We spent Friday (the 25^th) and Saturday (the 26^th) in Croatia. On Friday it was Dubrovnik; on  Thursday, Trogir. 

We went on a walking tour of Dubrovnik. It is just a stunningly beautiful city. And a walking tour is just the right way to see the city. Except that when we went, it rained. Actually it didn’t just rain, it poured. By the time the tour was over we were drenched.

In the end the weather didn’t matter all that much. The city was simply gorgeous. 

As you arrive, you are greeted with the sight of the newer, more modern Dubrovnik from the deck of the ship. Newer is a relative term; the city has been around for about 1,000 years.

We, however chose a walking tour in the Old City, which was truly spectacular. Among other things, we got a look at St. Ignatius Church. It is sometimes called Rhagusinum, which was then the Jesuit college in the Republic of Ragusa—a precursor to Croatia. 

One of the first places we came across was the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Some work was being done on it so there was some scaffolding up. But the scaffolding was relatively minor. 

Another place we saw was the 16^th century Sponza Palace, also known as Divona. The building has served many functions, including: a customs office, mint, treasury, armory, bank and school. It survived a 17^th century earthquake that destroyed much of the Old City. Today it is the Dubrovnik State Archive.  

We paid a visit to Rectors Palace where, mercifully, we mostly stayed inside and viewed the art on display. Finally, we saw some other tourists climbing the stairs (in the rain) to walk on the walls of the city. We avoided that. 

All in all, despite the fierce rain, we’d like to think that our walking tour of Dubrovnik, including the beautiful architecture and the accompanying history lesson, was well worth the effort. 

MAM & JFB