Click any photo for a better view

It's hard to stop taking pictures when you have a view like the one at left here, taken from your hotel balcony. Lovrijenac is a fort outside the city walls, at 37 meters elevation. (More steps for Ron to climb - and on the same day we toured the 2 kilometer city walls.)

Early in the 11th century the Venetians decided to build themselves a fort on this spot. But a fort built there would command the city wall, Responding, the people of Dubrovnik built this one in just three months' time. So, when the Venetian ships arrived, full of men and materials for the construction of their fort, they were invited to go home.

A few cannonballs - kept on hand just in case the Ottomans show up again. Note that the balls are made of stone, hand carved. It was not until the 19th century that iron cannon balls were practical. This area is now used for performances of Shakespeare's "Hamlet".

A memorial to patriots who fought the Nazis in World War II. Sadly, the "Victory" was not to be celebrated for long. By the tacit agreement among the allied powers, Croatia would fall under the "Sphere of influence" of Moscow and the new Russian masters would prove to be little better than the Nazis.

A bird's-eye view of the beach where Regina swam every day during our visit. Since our visit was in the shoulder season the beach wasn't at all crowded and the water was refreshingly cool. Worth a click for a better view.

How do we get so lucky? Every once in awhile we're treated to rainbows in our travels. We saw this one from the fort and started snapping away. We couldn't pick the prettiest in the progression so we're showing three of them.

The views at center and left also provide a good view of the city wall. The wall is a great work of medieval engineering but an equally good example of the   growing futility of fixed defensive measures as modern weapon systems were developed.