The day started at 2.30 am! Phil was loading our bags into the car as we stumbled downstairs with the rest. He insisted on driving us, wouldn’t hear of getting a taxi, but that’s Phil. Bristol airport is now a major one, he said twenty flights were leaving around 6 am. It was bustling with white-faced , baggy eyed people, some with sleepwalking children.

There’s a shuttle bus to the Old Town of Dubrovnik and we sat back to enjoy the views along the corkscrew road winding down the mountain. There is no traffic allowed inside the walls, we walked through an ancient fortress gate into another century. The streets are paved with marble blocks worn smooth by many feet. Our room is up one of the narrow streets that rise from the main street in steep steps.

We took a walking tour and learned some of the history, this town has been defending itself for centuries! The Venetians from the Adriatic side and Serbs more recently. A huge earthquake almost destroyed the town hundreds of years ago and the residents rebuilt after all these assaults.

Friday 30th

Found the market and bought fruit for breakfast, tubs of pomegranate seeds, grapes that exploded wth flavour. we feasted. Then found a bakery and ice cream shops were everywhere. We feasted again. Wandered the streets with hundreds of other tourists, getting our bearings. Decided we didn’t need to climb up to the city walls. The pharmacy has been operating in the same place since it was first built for herbal remedies. The ceiling is like a fresco, I actually gasped. We met the oldest cat, 18years, in her cardboard box outside the council offices. It is a city of cats, cared for because their ancestors killed the rats during the plague. The residents gave her a box but the mayor’s officers kept removing it until he received a petition signed by 1500 people, demanding that she be allowed to stay.

Saturday 1st October Fruit breakfast and peppermint tea, water in hot tap is fine! Pat wasn’t feeling well sore throat so back to the old pharmacy for lozenges. There was a gathering of people dressed for a wedding , gorgeous long gowns in silk and satin, wearing 10cm heels. The men were all in beautiful suits, quite a few patent shoes too,

We just had to stay for the bride to arrive. The guests arrived on foot, along with the usual tourists, mingling with guys hauling huge rubbish bins back and forth, quite a scene. The bride had an enormous white frothy train, like feathers a foot thick and three metres long. Perfect.