Dubrovnic is the hub for many long and shorttrips. Tuesday we opted fora six hour three islands trip. Weleft the old port and motored first to Kolocep, then to Sipan and finally toLopud. We roamed a bit atthe first, and second and had lunch at the third, then motored an hour back toDubrovnic. We had lovely views of small, tranquil island fishing villages;feasted on good food and wine, and saw another picture of Dubrovnic atwar. Our skipper was Srdan,with his rebuilt “rescue†tug, which he couldspin around on a dime and park with a foot on each end. Here are some pics, then the war!
Our group was a small one, but it could not have been morediverse! There was a couple from Ireland, two young women from England,another couple from Siberia, another from New Zealand and us! We had lunch together on Lopud, thenhome. At the port, Srdan’s friend tookus to our apartment. This opened another chapter. The friend had been in the CroatianArmy defending Dubrovnic in late 1991. For three months it was attacked bySerb-Montenegran troops of Milosevic’s vicious army. The city suffered a terrible attackform the land and sea, bent simply on destroying the fine old city. There was no military advantage,merely sheer hateful wanton destruction. This is the kind of behavior (and muchmore) that led to Milosevic’s arrest and trial at the Hague for Crimes AgainstHumanity. (Unfortunately he died before thetrial could be completed.)
The destruction of Dubrovnic was a terrible act. It destroyed centuries old churchesand homes for no reason other than sheer ethnic hatred, by which Milosevic heldon to power. The fine restaurant we patronized, Konavoski Dvori was completelyleveled by the Serbs. This was not a military operation, but ethic cleansing, for whichthe Milosevic’s Serbs have been rightly condemned. But the city has come back. Ithas been rebuilt on classical lines and now bears no scars of thedestructions. Quite the contrary. It is now not only a tourist Mecca, itboasts a Bikers Caffe owned by our skipper,Srdan.
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