Day 8--Dubrovnik and Konavle

 We departed at 8:30 am for the Konavle region.  There were only 7 or us that wanted to do this tour.  I guess we'll do the wall in Dubronik the next time we visit this beautiful country.  It's so nice that there aren't a bunch of tourists everywhere.

Konavle region has 3 types of climate, flora and fauna within 5 km.  Mountain climate, wetlands and the Mediterranean maritime climate.  I have to say we were over dressed for it.  Short sleeves would have been much better.  

Our first stop was an art studio and silk shop.  Of course not much is started until you have a shot of raki to begin with.  We also had some almonds, figs and dried orange peel.

I really thought Bill and I knew all about silk from our trip to China where we visited a silk factory.  Believe me, we now know, we knew nothing.

We learned how silk worms have to live in a clean environment.  They also spin there cocoons into a branch at precisely the same time.  After exactly 15 days they are put into boiling water.

I don't know if you can see the tiny spots, but these are eggs.  They are kept in a refrigerator until they are used.

The girl then folded up a napkin and started twirling the spidery silk.  She turned off the lights so we could see all the different strands. Hope they show up in the photo.

Can you see the traditional embrodery around her neck and the silk tassel?  We learned that a girl can not get married until she had made all of her clothing with the silk embrodery.  

This little shop was in a very tiny village.  All the buildings were burned during the recent war but have been rebuilt.

Our next stop was a flour mill over 500 years old.  Guess what we were greeted with?  Yes, more raki.  She had black walnut and also cherry.

I've got a dish of almonds, figs, and orange rind in my hand.

They don't look like much but they really taste good.

Bill and I toured an old flour mill in Burnt Cabins, Pa before and it wasn't much different except much smaller.

From the flour mill we walked through the countryside to the woolen mill.  Let me mention that Croatia has more water than any other country.

Our guide turned a valve and the water was diverted to a cog wheel.

I would never remember the dates if I didn't take a photo of it.

I was having a hard time wondering how this pounding of the wool worked.

Once he showed me examples of the wool, then I understood the process.  It actually compresses the wool.

Those of you who read my blog about our Sicily trip will enjoy this photo of Bill and the cat!

Our next stop was a family home which is over 500 years old.  The granddaughter said she was the guide and for Zoran to shut up.  We were greeted with more raki in different flavors and music.

We were shown a flour mill and olive oil press.

Here's a view of the back of the house and the surrounding mountains.  They are very close to Montenegro and Serbia. Only the stone walls were left of the house after the war.

Here's what the house looked like after the Yugoslavians burned it.

We then were treated to a tradational dance by a couple.  Wish I would have thought to put it on video.

We had a lovely meal and loved the music.  We were all singing along.  They played a lot of our favorite songs.

By the time we got back to the ship we just spent time relaxing.  It was warm enough to sit on the balcony or sun deck.

Dinner was excellent as usual.  Following dinner we had two men playing music for us.  One was a violin accompanied by a guitar.  Normally I wouldn't like this kind of music, but it was really good. Not one person dozed off!

Tomorrow we go to another country.  It's small and only has a population of 600,000.

Turtle Safely........