Before telling what little there is to tell for today, let me make a couple of comments I forgot yesterday: First, the narrow alleys of Dubrovnik were where some of the scenes of Game of Thrones were filmed! I have not seen Game of Thrones myself, but now I have a keen interest to watch it and see if I recognize anything. Movie night anyone?
Second, the light gray to cream-colored limestone that was used for construction gives the Old City a particularly clean and polished aspect, but it was in fact severely damaged during the 1991 attacks of the Bosnian army, during the 1991-1995 war of secession. If I understand the matter correctly, when Yugoslavia was let go from the Soviet Union in 1989, there was a short attempt at keeping it together as a communist country, but Croatia and Slovenia quickly broke ranks and decided that they were going to be their own countries. Bosnia and Montenegro got on their high horse and decided that they were going to fight the separatists to stop them from leaving. The resulting war was particularly gruesome, and the Old City was shelled, walls were shattered, and fires started throughout gutting many residences. Croatia and Slovenia prevailed, and now, 25 years later, there is little to see of the damage caused (although from the city wall I could see a few remnants of inner walls and abandoned inner courtyards). Still, once you know what happened, photographic displays inside the Old City and commemorative murals in the new city remind of the war years.
On a different note, today was a drizzly day, which I thought was a poor excuse for the late buses, little people milling around, and shops looking closed and forlorn. I did my best to ride the buses and explore the most remote corners of the new city, but had the uneasy feeling that I was missing something when Bus 17 failed to appear whatsoever. Looking at the printed schedule I saw that on Saturdays (today is Saturday) there should have been a bus, but there was no bus on Sundays or Holidays. "Ding!" went my brain: Today is January 6, Epiphany, which is a Holiday here!
So, Feliz Día de Los Reyes to you all, and particularly to my dear Ronnie, who I can imagine waking up to yet another round of Holiday presents.
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