This morning Sea Cloud anchored right in front of the old town of Dubrovnik. We landed at the eastern end of town, to access the walled city through Ploce Gate. We were all in awe of the magnificent fortifications and limestone buildings and glossy limestone streets. After the bombings of 1991, much of the city was destroyed, and it had to be rebuilt as a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is easy to see which of the original roofs remain, and which are the ones that were rebuilt after the dreadful attacks. Today Dubrovnik is a picturesque town that reminds us of stories of warriors and dragons.
With our local guides, we learned about the fascinating history of Dubrovnik, as we walked through its streets that have been polished by hundreds of years of use. Later on we had the opportunity to walk along the top of the city walls. Magnificent views of the wall itself and of the medieval city made for excellent photo opportunities.
We had a relaxed afternoon, and listened to an interesting talk about "The Language Formerly Known as Serbo-Croatian," by our National Geographic expert. For the late afternoon, we visited the Dominican Monastery to experience one of Croatia's musical traditions, the Klapa. The beautiful acapella melodies of "Klapa Ostro,” were only made better by the marvelous surrounding of the monastery that is now a museum.
We had time to explore the magnificent old town of Dubrovnik, and we had the option to stay ashore until 11:00 at night. We took advantage of our nighttime in Dubrovnik to practice night photography techniques. We enjoyed at improvising "tripods" for our time lapses and composing our night pictures had practically no limits, surrounded by majestic buildings of medieval times.
