Day 7: Hanging in Dubrovnik

When we wake up and walk outside to the terrace each morning it seems like we are in a Game of Thrones set.

While eating breakfast we were entertained by this man and his dog.  The dog loved to swim out to fetch tennis balls.  If his owner didn't throw one fast enough he would start barking.

As we walked through town this AM, it was more Game of Thrones scenery.  I have to admit I got a Game of Thrones map.

We visited the Dubrovnik Synagogue.  It is the oldest Sephardic Synagogue in the world and the second oldest Synagogue in Europe.

As we were wandering we ran into a library.  The librarian was happy for us to look around and told us all about her children, one of whom went to Hofstra University.  Here's a bit of the children's section.

Walking back to our apartment we found this guy taking a snooze.

In the late afternoon we went up the cable car for great views and a lovely dinner.

I pulled this photo off the internet because it shows our exact table.

We had a nice stroll through town after dinner.

We had just gone back in to our apartment when we heard fireworks a couple hundred yards up the beach.  They were very beautiful.  No idea why they were there.

Tomorrow we are off on a day trip to Bosnia Herzegovina.

  

Day 6: Montenegro

We got up early this morning and went in a small van to Montenegro.  Our first stop was Perast.  It was really pretty, but it was church after church.  This one is built on a man made island.

We then went on to Kotor town and just hung out.  There was a a market outside of the wall that was fun.

We ended up in Budva for more strolling and nice fish meal.

Glad we got to see a bit of Montenegro.

Day 5: Dubrovnik

We are pretty obsessed with our balcony.  We ended up going  down to the bakery that's below our apartment, grabbing some goodies, and eating breakfast outside.  After finally walking through town, I took a photo of where we are staying from the old harbor.

Our apartment is built directly on the rampart to the right. where the palm trees are sticking up.  The rampart to the left is the entrance to old town--Ploce Gate.

The water here is amazingly clear.  Here's a photo looking down from the balcony.

We took a walk this afternoon away from old town. This beach is about a 1/2 a block from our apartment.

For dinner, we walked into old town for a great restaurant--Proto.  On the way we came across a bride and groom walking through old town.

The restaurant was beautiful and we had a wonderful seafood tasting menu.

Interestingly, Mike Grgich of Grgich Hills is Croatian in origin.  He has a winery here.  We had a delicious bottle tonight.

Walking back through town was lovely.

Day 4: Luzern to Dubrovnik

We had a day of traveling.  We left our hotel and walked to the train station in Luzern--it was so convenient.  We took the train to Zurich and then a prop plane to Dubrovnik.  We flew over lots of snow capped Swiss mountains.

And then the beautiful blue of the Adriatic.

Our hotel is right outside the gate to the old city in Dubrovnik.  This photo is from our balcony looking away from old town.

This is looking the other direction at sunset.  

We went to a store down the block and got some food to eat out on the balcony.  A very relaxing ending to the day.

Day 3: Luzern Market and Rosengart Collection

When we woke up this AM and went out on the terrace, there were market stalls all along both sides of the Reuss River.  It was great fun checking out all the market food.  The cheese stalls reminded me of how wonderful our breakfast cheese has been each day at our hotel.

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Everything looked so fresh and delicious.  I love outdoor markets.

Even these very suggestive asparagus.

Later in the day we went to a stunning art museum--the Rosengart Collection.  This was the private collection of a Swiss art dealer Siegfried and his daughter, Angela.  They were long time friends with Picasso.  Piscasso made five portraits of Angela over the years.  Here is one of them.

The Picasso paintings are wonderful--32 in all with over fifty drawings.

They were also friends with Matisse and other post impressionists.  

The top floor of the museum included works by Leger, Cezanne, Miro, and on and on.  As if this wasn't enough there is a floor with 125 Paul Klee paintings, drawings, and watercolors.  

There was also a lovely room devoted to works by Chagall.

Aside from being stunned by seeing all of this work in one place, There was hardly anyone in the museum.  It's definitely a hidden gem.

We had a great dinner at a French brasserie and then took a walk to see the Lion Monument carved into the side of a mountain.  It's really sad.  It's dying to commemorate a defeat of the Swiss Guard in the 1700s.

We're back on our balcony for the last evening in Luzern.  The mountain that has been covered in clouds since we've been here finally was clear.  A nice ending to our stay.

We're off tomorrow to Dubrovnik.

Day 2: Luzern--Boat Ride

We started the day on our patio.  The views are so great it's hard to leave our hotel.

We had a nice breakfast at the hotel and walked the town.  The buildings are spectacular.

There are a number of buildings that have paintings on the surface.  They are quite amazing.  We ate lunch at the top floor of a department store that had good food and views.

We took a short boat trip around Lake Luzern.  It fun seeing the more remote houses around the lake.

We had a nice dinner on a little square tonight at a good Italian restaurant.  I think we are probably still a little jet lagged, but having lots fun.