Day 7 - May 12, 2014 - Cadenazzo to Dubrovnik

It was an early wake up for Matt and I. Downstairs, Sabrina had breakfast waiting. I savored my last few bits of homemade cheese and prosciutto along. With food in our tummys, we said goodbye again to Sabrina and Mom was also able to catch us before we left. So with lots of hugs from Mom, we left La Perla and the rest of our family and were now on our own. 

The drive from Cadenazzo to Milan was straight-forward. No problems returning the car and our flight was on time from Milan to Frankfurt. During out layover in Frankfurt we had time for lunch and then it was off to Dubrovnik. We had made 2 prior attempts to visit Croatia and now we were actually on our way.

Upon landing, I had arranged for an airport pickup. Pero was there as promised waiting for us. The minute we met him, he started giving us an impromptu history lesson. He was very proud of the new airport they were building that was currently under construction. The original one had taken heavy damage during the war between 1991 -1994. He had served in the war and on our drive to Dubrovnik, he pointed out how to recognize areas that had to be rebuilt after the war. He also wanted us to see all the new roofs versus old roofs in Dubrovnik so that we could understand how badly Old Town Dubrovnik was bombed. He said "Serbs make a big mistake by bombing a UNESCO village." He also explained that the city was without water and electricity for many months. 

I had tried to read about the history of the area before our arrival, but there is a different spin depending on who is reporting the story. Bottom line is that Yugoslavia broke up into 8 different countries...Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzinokova, Montenegro, Macedonia and 2 smaller countries. Croatia and Bosnia had a very tense relationship stemming from WWII. In 1991 when Croatia declared their independence, Bosnia and Serbia attacked. The reasons why vary on who you ask, but it was fueled by post WWII issues and the Serbs wanting control of Croatia. 

After our impromptu history lesson, Pero dropped us off outside the city wall, where our SOBE owner, also named Pero, was waiting to greet us. He walked us through the walls and down the narrow passage ways to his 600 year old. He poured Walnut Grappa for us that he made himself and gave us some tips for exploring the city. He was very kind and proudly had photos of him and Rick Steves on his kitchen wall. He said he did not realize who Rick Steves was at the time, but now his rooms are never empty.

Once settled, we headed out to get our bearings. It was already 6:30, today was primarily a travel day, so we "strolled" the main streets while making plans for what we wanted to see the next day. We found our local grocery store first with a little deli in the back. That would be where we would buy our morning breakfast. We also got to know all the cats hanging out at the harbor. By 7:00pm the swifts began flying into to city center for their evening dinner acrobatics show. Each night the swifts come in to feast on the insects that come out at dusk. The number of birds and their aerodynamic formations were incredible.

We ended up having dinner on the same alley as our room. The owner was very animated and loved San Francisco. He has spent a lot of time in the states and desperately wanted to go back so that he could have "fried mozzarella sticks and buffalo wings with blue cheese dressing." He applies each year for a green card to the states, but it is basically a lottery system. 

The day ended with me doing 7 days worth of laundry in the bathtub.