Dubrovnik--A Most Beautiful City

The first time I set foot in Dubrovnik I was so star struck I was beside myself. The "Stari Grad", as the old walled city is called, has marble streets, quaint nooks and crannies and one of the oldest water systems still in operation in Europe. When you stroll atop the wall of the city your senses are taken in completely by the turquoise blue waters of the Adriatic, the smell of the sea, and the sight of islands, the old harbor lined with small fishing vessels, and local woman who swim every morning at the old harbor.
I found the best way to meet locals and get to know them was by hanging out at that harbor. One morning armed with very little language skill I approached a fisherman who was mending net. I showed him I was interested in what he was doing and between my poor Croatian, my intent on learning, and my rain boots and rain gear, he invited me to go out on his boat for the day. What an adventure. I think I learned every version of jabate--the Croat word for that other four letter word we're not allowed to say in English. Croats, much like the Irish, seem to have a penchant for turning jabate into a verb, noun, adjective, adverb and gerund in the most creative of ways. I found myself laughing so hard I nearly fell out of the boat. That's when he figured out that despite my poor language skills, I'd learn the one thing all people learn when they are taught a new language--how to swear like a sailor!
Another morning I went down with my swimsuit, discreetly changed in to it by some rocks at the old harbor with the other women, and proceeded to plunge into the 55 to 58 degree water. The shriek that came out of my mouth had the older women laughing and they jumped in and joined me. We all hurried out to warm up, and that was when the conversation ensued. I speak a little German so that was one language we could converse in. Another spoke some Italian and that was even better because I do speak Spanish. Then a Spanish woman was at the same area swimming and she joined in. We had this epic multi lingual conversation that probably resembled a game of telephone. But most mornings for nearly two weeks in the late March and early April of 2007 I went to join the local ladies who taught me more Croatian and about what it was like in Dubrovnik when Tito was alive. I'll save those impressions for another post.