Dubrovnik, Croatia - October 19, 2012

After departing from Venice our ship schedule launched us into a formal night, very nice including a Venice theme masquerade party. A short night later and we are sailing into Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik is an historical and beautifully picturesque town known mainly as a major tourist resort. Facing the sea at the base of rugged limestone mountains with its medieval double walls and fortifications make you feel as though you have stepped back in time. Dubrovnik was founded in the 7th century by the Romans, has been under the protection of the Byzantine Empire, of Venice, of Hungary until 1526, and the Ottoman Empire until 1806. In the 16th century, Dubrovnik had one of the greatest merchant fleets in the Mediterranean. Napoleon abolished the city-republic and in 1815 the Congress of Vienna gave the town to Austria. Following WWI, the town became a part of the newly created Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia) and was occupied by the Italians and the Germans during WWII. When Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, Serbian militias laid siege to and bombarded Dubrovnik, destroying many sites of historical importance causing the residents to flee and tourism was virtually wiped out. SInce the mid 1990s Dubrovnik has re-established itself as a major tourist destination. Our day was full of walking and just beautiful, the scenery is magnificent and I can see why it is a perfect tourist destination. We walked the wall of the Old City and took the gondola ride up to capture the entire beauty of this City. Here is a sample of what we saw during this incredible day. Tomorrow we sail into Kerkira, Corfu, Greece and our first HAL excursion on this adventure.