23 September ’04, Thursday. Out to the little white building across the highway, catch bus #10 for $10 kunas each ($1.50), ride it for 8 km, go under 2 quick bridges, and get off at the first stop. Go across the street, down the stairs, turn left and go down the 2nd flight of stairs and you are at The Polèe Gate. That was the exact instructions that our campground manager gave us and it worked perfectly. Our ride on the bus was like one other that we have had. The bus isn’t new, it definitely is noisy, and the seats are hard. The seats on the bus are just “butt” shaped wood, and there is no give. When the roadways are as rough as these are, you feel every little crack, let alone the bumps. You forget about all this when you look out the window. First, the bus travels fast…second, you are traveling on mountain roads that sit precariously on the edge about 200 feet above the water, and third, the views are unbelievable. You forget all the negative and live for the views. Below you, is the picture postcard of the year, view of Dubrovnik…. I haven’t gotten to take that picture yet myself, but before we leave, we will go back in the van, so that I can add this to my catalog photo’s of Dubrovnik. We got an early start this morning. Upon entering the Fortress, we ran into an English speaking tour. Louise went up to the tour guide and asked if we could join in…no problem, so we slid right in with the group. One thing for sure you do learn more this way. One doorway we walked too, used to be a door that Noble women could bring their out of wed-lock baby too. If she had to leave her baby, she would walk down the street in the evening ringing a bell. If anybody were to see her, they would be sentenced to 5 years in prison, so they all cleared the street so she could have her privacy. Once she approached the door, even the nun on the other side could not see her. She would then leave the child, and move on. After 7 years, if she found she wanted this child back, she could do so if she could identify her/him. This was done, by the mother attaching a ring or something that she could keep half of, around the babies neck. Also, each child was given a name of a saint. That name came from a saint named for that particular day. If the mother knew what that name was, and had that half of the identifying item, she and the child would be reunited together. If not, the child would be well taken care of until adult. It would never become a noble person, but would always have a job of dignity. This is only one small piece of history we learned today, but I will have to wait to give you more later. I can only hold your attention on one page so long…. Anyway, we ended with the tour and then went on our own for the next 4 plus hours. Two hours of this was a walk around the top of the wall. It is 1,940 meters long (6,363 feet), or over a mile, and reaches a height of 82 feet. Some areas are as much as 20 feet wide with a second wall in front of it as well. It has 10 circular “bastions”, or towers. The sights from the wall are incredible, whether looking out to sea or looking into the “Old Town” of Dubrovnik. I personally, really enjoy the old tile roof-tops….Tomorrow….more of today….Dubrovnik
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