Dubrovnik

Our travels across Croatia have taken us to Dubrovnik, considered by many to be the Jewel of the Adriatic.  The city is in high tourist season; cruise ships are bringing thousands of passengers daily, and everything from museums to cafes to local buses is jam-packed with visitors, including many Americans.

Also, temperatures continue to soar - yesterday, we walked Dubrovnik's iconic city walls, which offer gorgeous view of the sea and the old town's lovely historic buildings with their orange tile roofs.  The mercury hit early 100 degrees well  before 9 a.m.

In the afternoon, we huddled in our air-conditioned room and took a nap.  Then in the evening, when it was cooler, we ventured out to stroll through the old town once more, and have dinner in an excellent vegetarian restaurant.  We had planned to go to the beach today, our final day in Dubrovnik, but the heat may deter us.  Instead, maybe we'll find a cool cinema.

We lucked out by arriving for the first night of the annual summer Dubrovnik music and arts festival, and were treated to a fireworks show above the old city, and a concert by a Croatian pop singer in front of a beautiful church.  (We enjoyed the music, although we  couldn't understand the lyrics, until the band played Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here.") The entire town seemed to turn out for this event, with everyone dressed in their finest clothes.

Tomorrow we set out for the next leg of our trip, traveling by bus through Montenegro and Serbia to tour Bulgaria and Romania.  This will be interesting, since some of these countries use the cyrillic alphabet and we won't even be able to read the signs or restaurant menus!

Here are a few photos from Dubrovnik.