Just passed our first 24 hours in Dubrovnik and have already met a Canadian who was born in the town next to my grandma’s, and a Croatian who spent 10 years living in my hometown, Glendale, California.  One thing I love about travelling outside the U.S. is the willingness of people to chat across restaurant tables, so much less guarded and than Americans when it comes to revealing oneself.

We arrived at our “sobe” – rental apartment – Wednesday early afternoon, and were greeted by the owner, Rastko, who introduced himself as “not the owner, the man of the owner” with a grin.  He showed us our lovely large apartment with brilliant views of the Adriatic across the old city.

Fortunately we were not as tired after our long trip as we’d expected, so changed quickly into something cooler – bright sun was out– and headed off to explore.  Dubrovnik is a hilly town, lots of steps, all leading down to the old city.  We made our way down our lovely walk from our sobe, literally 10 minutes down (and later to learn, 30 minutes back :)).

The first commercial enterprise we encountered was a gelato stand just outside the Plini (main) gate.  Spotting my hard-to-find favorite, hazelnut, we stopped for a scoop.  Tasty enough, but as we’ve unfortunately been spoiled by the amazing gelato in Florence, it did not live up to our exacting standards. They do, however, have the Florentines beat on decor, as evidenced by the Gelato Man statue outside the building

Guide book and map in hand, we headed into the walled city and wandered about to get oriented. Our local agent, Antonia, had told us the walk across the old town from wall to wall takes 10 minutes time; she was quite literally correct.  This did not, however, factor in stops to pop into St. Blaise Cathedral during rosary time (patron saint of Dubrovnik and known to cure throat ailments; let’s hope he cures my cough), check out the tchotchkes, or read every posted menu for a potential dinner locale. We’ve discovered the creative charms of friendly restaurant representatives scattered about town, helping you find your way, then very convincingly suggesting the best restaurant with the best prices in town.  It was thus that we found ourselves seated for an early dinner at a sidewalk cafe, and my dish certainly lived up to its billing as a fresh Dubrovnik seafood platter – whole grill fish, head and all, tasted magnificent.

In short order, two couples sat down at the adjacent table and looked over to admire our food.  When I noted they were also served the same gratis “Croatian antibiotic” (Rakija – an herbal variant of slivovica) we struck up a conversation.  These two couples are Canadians who have been travelling together through Croatia for weeks and were about to head over for 3 more weeks in Turkey.  Long story short, the husband, Carl, was born in Tomasica, the town immediately adjacent to Kajgana, my grandmother’s village in the north. They had just been to Kajgana (population 300) and showed us some photos.  When I told him we were trying to locate relatives in Kajgana, he, noting that they most likely did not speak English, wrote out a message (see below) in Croatian for me to use when I show up there.  It says, in essence, “Hello, I’m trying to find relatives from the family Ribaric who lived at 23 Kajgana – does anyone speak English here?”

Needless to say, the combination of our jet lag and two shots of Rakija (I had Mike’s as well as mine) took their toll, and we were home asleep by 8:30pm.

Today, Thursday, started with coffee and pastries at the local coffee spot, and for anyone who was raised with Croatian relatives, having hot cheese and apple gibonica (strudel) is as decadent as one can get.

Our day was spent on the obligatory tourist activities, taking the cable cars to the Homeland War memorial in Fort Imperial on Mount Srđ (the 1991-94 war of independence remains in daily conversation), and walking the historic walls of the Stari Grad (Old City).

Had a light dinner of thin crust pizza and coffee then walked up (getting better, 20 minutes) the stairways to our sobe.   After one more night of early sleep, we should be sufficiently time-zone-adjusted, and plan to spend our last full day in Dubrovnik visiting the smaller museums, attending a concert of the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, and dressing up for a late dinner.

Laku noć – good night.