We're staying in a one-bedroom apartment within the walled Old Town of Dubrovnik. It's hard to believe that a little more than 20 years ago the city was under siege by Serbian forces. But upon reading the city's history, it's as if Dubrovnik has been invaded at least once a century since it was founded sometime in the 7th Century.
The limestone streets appear wet due to the limestone paving stones which have been polished over the centuries by foot traffic. It's a fantastic place, with breathtaking views from the city walls in almost every direction.
We stopped for lunch today at Lucin Kantun (Lucy's Corner), a wonderful hole-in-the-wall where we had a wonderful assortment of tapas-like dishes - roasted squid stuffed with smoked ham and cheese, white fish ceviche, pickles, pickled red peppers, rice and shrimp and salmon carpaccio with cucumber and caviar. Wonderful, light lunch, criminally inexpensive.
The squid and the rice and shrimp were wonderful. The squid was so tender, you could cut through it with your fork, yet it could be described as "al dente," and the filling was savory, yet not salty. The rice was like an Arboria, risotto rice, perfectly cooked and the shrimp were tender and flavorful. Score.
We wanted to see the Old Synagogue, on Ulica Zudioska or Jewish Street. Despite the directness of the naming, Dubrovnik prides itself in that it welcomed the Jews forced out of Spain in 1492. The docent said it was the second oldest synagogue in Eastern Europe, having been built in 1542, but our guidebooks couldn't verify the date.
It's in a walk-up stone building, with a museum on the second floor, the synagogue itself on the third. The museum rooms are small, with the beautiful Torahs on display, and codes of conduct written centuries ago in both Hebrew and Italian. Sadly, during World War II almost all the Jewish population were detained and deported to camps. Orders prohibiting congregation and yellow arm band, written in Croatian are on display. It was beautiful, yet sad. I had to take a picture.
We hiked around the wall of the Old Town for most of the afternoon, than took we took the cable car up to the Homeland War Museum (1991 to 1995), located in the Napoleonic Imperial Fort atop Mount Srđ high above Dubrovnik.
The museum's focus is in the Siege of Dubrovnik, which began in October, 1991 and lasted until June/July of 1992. While it can be agreed that Slobodan "Slobo" Milošević, the war criminal and overall douche-bag, was a Serbian nationalist megalomaniac with an extermination agenda against non-Christians and non-Serbs, it must also be understood that Croatia forced Serbs from their homes during the war, too. The Soviet Empire was able to bottle up centuries of animus, but in the end, old hatreds got the upper hand. Most of the video of the siege comes from the BBC News and home video made by locals on the ground. Riveting stuff. The shelling by land, see and air of Dubrovnik, by Serb forces is especially appalling and difficult to watch.
Still, it's hard to believe there was a war here at all in recent memory. I guess after hundreds of years of empires rising and falling, a resilience sets in.
The Stradun, looking east to Luza Square and the Bell Tower
The limestone streets appear wet due to the limestone paving stones which have been polished over the centuries by foot traffic. It's a fantastic place, with breathtaking views from the city walls in almost every direction.
Lokrum Island seen from the City Wall.
The view of the Adriatic from the City Wall
We stopped for lunch today at Lucin Kantun (Lucy's Corner), a wonderful hole-in-the-wall where we had a wonderful assortment of tapas-like dishes - roasted squid stuffed with smoked ham and cheese, white fish ceviche, pickles, pickled red peppers, rice and shrimp and salmon carpaccio with cucumber and caviar. Wonderful, light lunch, criminally inexpensive.
The Works
The Main Event
The squid and the rice and shrimp were wonderful. The squid was so tender, you could cut through it with your fork, yet it could be described as "al dente," and the filling was savory, yet not salty. The rice was like an Arboria, risotto rice, perfectly cooked and the shrimp were tender and flavorful. Score.
We wanted to see the Old Synagogue, on Ulica Zudioska or Jewish Street. Despite the directness of the naming, Dubrovnik prides itself in that it welcomed the Jews forced out of Spain in 1492. The docent said it was the second oldest synagogue in Eastern Europe, having been built in 1542, but our guidebooks couldn't verify the date.
Surreptitious photo of the Old Synagogue's Hekhal
It's in a walk-up stone building, with a museum on the second floor, the synagogue itself on the third. The museum rooms are small, with the beautiful Torahs on display, and codes of conduct written centuries ago in both Hebrew and Italian. Sadly, during World War II almost all the Jewish population were detained and deported to camps. Orders prohibiting congregation and yellow arm band, written in Croatian are on display. It was beautiful, yet sad. I had to take a picture.
We hiked around the wall of the Old Town for most of the afternoon, than took we took the cable car up to the Homeland War Museum (1991 to 1995), located in the Napoleonic Imperial Fort atop Mount Srđ high above Dubrovnik.
The museum's focus is in the Siege of Dubrovnik, which began in October, 1991 and lasted until June/July of 1992. While it can be agreed that Slobodan "Slobo" Milošević, the war criminal and overall douche-bag, was a Serbian nationalist megalomaniac with an extermination agenda against non-Christians and non-Serbs, it must also be understood that Croatia forced Serbs from their homes during the war, too. The Soviet Empire was able to bottle up centuries of animus, but in the end, old hatreds got the upper hand. Most of the video of the siege comes from the BBC News and home video made by locals on the ground. Riveting stuff. The shelling by land, see and air of Dubrovnik, by Serb forces is especially appalling and difficult to watch.
Still, it's hard to believe there was a war here at all in recent memory. I guess after hundreds of years of empires rising and falling, a resilience sets in.
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