The Defenders of Dubrovnik

Today we walked the wall around the Old City. I thought I had read it was only 1.5 km but it was certainly longer than that -- it took us about 1.5 hours to walk with all the other tourists up there. What amazing views out over the ocean and over the rooftops of the Old Town. Simply spectacular views! The wall fortified the entire Old Town and there are still turrets and cannons. Lots of narrow stairs and climbing but certainly worth any amount of effort. We visited a magnificent photo exhibit in the museum as well. There were photos by international photographers and they were brilliant! So captivating. We got a few photos of the collection of photos hung on the walls but wondered if it was a bit intrusive to actually take a photo of the photographs (?). Louisa did take of one because it was so hauntingly beautiful and artistic she could not resist. Some of the better photographers were: Ales Komovec, Tsun Hsiung Chian and Truang Huu'Hung. I do not know if their work is on the Internet or not, but worth a google. Exceptional artistry. We also visited the Defenders of Dubrovnik exhibit- somber. There were photos of all the young men who lost their lives defending Dubrovnik from the Serbs and National Army of Yugoslavia in 1991'1995. There was also a video presentation which illustrated the devastation suffered in Dubrovnik alone during the war. Dubrovnik was attacked on December 6, 1991 and was liberated a little over a year later but also remained under sporadic attack until 1995. The Serbs thought if they could be successful in taking Dubrovnik they could move up the coast to Split and control the coast of Croatia. The people of Dubrovnik and other Croatian volunteers fought hard to keep their city and their country from the Serbs and were successful in their defense. However, the damage to Dubrovnik was unbelievable -- the number of churches destroyed, the heritage buildings bombed, homes burned, the city walls destroyed. They lived here without water and electricity hiding in shelters during the seige. What is amazing is that in the 17 years since the war began they have been so successful in rebuilding this beautiful UNESCO heritage city so that coming from outside you really do not see signs of war remaining. We did see a couple of buildings and a fountain with obvious bullet holes but that was all -- it has all been rebuilt to look like the original buildings. And we were lucky enough also today to find an art exhibit and sale with some of the most beautiful paintings -- Louisa was beside herself with joy! The artist is Dubravka Rathman of Dubrovnik. She is a graduate in art history from the U of Zagreb. She paints with enamel on canvas. The technique and choice of colour in her work is astounding. Very, very impressive. Google to see if she has anything on the internet -- great art! So, a busy day as we also uploaded photos to the blog - FINALLY!! This has been such a wonderful experience for us all throughout the Croatian coastline and Dubrovnik has not disappointed in the least. One more day here to explore and then we move on again. Our Dubrovnik photos will be posted separately tomorrow. It will be difficult to choose which ones to post!