Greetings from Dubrovnik, Croatia!

Great day today! Excellent night’s sleep…I passed out after staying up after my overnight flight. I feel rested today although my body gets tired fairly quickly walking all the hills around here.

Dubrovnik is pretty touristy so it detracts somewhat from my really seeing it – lots of people eating delicious Croatian ice cream, stores for shopping, and sidewalk cafe’s everywhere.

Walked the 2km wall around Dubrovnik last night…best way to see the walled old town. Beautiful views over Adriatic and few people since it was later in the day. Another great view of the city was from the plane as we were coming in for a landing. I lucked out and was on the right side of the plane.

Heard there were two cruise ships coming today so I caught a bus out to Trsteno Gardens about 30 minutes from town. Quiet except for two Brits with whom I enjoyed exploring the gardens and walking down and back up the harbor far below. Fun sharing travel stories with the great British sense of humor. In the 70’s, they drove with a few other people from London to South Africa and back. Can you imagine??

Glad I’m here. Will re-enter northern Croatia after I go to Mostar, Bosnia, tomorrow and then on to Sarajevo the next day. I’m loving this adventurous trip!

The people tend to be serious-looking, not friendly or happy, and curt with their answers to my innocent questions. I can feel the presence of war in people’s lives.

And they can be so sweet and out-going, such as the people where I’m staying and the man I met walking to the bus station and he spontaneously offered me a large fresh apricot from the market I had just passed.

I’ve been tracking the news and have not seen anything significant I should avoid in Bosnia that I’ve already visited.

Gotta go. There’s a museum War Photo Limited nearby which comes highly recommended although intense. Hopefully I’m not setting myself for a bad time. Will see.

Happy trails to all of you!!