Day 7

Breakfast
Beach
Groceries
Siesta
Dinner
War Photo Museum
Strolling

     Today was a beach day. I had read about a nice beach that was a 25 minute walk from the Old Town so we decided to check it out. Before setting out we had another leisurely morning. I was up first and spent some time researching activities and restaurants. When the boys got up Mark cooked breakfast and then we got ourselves organized for the day.

     As soon as we stepped outside we felt it was a very hot day, it felt hotter than the day before. We started the walk which wasn't too bad. I find the heat is manageable if I just keep moving. We had pretty good directions but even so we missed one street and thought we would have to backtrack but then I found a set of stairs that took us just where we wanted to go. The beach we were looking for was called Sveti Jakov Beach or St. Jakob's Beach. You walk down the road until you see an old church. Wish I had gotten a picture but I was literally boiling and the only thing I could think of was getting down to the water. There is a set of stairs that lead down to the beach, around 168 stairs. Of course going down, you know you have to come back up at some point!

     The beach was already pretty busy but we managed to squeeze ourselves into a tiny patch of shade against a rock wall. The water at the beach was amazing. Great temperature, easy for me to get in (I don't like cold water), and a beautiful aquamarine. The water here is just as beautiful as it looked in the pictures I saw before we started our trip. We spent a few hours swimming and hanging out. The sun encroached upon us very quickly and soon there was no shade at all. You could rent an umbrella for 50 Kuna but it wouldn't have covered all of us so we decided to tough it out, swim a few more times and then head back to town. There was great people watching, a bar for cold drinks, and lots going on out on the water.

     Finally I got too hot and it was time to go. We headed back which was a very hot walk, but mostly downhill. And, the views were amazing. It is hard not to take endless pictures. Everything is so beautiful but I was too hot to stop too much. On the way back we stopped at Pemo which is the grocery store we have been using. We finally got the hang of weighing our own fruit, which is cool because it spits out a little sticker which tells you exactly how much you are spending. We got some nice oranges and tomatoes along with some other lunch stuff. Back to the apartment we went, the boys had lunch and I did a quick load of laundry and had a shower to get the salt off me. It actually feels like crystals on your skin.

     We decided to have dinner a little earlier tonight. People eat quite late here, hard to eat when the sun is blazing. I had found a Bosnian restaurant that was supposed to be pretty good so we headed over there for 6:30, which is considered early but we didn't want to line up and we hoped to get a table outside. No luck on that but the restaurant was nice and cool so no sauna while we ate tonight! We had the Bosnian specialty 'Cevapi' which are little sausages made of minced meat. They put them in freshly baked bread and a cheese called kajmac. The bread is like a thicker, softer pita bread and the cheese is something like a cream cheese but a softer consistency. They grill the sausages, my goodness it was so delicious. I plan to eat more of those little sausages when we get to Bosnia.

     After dinner I wanted to do some shopping and Joe wanted to get a few things so we went our separate ways for a while. I perused a little shopping street called the Ulica od Puca. It has numerous jewelry shops, clothing, handbags, souvenirs, etc. I bought 2 pairs of earrings then met up with the boys. Our next stop was the War Photo Museum. It is an exhibition of war photojournalism. There current special exhibit was on the Iran/Iraq War. They also had a permanent exhibit on the Yugoslav Wars. They had photographs on the walls and books filled with specific parts of the war. It was very interesting to see the photographs of Dubrovnik and the Old Town during the war. The most striking thing was the lack of people in the photos. So different from the streets teeming with people that we see now. The exhibits were well worth the time.

     After the museum, Joe wanted ice cream so we went back to Ulica od Puca and found a place. They are pretty into ice cream here. There are numerous shops selling big piles of different types of ice cream. Joe said it was quite good. We continued to wander, the nights are so warm, it is great to be outside. Finally we came home and finished up some plans for the morning. We are getting up early to tackle walking the city walls before it gets too hot. It is the last 'must do' on our list for Dubrovnik.