Happy Fourth of July!

Wayne Pat Dunlap Dubrovnik Croatia
Wayne & Pat 
in Dubrovnik, Croatia
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY, 2009! 

This is the first time we have been out of the U.S. during the July 4th holiday. We miss all our friends and family. Having fun in Dubrovnik, Croatia...

Wayne & Pat
 
 

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Dubrovnik, Croatia (History & Architecture)

Placa Main Street Night Dubrovnik Croatia
Placa (Main Street) at Night 
- Dubrovnik, Croatia
Old Town Dubrovnik Croatia
Stari Grad (Old Town) - Dubrovnik, Croatia
Pat dunlap Pile Gate Dubrovnik Croatia
Pat on Pile Gate - Dubrovnik, Croatia
Placa Main Street at Night Dubrovnik Croatia
Placa (Main Street) at Night 
- Dubrovnik, Croatia
Map Bomb Damage Recent Civil War Dubrovnik croatia
Map of  Bomb Damage of Recent Civil War
- Dubrovnik, Croatia

Pat Wayne dunlap Placa Dubrovnik Croatia
Pat & Wayne Overlooking Stari Grad's Placa
- Dubrovnik, Croatia
Old Town Dubrovnik Croatia
Stari Grad (Old Town) - Dubrovnik, Croatia
Sponza Plaza Dubrovnik Croatia
Sponza Plaza - Dubrovnik, Croatia
Clock Tower Dubrovnik Croatia
Clock Tower - Dubrovnik, Croatia
Cathedral Dubrovnik Croatia
Cathedral - Dubrovnik, Croatia

Dubrovnik, Croatia - History & Architecture (6/26-7/2/2009)

Magnificent Dubrovnik! 

Dubrovnik is truly so wonderful it deserves two blog posts. For more about how fun it was to 'live' a week in wonderful Dubrovnik, please also see our other blog post: Croatia Dubrovnik - Living in Old Town.

This blog post focuses on the world famous beautiful architecture of Dubrovnik (see photos) - an UNESCO World Heritage site regarded by many as the most exquisite walled city in the world.

Rising directly from a wave-lapped limestone promontory, Dubrovnik's Stari Grad (Old Town), is ringed with 15th-century stone walls as much as 80 feet high and 20 feet thick. 

We walked along the 1.3 miles of city walls witnessing some spectacular views of terracotta roofs and the beautiful city. 

Dubrovnik's main street, Placa, a wide, marble-paved pedestrian-only street is lined with boutiques, cafes, and galleries. The cathedral is beautiful.





Some history... Dubrovnik is 1,000 years old and was once an independent city-state from 1358 to 1808 rivaling Venice in power and influence serving as a base for a large fleet of ships trading throughout Europe and the Middle East.

In the recent Yugoslavia civil war (1991-2) over 2,000 shells rained down on Dubrovnik hitting 68% of the 824 buildings in Dubrovnik's famous Old Town (see photo of the map of damage). 

Among other places, fire gutted nine historical buildings and palaces. The home we stayed in had the front blown out. 

Dubrovnik has been completely rebuilt and now shows well-done newer looking construction in places as evidence of this extensive damage. See if you can tell from the photos. 












Please also see our other blog post about wonderful Dubrovnik:  

Croatia Dubrovnik - Living in Old Town

And please also see our 4 other blog posts for Croatia’s beautiful Dalmatian coast and islands:

 
 
Please enjoy 250+ wonderful places around the world, with award-winning photos, from our BLOG ARCHIVE on the right ---->

 


Travel for half the cost for all levels of travel from budget to luxury and 100's of other unique travel tips! From a former Economic professor, experienced traveler (106 countries), award-winning travel photojournalist/blogger, featured speaker at large travel shows, host of the travel TV show Plan Your Escape® TV aired on the CW network, and travel columnist for the Huffington Post, our popular 5-star customer rated groundbreaking and comprehensive how-to world travel book Plan Your Escape, Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than the Cost of Living at Home reveals secrets how you can travel and see more for half the cost for all trips from weekend getaways to longer vacations and trips, experience more adventure and romance, safely realize your travel dreams with comprehensive planning tools and checklists, travel the world for less than $100/day for a couple, and much more!
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Korcula, Croatia (Home of Marco Polo)

Moresha Sword Dance Korcula Croatia
Moresha Sword Dance - Korcula, Croatia
Korcula at Sunset Croatia
Korcula at Sunset - Croatia
Beautiful Orebic Korcula Island Croatia
Beautiful Orebic - Korcula Island, Croatia
Walled Korcula Town Korcula Island Croatia
Walled Korcula Town - Korcula Island, Croatia
Main Square Korcula Croatia
Main Square - Korcula, Croatia
Marco Polo Home Korcula Croatia
Marco Polo's Home - Korcula, Croatia
map Marco Polo Travels
Marco Polo's Travels


Korcula Island, Croatia (Home of Marco Polo) (6/24-6/26/09) 

Welcome to the home of Marco Polo.

A highlight of our visit to Korcula Island was attending the traditional 400-year-old Moreska Sword Dance (see photo) where the black and red knights fight over a princess - probably like our Prom night.  

During the Moreska Sword Dance, a sword broke off and hit a guy in the head who was in our audience. He left holding his head with blood pouring down his face. The Moreska Sword Dance performers continued on.

Many believe Korcula was the birthplace Marco Polo, who changed history with his writings about decades of travels to numerous places Europeans didn’t know existed.  



We can only dream that someday we can rival the influence of Marco Polo.

Korcula town is one of the best preserved medieval towns in the Mediterranean dominated by a 14th century cathedral. The town of Korcula is a natural air conditioner with curved streets on the west protecting the city from the cold winter winds and straight streets on the east when the summer winds cool the city. 

We found a place to stay right in the middle of Korcula's walled old town. 

After visiting this ancient town of Korcula, we took a small taxi boat just 20 minutes away to the Croatian mainland to Orebic. Orebic is a picturesque coastal village with lovely beaches, good seafront restaurants, and fantastic views of the Adriatic (see photo).

Some history... Korcula is a mixture of various European civilizations – Ilyrian, Greek, Roman, and Venetian. The Venetians ruled for centuries and their influence is everywhere. Before coming under the reign of Venice, Korcula had been governed by Byzantium, Zahumlje, the Hungarian-Croatian states, and Dubrovnik.

Please also see our 5 other blog posts for Croatia’s beautiful Dalmatian coast and islands:



Please enjoy 250+ wonderful places around the world, with award-winning photos, from our BLOG ARCHIVE on the right ---->

Travel for half the cost for all levels of travel from budget to luxury and 100's of other unique travel tips! From a former Economic professor, experienced traveler (106 countries), award-winning travel photojournalist/blogger, featured speaker at large travel shows, host of the travel TV show Plan Your Escape® TV aired on the CW network, and travel columnist for the Huffington Post, our popular 5-star customer rated groundbreaking and comprehensive how-to world travel book Plan Your Escape, Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than the Cost of Living at Home reveals secrets how you can travel and see more for half the cost for all trips from weekend getaways to longer vacations and trips, experience more adventure and romance, safely realize your travel dreams with comprehensive planning tools and checklists, travel the world for less than $100/day for a couple, and much more!