Sun 16.Aug.2020
California
Imagery Dubrovnik and Split
Croatia 2008
Today's page o' pix continues where we left off, in Dubrovnik in 2008.
So... why has it taken a week and more?
I had thought to add some tidbits for my friends who are fans of the Game
Of Thrones TV series. Dubrovnik provided many of the settings for Kings Landing
in the show.
I went looking for info about what scenes were set where, without knowing
anything about the story. One thing led to another. I have now read the first
book of A Song of Ice and Fire! It is time to come up for air and finish
this page.
Dubrovnik, Southern Dalmatia
I still can't match any of my pix with TV scenes. So much for ambitious
intentions.
That said, we still have a striking city here. Witness
the main drag here at night.
The red roof tiles of the old city have aged over the centuries, and become
multicolored.
In the early 1990s and Croatia's war of independence,
Yugoslav troops
besieging Dubrovnik shelled the town; now there are patches of fresh red tile
amongst the mottled old roofs. From the walls, the roofs look very patchwork.
If you only do one thing in Dubrovnik, a walk around the walls may well be
the most rewarding use of your time!
Looking down from the walls at a cafe by the old main harbor.
According to my guide book, you can find good food value for your money almost
anyplace in the old city, except this one street devoted to overpriced tourist
traps. I took the book at its word, so I cannot tell you anything about any of
these places.
The old main harbor is now a small boat harbor.
This is the old Rector's Palace.
The seaward side of the city wall.
Split, Central Dalmatia
That is the end of Dubrovnik, but not of the page.
Let's have a look ahead, up the Adriatic coast to another dazzling city - Split.
Where Dubrovnik was a unified set piece - a grand mise en scene as
film people might say - Split is more of a kaleidoscope of peoples, histories,
styles. Italian is a second official language here.
The heart of town lives in and around the remains of the retirement palace of
Roman Emperor Diocletian, much as a field of wildflowers might splash out of the
remains of an old garden.
Coming up - more of Split!
But first ... this picture from Prague got into this set somehow.
Too late now to include it with the last round of Prague pictures,
so here is is!
The Clown & Bard Hostel has a reputation - indeed legend - among
arty and off-beat types. It's location in a downscale neighborhood keeps it from
being too expensive, legend or no.
That said, I haven't actually
slept there ... but I like the sign.
See you next time... in Split!