Last Post, on the way home

Last Post, Tuesday September 30, flying between Paris and Seattle We have had a convoluted trip home. We left Dubrovnik in a taxi together for the airport. No easy way home and we all had different routes. Ron and I flew to Gatwick on British Airways, took a coach (bus) to Heathrow and took another flight (British Air) to Paris. Ron and I spent a short night in a funny little hotel at the airport, Ibis. Small and inexpensive-the bath may have been smaller than the boat. This morning we boarded Air France for Seattle. We had free frequent flyer business class tickets so I am not complaining about the 10+ hours in air. Heathrow security is very strict and I was lazy when I packed my carry on and it was gone through very throughly and hand cream and shampoo thrown out. Very little in each of the containers but they don’t allow more than three ounce containers, even almost empty ones.

Dubrovnik deserves a visit from every traveler. Croatia, like Poland, is another very Catholic Country. The Catholic churches are very vital, full of worshipers of all ages. The Cathedral seems to serve as a community center in addition to a lively church. The steps in front were the stage for musical entertainment almost every night. The outdoor café’s were perfect seating for watching the entertainment as well as the people. In the evening the cruise ship day trippers were gone and it felt like we were locals.

In addition to the Catholic churches we visited a large Serbian Orthodox Church and marveled at the icons. Since the war in the early 1990’s most of the Serbs left and have not returned. Our hotel was on the Jewish Street. We happened to go to synagogue on Yom Kipper and were not charged admission. It also included a small and very moving museum with 13th century torahs and artifacts from the holocaust and explained some of the persecution that they endured since the 1500’s. It is the second oldest Jewish Synagogue in Europe and very beautiful. It was an orthodox synagogue and I went up in the balcony where the women sat for the services. I got into an interesting conversation with some Jewish women from South Africa and Australia and learned among other things that the children are free to sit down stairs or upstairs until the girls reach the age of 12. The idea is that the men may become distracted by the women while they are worshiping. They told me some very moving stories of family member’s experiences during the holocaust.

Between earthquakes, the recent Civil War and earlier attacks Dubrovnik has been a city under siege but it seems they somehow find the energy to rebuild and go on. The Croatians have been friendly and outgoing and eager to talk about their Country. Other than their incessant smoking and breakfast Pivo (beer) not much different than Americans. I will say they look pretty fit, and we didn’t see any gyms. Climbing stairs and walking seem to do the trick.