Day 1 in Croatia

Hi all!! Sorry for the delay in my updates but here are a couple.  Enjoy!

 

 

So today I was landed in Dubrovnik.  It is beautiful, especially compared to Naples.  It's not just me who didn't like Naples, it seems in general everyone thought it to be pretty scary as well.  But the first thing we did when we docked was walk from the port to old town Dubrovnik.  I was really excited today, entering the port because they stamped my passport for the first time. Yay, like Sandra Bullocks in "While You Were Sleeping," I finally got a stamp in my passport--it took me three countries but I finally got it!! 

 

In Croatia they use the Kuna as currency.  Right now the exchange rate is about 1 US dollar to every 5 Kuna.  I took money out of the ATM and felt like a Kuniannaire!!  My friends and I kept betting each other to do things for Kuna, like I dare you to do this for 100 Kuna (this sounds like a lot but wait it’s only 20 dollars!!)

 

We went to old town and ate a light lunch at a small cafe, then I took the bus back to the boat to go on my trip at 1pm.  We took a bus ride into rural Dubrovnik to a city called Osojnik (pronounced Osoynick).  We were greeted by a the matron of the house we were visiting at the one and only church in town.  The Matron of the House was dressed in authentic clothing, a blue dress and white shall.  From there we walked down a long road, past donkeys and chickens, and our tour guide told us about the local herbs.  I guess herbology is very important to this city, they even put herbs in their brandy for their health. 

 

We arrived at a house and were greeted by the Patron of the House and a fig and glass of brandy.  Wow, it is strong, they actually make the brandy from the raisins.  The terrain in this area is very harsh with tons of limestone, so it's hard to grow anything but grapes.  We then toasted, over an open flame, a piece of toast, bacon and goat/cow cheese.  Can I say DELICIOUS!!  We had some wine, I was not a fan though it was kind of sweet for me.  Then we listened to authentic Croatian music which included a guitar and accordion.  We proceeded down to a dungeon like place for dinner.  It included some kind of meat and potatoes.  Really delicious.  We had more songs and sing alongs, it was wonderful. It really gave me a taste of a small Croatian village.  These people were friendly and fun-loving, I had a blast.