Hi, everyone!
Grandma let me eat ice cream for breakfast on Uncle Bill’s birthday last Tuesday! Then, on Thursday, Grandma and Grandpa took me back out to the bay. They said we needed to mow the lawn and take a look at the flowers before we went on another adventure! Some of my azalea friends were in full bloom and some still just had colorful buds ! The water level in the bay was even higher than last week! Grandpa had to do more work to keep the dock sections from floating away!
On Friday afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa and I drove to the airport in Toronto Ontario. We got on an Air Canada flight going to Frankfurt Germany! It was Saturday morning when we got there! After a four hour wait, we got on a Lufthansa plane going to Dubrovnik Croatia. Grandma told me we were going on a walking tour there! We were seated in an exit row on the plane to Dubrovnik, so I made sure to study the emergency procedures card!
We finally got settled in our hotel in Dubrovnik around 7 p.m., so we just had time for a short walk before dinner. I’m glad I picked up a local map! There were lots of tour buses and tourists around the Pile Gate to the old city, and that was close to our hotel!
After dinner, when it was dark, the outer walls of the fort and the old city were lit up. Inside the old city it was one big party with lots of people! St. Blaise Catholic church was lit up inside, so we could see the pretty stained glass windows!
This morning was bright and sunny, so we went walking again! Grandpa read that there was a branch of Rochester Institute of Technology in Dubrovnik and it was close to our hotel. We used my map to find it, then we walked beyond it to a little city park. There were lots of pretty views of the coast and rocky cliffs from there!
Next, we walked on the paths leading up to Fort Lovrijenac. We didn’t go all the way up to the walls because there was a crowd of people waiting on the steps to go in. We got some more pretty views of the inlets on both sides of the fort! Then we walked down to the harbor just outside the Pile Gate to the old city. Grandpa recognized it from the TV series Game of Thrones, where it is called Kings Landing. Parts of that show were filmed in Croatia right here in Dubrovnik! I got to sit on the pier!
Grandma and Grandpa took me into the old city next. It wasn’t as crowded as it was last night, but there were still traffic jams of people in the narrow side streets! I saw a two branches of a big candy store! Several stores were selling souvenirs of the Game of Thrones TV series, including bobble-head dolls of the major characters. Grandma told me they probably decided which ones to feature before the final season of the series! The gelato store had Game of Thrones flavored gelato! I hope Grandma takes me back there so I can find out how it tastes!
We stopped at the green market and walked to the old harbor to the east of the city walls. The harbor has been busy as a trade destination since the middle ages, but I don’t think anybody then sailed a yellow submarine!
After lunch, we met the other members of our walking tour and our tour guides. Our local guide, Alberto, took us back to the old city, but we went in a different way! Between 1991 and 1995, there was a war for political control of this part of the world. The old city was damaged by bombs and artillery shells. Alberto showed us a map of all the places that were hit Some of the holes made by artillery shells haven’t been repaired. We saw some in the Franciscan monastery and museum. The courtyard of the Franciscan property is very peaceful now! I made friends with the lions decorating the courtyard fountain. Alberto said I wouldn’t find many lions around the old town, because they were the symbol of a rival city!
Next we went to the Rector’s Palace museum. The two bronze figures used to ring the bells in the clock tower. They were removed because they needed to be repaired and will now be kept safely inside. When I went upstairs to see the paintings and artifacts on display, I found this railing on the stairs. Grandma said it gave a new definition to the term “hand rail”!
It started raining while we were at the Rector’s Palace museum! Since all the stones and steps were getting wet and slippery, we didn’t go walking on the old city walls or up to the tops of the forts. Maybe another day! I was glad Grandma and Grandpa and I had gone walking on our own earlier, when the weather was sunny!
Love,
Lion-san