Dispatches from Dubrovnik, the Pearl of the Adriatic
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Tag: literature and travel
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by Patrick Darcey
I traced her scars with the tips of my fingers, wiping cement powder on my dark pant legs and pausing in quiet reflection. I found more as I walked along the street, hidden in the obscure alleys and untrodden sections. I searched for the healed wounds on every brick and stone that lined the city. It was a game to me.
While some bullet holes remain, most are gone. Some of the shopkeepers and restaurateurs still talk about what happened here, but most do not. The bright orange tiles which once were such a direct reminder of the war and it's postbellum construction, well, they are starting to fade too. There is now an entire generation in Dubrovnik who only knows peace. Theirs is a world with pristine beaches and an underground nightclub scene which rivals some of the best in Las Vegas. Milosevic who?
Still, it’s a hard concept to grasp. Connotations and imagery of a bruised and battered Croatia seem to creep into the conversation about any vacation plans to this part of the world. Even in the centuries before the war, Dubrovnik’s formidable walls isolated its beauty from potential invasion. Now, it's just the opposite: invaders are welcome.
Found inside the stone walls are places like