Dubrovnik

Who ever would've thought we'd visit Croatia? Dubrovnik was a great old town to visit. On the drive in we could see the old city with its protective wall and towers as we drove along the Zupa Dubrovaeka Riveria. On the way we stopped at the Restaurant Konavoski Dvori. The restaurant is nestled in with an old mill on the Ljuta River. They tell us it's one of the most beautiful restaurants on the entire Croatian Adriatic Coast. Since it's the only one we visited, I guess we'll just take their word for it.

The waitresses at the restaurant were dressed in beautiful costumes but got really upset if anyone tried to take their picture. I'm not sure why since they clearly cater to tourists, but maybe it was just a bad hair day. Regardless, we snacked on smoked ham, cheese, and homemade bread but opted out of the local wine.

After the restaurant we rode to Pile Square--the western entrance of the old town--where we entered through a crowded gate and walked along the famous main street called Stradun. We saw the Onoforio Fountain which was built in 1438, the 3rd-oldest functioning pharmacy in Europe which has been in business since 1391, and two palaces--Sponza and Rector's.

We also stopped at Croata to buy a tie for Jerel. Croatia is apparently the birthplace of the necktie. The story goes that when the men were sent off for military service, the women would give them a red piece of cloth to wear to remember them. It quickly became a trend and later developed into the choking neckties men wear today. In the end we didn't buy a tie at all because the least expensive ones were several hundred dollars and neither of us could fathom spending that much just for the sake of tradition.