Sunny, Gray Smoky Skies
Hi Temp (still) 91 (and just as humid);
Sunrise 6:06, Sunset 7:36
9:00 excursion this morning so it was up early and a somewhat abbreviated (3 miles) on the deck before breakfast.
Ashore we met our guide and waited for a shuttle bus to take us down the way to our boat.
Along the way we saw:
Docking at the port we disembarked and entered thru the Ponte Gate.
Entering the gate we stopped (in the shade) and looked at the structures around the gate.
The wide central street running from the Ponte Gate to the Pile Gate. 
Church of St. Blaise, Patron Saint of Dubrovnik 
The Sponza Palace, built in the early 16th century. Originally a customs house, one of the few buildings to survive the 1667 earthquake. 
Clock tower with an hour dial, a moon globe (showing phases) and a digital readout (Roman Numeral Hours and Aribic minutes. 
One of several working water fountains in the Old Town. 
Bell atop clock tower where the bell is stuck by a pair of Roman Soldiers 
Venetian fort on the top of the hill.
Then we began a walk – not down the main street, but down one of the side streets.
Along the way our guide talked about significant points of interest.
At the end of the street we found Large Onofrio’s Fountain, the entry point in the town for a water supply system Onofrio di Giordano della Cava, the planner of the town’s entire water supply. His system carried fresh water about 7.5 miles from Knezica Spring. The fountain and the water system are still functional today.
Following the walk we were turned lose to wander and support the local economy.
We skipped the Christmas shop (already got an ornament in L’Anse aux meadows) but we did pick up a magnet for the fridge.
Our meeting place was a plaza just outside the Pile Gate.
On our way back to the ship we passed this memorial to children killed during the 1991-1995 war.
Back on board we were in time to take in the Port Talk on our next port.
In addition to the normal descriptions of the various excursions we also got a brief history lesson on the city, country, and sometimes even region.
We’ve gotten hooked on Team Trivia (again) which makes it really hard to catch the 6:30 lecture, get dinner, and make it to the Explorer’s Lounge by 8:00.
So once again we decided to view the late lecture, recorded, on our stateroom TV.
Not that it was much help.
Trivia tonight was “Name that Tune”
Nuff said.
Before I leave Cheryl wanted me to talk about the flag of Croatia, and in particular the red and white checked shield.
There’s a legend that the king of Croatia was captured by the Venetians and challenged the Doge of Venice to a chess match to gain his freedom.
It is also possible that the pattern refers to Croatia’s location and role as a defensive wall protecting Europe (and particularly the Hapsburg empire) from Ottoman invaders.
Tomorrow we’re in Zadar Coratia and our excursion is a walk in the park – Krka National Park. You may have seen photos of a broad plain with waterfalls cascading in steps down. We’ll see what we find.
It’s an all day venture, rated ‘Difficult’ so we’ve been saving our bodies for this event.
Hopefully it will all work out.
Till then,
R