Well, today was an interesting day. Last night a bunch of my friends and I went out to celebrate my birthday and we ended up hitting an Irish pub in the old city. They generously bought me quite a few drinks and a few hours later, I was pretty drunk and pretty sick. This morning was so horrid that I didn’t end up getting out till the mid afternoon…and even that was a little difficult. But I would have been very upset with myself if I had stayed on the ship, despite being ill. So I headed out to see more of the old city, and discovered that the usual buses we took weren’t running, so I did some walking and picked up another bus to take me to Pile Gate. The buses are ALWAYS soooo crowded…most tourists rely on them for transportation, and of course, the locals do as well. So once I got to Grad, the first thing I did was check out the Franciscan Monastery and Pharmacy, right near the entrance to the city. The Pharmacy is thought to be perhaps the oldest pharmacy in Europe, dating from the early 14th century. The Pharmacy is in the current museum, which holds religious artifacts such as paintings, basins, jewelry, etc. My favorite artifacts were the old books and manuscripts the monks kept…they are pieces of artwork in itself! All those images of how medieval books used to be…large, with incredible script and decoration…those images came to life here in the museum. I wasn’t able to take photographs but they were truly stunning. Right next to the museum were the peaceful and intimate cloisters…a setting that I always love to be near. There is something so gratifying about cloisters, perhaps it is the serene and intimate atmosphere which seems happy to embrace every visitor.

After visiting the monastery, I continued on to see a long term exhibit in the Sponza Palace, which is free to the public. It is a memorial to the Dubrovnik Defenders, about 300 men who died defending the city in the early 90s. Walking along the picturesque Stradun, it’s really difficult to remember that a war occurred here less than 20 years ago. The city is so rich in beauty that makes the thought of war incomprehensible. But it did occur, when in 1991, Serbia, Montenegro, and the Yugoslav National Army attacked the city. The memorial was simple and yet very moving. Black and white pictures of the men who died lined the walls, and so many were very young. There was also a slideshow of pictures taken during the siege…which was really touching because the same damaged sites shown in the photos were the very places I had been exploring…and then I remembered seeing damaged houses during my walking tour yesterday around the walls-and I should have made the connection then but honestly I was so overtaken with the amazing views…my mind was only thinking of how incredibly striking the scenery was. But this exhibit made a lasting impression on me and after I exited the palace, I saw Dubrovnik in another sense…a city that is still healing…it’s uncanny to me how people would want to bury this city…how individuals would want to destroy such magnificence …
After the exhibit, I went in search of a pizza slice since I hadn’t eaten at all yet. I was easily satisfied and then actually hit up the cutest smoothie place…had a refreshing drink, brought a present, and headed back to the ship. Naturally I’ve decided to stay in since I still feel a little under the weather, and just tired.

Tomorrow is our last day in port…not only in port but our last day in our last country! And I know this sounds crazy, but I’m not planning to spend too much time in Dubrovnik and the reason being is I have a million papers and field reports to write…and I’m getting a little stressed. Actually, everyone is. So I will try to head out in the morning, hit up the close grocery store (I did stop there on my way back today to start stockpiling food…we will have I think 12 days at sea? I wasn’t the only one doing this) and maybe do some last minute souvenir shopping. I can’t get over how beautiful Croatia is, and the old town of Dubrovnik especially. And luckily, if there was a time and place to get sick and have to stay in bed most of the day, it would be here-only because the old town is small and I did most of the sightseeing yesterday. But out of every place we’ve visited, I would love to come back and spend a week here, just relaxing. Yes, indeed!