A
City of Choice
We
often talk about favourite places: Florence, Berlin, Paris, but holidays are
not the same as living somewhere. So, given the chance, where would I choose to
live? When dealing with life, we draw on experience - some of it vicarious, but
‘when in Rome’ I like to know the real streets, the real people. It is not always
comfortable, not always safe.
Recent travels have taken me to the
shores of Croatia, to Dubrovnik. Long named: ‘the pearl of the Adriatic’, it has
prinked itself; provoking joys and jealousies so that, after the break-up of
Yugoslavia and having been named as a World Heritage Site, it was attacked.
Serbian forces stole upon it, just twenty
years ago, bombarding the iconic red roofs as the people slept beneath them.
The isthmus was cut off and those who lived outside the city walls were forced to
seek protection within. Numbers swelled, as the food depleted. Shells rained down on their beautiful city. Their
hearts were breaking, but their spirits were not. Brave groups ran the gauntlet
of barrage, to put out fires, to save the city. Young men, potential begetters
of the future, died. The world looked on. Some wept.
Now, tourists flock, their presence
largely welcome, despite the eyesore cruise ships and the thronging crowds. An
American College of Tourism provides opportunity, for the young.
The recovery is a testament to resolve.
Their patron saint, St Blaise, peers down bestowing calm. The people have quiet
modesty, now; the ‘polished marble’ Stradun, redefined as polished limestone.
The beloved roofs that, despite UNESCO heritage grants, could not be repaired
have been replaced - the red, now orange. The medieval pharmacy now trading
modern medicines: old women sit, making traditional lace. No hard sell here. The
population go out of their way to be helpful.
Was it ever thus, in Dubrovnik? Either way,
I never once felt the threat of pickpockets, racial tension or harassment.
Despite its scars, it felt comfortable. So for its people, their heart and the
place, Dubrovnik would be my city of choice.
[348
words]
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