Dubrovnik, Croatia 6/25/24

 Dubrovnik, Croatia

Our last stop in Croatia was Dubrovnik. Since Mickey and I had been here before, we chose a wine tasting tour on the Dalmatian Coast. While I considered a Game of Thrones tour, (King's Landing in the show), as I am a big fan, the wine won out!

Our first stop was a family run olive farm up in the mountainous area of Dubrovnik. The drive up there gave us some spectacular views of all the mountains surrounding the bay.

The olive farm was small and rustic. The owner showed us how they have the horse turn the stone mill to pulverize the olives (pits and all), then place the olive pulp in the natural fiber baskets to be set in the cold press. The cold press was manned by two men turning a press to squeeze the oil out of the fiber baskets filled with olive pulp. After his talk, he took us to his home where we were served farm to table lunch platters filled with cheese, sausage, tomatoes, olives, etc. and served with his own family’s olive oil. He also served wine from the farm along with the lunch. It was such a simple way of life, with views of the coast and his farm that greets him every day as he goes about growing and producing some of the purest food you can eat. From the back porch tables that they had set up for us, we could enjoy those views of his farm and the Dalmatian coast, while enjoying the fruits of his labor.

From the demonstration, we moved onto Grappa tasting. My favorite was limoncello, but they were all pretty tasty. Great way to start our day. Then we were served our morning snack on the property.

Next stop was a town called Ston that was very quaint and had a great castle and wall formation on its mountain. There are pictures of the wall going up to the top of the mountain and the castle. There are also pictures of the two segments of the walk going to a midway look out point. Evidently, the wall is a favorite place for locals to challenge their physical fitness as there were signs advertising an upcoming Wall Marathon. Ston is a salt producing area.

Our next stop was at a seafood restaurant. Lunch consisted of wine (of course!) squid ink risotto, salad and seafood pasta. I did not have any of the sqiud, big surprise. After lunch, one of our friends from the cruise, John saw a piano and sat down to play. The owner came running over with a full glass of wine, set it on the piano and told him “Please, Play!”. John sat down and played a song from Phantom of the Opera for everyone. As we were leaving, the owner gave John a gift of salt (that is from their salt pans) as appreciation for his playing.

And one final stop for more wine! Our guide said at the beginning of the tour, we would drink, eat, drink, eat some more and drink. He was right!

That night, back on the ship, Mickey planned a small group for dinner party to celebrate my birthday. A good day all around!! And a birthday towel cake from our cabin attendant, Gufron.

Tomorrow, Kotor, Montenegro.