Dubrovnik, a paradise on the Adriatic Sea
I travel surrounded by pilgrims from the Salamanca district heading to the sanctuary Medjugorje . his virgin is on the rise among the Legionaries of Christ . Paul is the pilot. I like Paul. He has a Mad Men look that has died out at Ryanair and at Easyjet. Iberia it's already a classic , As the. fly from Madrid a Dubrovnik all year and he sneaked me into a group of journalists . He told me that I just have to say that I am a writer and pay attention to those in communication. He will return this afternoon and we can spend the night together . Why not?
You too want to be a sailor
The view from my room is impressionistic : Ibizan waters, autumn warmth, pine forests and the island of Lokrum . Google says that it was founded there a Benedictine monastery in the 11th century and that Maximilian of Austria, the brief emperor of Mexico, transformed it into a villa in which he enjoyed his pre-monarchical leisure.
The ** Hotel Excelsior ** extends on a limestone platform above the sea. I appreciate the absence of sand , the postcard view of the city. In Croatia , After the war, it was forbidden to tear down the damaged hotels in the race, so they maintain the aura of discreet communism of the Yugoslavia of Titus.
The **original building** from 1913 also still standing . The person in charge of communication lets me know that it was the first hotel in the city and that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, Jackie Kennedy, Orson Welles and the rest of the characters who they seem to have been everywhere . Presumably the grilled sea bream, the Malvasia white wine and the blinding light must have had a similar effect which I experience.
A luxury hotel steeped in history
I run away from the group and head to the city. In a bend in the walls there is a small Maritime Museum . There it is explained the how and why of ancient Ragusa . His story unfolds as a variant of Venice on the Dalmatian coast : Latin population that escaped the barbarian invasions, commercial greed, a large fleet supported by consul-spies in each Mediterranean port and games of diplomacy.
The relationship with serene evolved from the tribute to the challenge . the elites they made its architecture their own, attracted its artists and emulated its surnames . The Gozzes, the Cervas, the Ghetaldis and the Pozzas all spoke Italian. They maintained their prosperity in the shadow of the Turk, the great enemy of the Venetians, until, in 1667, a great earthquake devastated the city. The population halved in a decade and its merchant impetus faded.
Walking around its walls will transport you to another time
While I do the perimeter circuit of the ramparts I observe the vacant lots, the persistence of the ruins. From inside everything seemed perfect . The pink stone, the stairs that go up to what was the jewish quarter , the port roadstead, the carved cobblestones. His charm is intimate. Both in the churches and in the palaces that line the Stradun , the main street, sounds like a version of Roman baroque. the papacy came to the rescue after the catastrophe with an effect that maintains, centuries later, its theatricality.
The staging makes it understandable that the city **has been transformed into King’s Landing**. Under the steps of San Ignacio, it is not difficult to imagine the humiliation of Cersei Lannister . Its stony homogeneity is a Mediterranean wild card that hides a scar. To appreciate it, it is necessary to stop and leave the one-way route, stop on the skin.
Stradun, the main artery of the city
In the Gothic cloister of the Dominican complex, an Orthodox icon is embedded in a Venetian canvas of the 16th century. Before the collapse Ragusa it was that. When passing to the church, what remained of the splendor is manifested. The ship has been piecemeal reconstructed . medieval remains are combined with patches that covered the bullet wounds.
The earthquake is distant, but the war stays vivid . The city was bombed intermittently during 1991 and 1992 by the forces of Serbian Y Montenegrin . In stores, in museums, there are pictures of burning buildings , of deceased. The population did not withdraw. The hotel where I am staying, like many others, housed hundreds of refugees.
The Dominican Tower, symbol of Dubrovnik
But that summer the ** theater festival that has been held since 1950 ** was not suspended. A few years before, Daniel Day Lewis had been Hamlet in a fortress that was then no one would have thought it would be under siege , and the companies of Maurice Béjart, Merce Cunningham and Martha Graham they danced in front of the Rector's Palace . In 1992 the snipers made representations impossible , but the works were transmitted by radio. The windows were opened so that the voice of the actors fill the streets.
Then the cruisers came. The new galleons roam the Adriatic loaded with guides with little flags and numbered tourists with labels. In summer they collapse Stradun as if the earthquake and the snipers they would never have existed . The authorities They have tried to stop the flood . Only two daily cruise ships will dock each day at the pier. I don't know if that is much or little.
But his passengers They do not usually go beyond the obvious . I get lost and come to a door that pierces the wall. The **Bar Buza** hangs over the sea. The sun sets behind the island of the unfortunate archduke . I order a beer and sit on a rock. There is a Croatian woman fishing. A message from Pablo appears on the mobile screen. She has landed and is on her way. I send you the location. While I wait, the sun descends on calm water.
The pearl of the Adriatic