Dubrovnik

Croatia has a very complex political history, and a young boat man told me today that Croatia has never been the attacker, but the many wars the country has had have been in defense of their country. Dubrovnik is among the 10 best preserved medieval walled cities in the world. Although it was demilitarized in the 1970s to protect it from war, in 1991, after the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was besieged by the Serb and Montenegrin soldiers for seven months and suffered significant damage from shelling. It has been very well restored and tourism is now a big feature - though as you wander the lesser side streets and alleys it is clear that this is also an area that is very much lived in by locals.

I brought a hand made lace/embroidered table runner from the lady in the picture below, so I guess she felt obliged to be in the picture, but she sat working by her sale table so it was clear that she had actually made her goods. 

The shopping is very weird here - once you leave the old walled city and actually head into the modern town the "shopping center"  is like some funny mix of 1980's malls except they are 3-4 story buildings, with a narrow foot print, and a small number of odd shops. I was looking for a Croatian SIM card, and luck would have it that after the 3rd-4th store and attempt, I finally worked out that there was some "regional failure of the optic cable", and that there was no internet available ANYWHERE and no one knew when it would be fixed, and no-one could hence sell me a sim card! Unbelievable!