Most of Dubrovnik was destroyed during the Serbian occupation in the early 1990s. They have done a wonderful job rebuilding the town. In the photos you will see houses with 2 different color roofs. If the roof is gray it means that the house was not destroyed in the early 1990s. The orange colored roofs are a house that has been rebuilt after the Serbians left in 1995.
The tour we took here was to visit a country home of the Konavle family. This family has been living in this home for 400 years now. When you first arrive at the house you MUST participate in a very traditional Croatian greeting by sharing a shot of Grappa with the host or hostess. This is supposed to guarantee fortune for you and the home. After that we were able to see some of the home. This family is totally self sufficient. They grow their own vegetables, wine, olives, and meat. They do most of this without any electric help.
The traditional method of pressing olives for oil here is to place the olives into circular sacks that have a hole in the middle. The sacks are then stacked up to 10 high with a giant screw going through the center of the sacks. The screw is attached to a plate and the plate is screwed down to press the olives in the sack. The oil from the olives runs into a barrel filled with water and when the pressing is complete, the oil is skimmed from the top of the water. The presses are still operated with horses or donkeys.
Once we were done with the tour of the house they feed us a wonderful and traditional lunch consisting of a potato salad made with olive oil, a pepper and tomato salad (made with fresh tomatoes and peppers), homemade beef sausages, and fig streusel for desert. All of this was served with wine made on site. As part of the lunch a couple of the men sang some traditional Croatian songs like "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" and "Jingle Bells". Actually they really did sing some traditional Croatian songs to us (along with the previously mentioned songs).
We were able to spend a little bit of time in the downtown of Dubrovnik after our main tour. The old city of Dubrovnik is completely enclosed by a 4km long wall that is still standing. One of Dubrovnik's claim to fame is that this is the city that ties were invented in. When Napoleon invaded he found the ties and brought them to the rest of the world. After a short time in the city, it was time to head back to the ship (we were sailing from here early - 5pm). The only icky thing about the day was that Lael left all our money on the boat so I was unable to get a gelato...I was promised a Gelato in every port. I would also like to thank LaRue for the wonderful present she sent us while on board (4 drink cards or the equivalent of 16 mixed drinks). You almost made the lady that delivered it cry.
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Country Home - Konavle
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Dubrovnik
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