Planning a trip?

Well my friends, I have only this to say: go to Dubrovnik. As soon as possible.

Some of my older readers are well aware of the terrible war that occurred there in the early 90’s, however, since then, Croatia has been rebuilt and though occasional bullet holes may be seen in the walls, Dubrovnik is the number one vacation spot for all Europeans in the know. And here’s why (sorry to sound like an infomercial)

For one, the city is incredibly safe. No pickpockets here unlike Rome or Barcelona. Second, English is widely understood, though this may turn off some people – keep in mind, this s a VERY touristy area. You probably can get along with other European languages, Italian, French, Spanish, and German being your best bets. Third, it’s, well beautiful. I don’t have the pictures right now, but look online. Go to google now. I’ll wait here.

Yes, it’s that beautiful. It looks like a postcard. The old city itself is breathtaking, no matter where you are. And once you climb on to the wall, which to be fair, is quite a walk, you’ll see it’s well worth the hassle. The sea is clear blue, with not a pollutant in sight. You’ll see many a native and tourist cliff diver from the rocks. Quick warning though – be sure to know the dangers – which we were lectured on quite a bit. I won’t go into it here, for my more sensitive readers.

The old city is great in itself, but there are plenty of cheap boats out to other extremely beautiful Croatian island. Also, did I mention that you can see the forested mountains from anywhere in the city? Yes, it’s beautiful, more beautiful than even Shakespeare could describe (that’s why I stick to Poe – no expectations).

So yes. I love it. It’s great. Tomorrow it will be flocking with tourists, though, so we’ll see if my generous approval is warranted.

As for what I’ve done… well, today I went to one of the oldest orphanages in the country. It was oddly beautiful despite the slightly depressing connotations. The children weren’t war orphans, as they were much too young. Many of them weren’t even ‘orphans’ - their parents were unable to care for them, so they go in and out of orphanages depending on the situation. It’s a lovely, huge house, with a 15-minute walk to the beach. The kids themselves are pretty well adjusted, but I must keep in mind that the ones that we saw were the most well adjusted. We did hear of a poor 16 year old boy who kept to himself in his room all day, despite his siblings flourishing.

Well, now that I’ve depressed you, I may as well make up for it. Yesterday we went to a small village not too far form Dubrovnik. There, we sat, danced, drank, laughed, and ate with the local villagers for 6 hours. It was quite the experience. Though it says quite a bit that, despite their traditional clothes and dances, the villagers got less attention form the students than the rambunctious white cat the wandered around.

Also, as you may have noticed, the Internet on my cruise is... spotty at best. Email also applies. So, if you send me an email, and don’t get a response in say, a week, assume that I didn’t get it, or that I sent a response, and you didn’t get it. Sorry in advance.

We're going to Greece next. Stephen Fry isn't our guide, thankfully. He gets a bit confused:



Are these silly videos a cheap excuse for me to not put up photos? Very yes. How about this. I've found a good source of internet - I'll sort out a few photos from every place and try to get them up tomorrow.