' or something to that effect and let me in. It wasn't until later that Ruth pointed out there was a cost.

Then on the way out of the walled city, while waiting for our bus back to the modern part of the city, the ice cream guy gave me an extra big scoop of ice cream. Why me and why then, I dunno. But he mentioned something about it himself and I dutifully thanked me. So between those two things, I knew there was a higher power working on my side today. I rather like that!

And when we first entered the city we were walking down the main street, or placa taking in all the architecture and marble -- still perfectly preserved -- when an old lady approached us and mumbled something in Croatian that Ruth deciphered to mean she was showing us where the Serbs had fired on the city during the 1991-92 dust up. You could see the pings in the walls where the bullets had taken out small, round fragments of the stone.

When I think of vacation spots, Dubrovnik is not at the top of the list...nor even in the middle. Paris. Rome. Germany. Mexico. South Pacific. They come to mind. But Croatia? Come on!! But I gotta tell ya...I am soooo glad I came here and it is near the top of my list now. (OK, Paris will be tough to topple!) But those other places will have a tough time beating out this "off the beaten path" oasis. I promise to get Will to upload the photos.

This afternoon we motorsailed the 2 nm over to Zanat and a very kind fellow allowed us to tie up to the quay here for free. This is a beautiful, natural bay with lots of littler coves for anchoring. It must get awfully busy in season but tonight it is just us and a German couple.

Tomorrow we head off to Slano for lunch, then on to the island of Mljec. There are just so many places to see and the scenery is simply incredible! It will definitely be worth the effort sailing up the Adriatic to get here. But 10 days will be wholly inadequate. Oh well. Better than nothing!