Friday 29711

left Mostar, for Dubrovnik, i absolutely love this city, ill admit a major reason i came on this dialogue was to see Dubrovnik again. but before that...

we stopped off in this town where allegedly some kids saw the Virgin Mary, so the site has been deemed miraculous, however the Catholic church does not recognize the miracle, so they havent fully gotten involved, and the Vatican's lack of support can be seen.

its all new and austere, not the Catholic cathedral i imagine when i think of miracle sight, i think of big gothic, imposing ostentatious building, not Croatian flag draped, whitewash concrete walls. but hey, maybe itll be awesome in 400 years.

we also stopped in a 500 year old Serb Orthodox Monastery, again it was new, cause it was completely annihilated during 92 by the Croatian para-military forces according to the Novice which spoke to us. it was restored in to the original designs, with recovered materials.

heres what is left of the ikonostasis from the 17th century

the also own land on which a vineyard sits, they dont harvest the grapes, but they do collect rent, which is pretty cool, throwback style

but yeah Dubrovnik is awesome, we are staying in a hotel with a beach, the beach isnt all that awesome, but the water is beautiful, and the perfect temperature, its not too hot here, but the water is still refreshing without being cold, its awesome.

we wandered into the old city at night to find someplace to hang out, the city is pretty cool at night too. i will certainly encourage my parents to retire here...