| Thursday, 03 November 2011 | Heaven on Earth |
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 Walking the walls of Dubrovnik, Croatia On entering the medieval city gates, we participated in an age-old ritual expected of visitors to Dubrovnik by washing our hands in the Onofrio Fountain (1438) - the way pilgrims would try to wash away the plague in the middle ages. If that doesn’t work for you, drop into the third oldest pharmacy in Europe (1391) with its incredible collection of elixirs, medicines and crucifixes in the Franciscan monastery next-door! The whole of the old port of the Adriatic is a Unesco world heritage site. No traffic is allowed in the old town so it is very pedestrian friendly. We took a slow stroll down the long cobbled placa to the clock tower and church of Saint Blaise - the patron saint of Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik has survived invaders over the centuries from Napoleon to the Nazis. We visited the town’s famous gothic palaces - the rector’s palace which houses a museum of baroque art, and the Venetian palace which houses an exhibition on the heroic defenders of Dubrovnik - the men who died defending the city when it was besieged by Serbian forces in 1991. We also visited the only synagogue - the second oldest in Europe, a moving shrine to the city’s many holocaust victims in world war two. The curator at the palace told us the best way to see Dubrovnik is on a two kilometre walking trail around the massive stone walls built in the medieval era. The giddying circuit took us right around this picturesque city - around towers, a fortress and bastions at a height of around 25 metres, with stunning aerial views of sea and city.
Graham Howe is a freelance travel writer based in Cape Town who
specializes in gourmet tourism. He is wine and food editor of
Habitat—and a contributor to Business Day's Homefront, Eat Out,
www.iol.co.za and www.wine.co.za.
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