Last reflections on Dubrovnik

The walls and buildings are from the past; the people and contents are from the present. No garish store signs - yet inside are Lush, Diesel, Lacoste, jewelry shops, clothing stores, book shops and many souvenir shops. They have tried to keep the integrity of the place. Only the occasional bank machine, discretely placed advertises that time has moved on.

Many alley ways have tables with umbrellas, extensions of restaurants. It's funny to sit eating with tables on both sides of the "street" and have a local child zip through on his bicycle. People live here - with potted plants on window ledges, satellite dishes and air conditioners, children walking to and from school, roller blading on the marble streets, and people bustling home with their bags of groceries.

Then there are the tourists: many - speaking different languages, filling the cafes, walking the streets, exploring the sights.

And there are the cats wandering the streets, feasting on handouts from restaurants.

Croatia takes religion seriously. The National holidays include the religious ones. Much was shut for Corpus Christi. Here and elsewhere in Croatia, you see nuns in full habit - many young. It is obvious the visitors to churches are not just tourists as some stop a while and pray, cross themselves and move on. This was true in Zagreb too.

It will be hard to leave this beautiful place but tomorrow we are travelling on......