Cable Car

On such a hot day, it was something of a relief to get away from the city for a while and take the Cable Car, up to the view point and restaurant above the city. It wasn't long before we started to get some nice views over the walled town - and we started to cool down a little too.

As we got higher, the views got better...

and better.

When we got to the top, the views were spectacular, not just of the old town, but the new city too, with its harbour hiding just out of sight. Beyond the city, some of the many islands of Croatia were visible through the heat haze.

Looking the other way, south-east , we could see the island of Lokrum with the town of Cavtat lurking away off in the distance.

Of all the places we have sat for morning coffee in the past, this had to be one of the best as well as one of the most dramatic.

Part of the complex of buildings on top of this hill, is the imposing stone edifice of the Imperial Fort.
Built between 1806 and 1812, it was dedicated to Napoleon the First.

The fortress became a symbol of heroic defense during the 'Homeland War' of 1991 - 1995. Damage from this period of war can still be seen, where soldiers held out in their defense of Dubrovnic. As well as being a monument, the fort now holds a museum to the Homeland War.

Much more still to come...

City Walls

By the time we started to walk around the walls of the old town of Dubrovnik, it was becoming very hot indeed.  However, the afternoon heat meant that it had got a lot quieter than it had been earlier in the day. By now, views along the main street or Placa, were a lot less crowded too.

Looking down, we had a good view of the building known as the Big Onofrio's Fountain. One of two fountains built by Onofrio della Cava (the Big fountain and the small fountain) this one was built between 1438 and 1440 to supply fresh drinking water to the people of the city. It is constructed as a large cistern with a sixteen sided exterior wall which houses a carved stone mask on each facet, through which water pours.

Many of the buildings of the old town are either churches, convents or at least in some way connected to the ecclesiastical side of life. Apertures, pierced through the walls at various points along its length, provide framed views of many of these. Here the building set in a quadrangle in the foreground, is the former Convent of St. Clare, with the unmissable dome of the cathedral in the distance.

From here, we got a combined view of the Cathedral and the church of St. Ignatius as they seemed to vie for position against the skyline.

From here too, we could see the tower of the Franciscan Monastery.

The only part of the original Franciscan Monastery which remains following the earthquake of 1667, is the Southern Portal. Carved in 1498, it shows St. Jerome and St. John the Baptist above the door posts and a 'Pieta' carved in the central, Gothic lunette.

From the corner of Fort Bokar, we looked across to Fort Lovrijenac or St. Lawrence's Fortress, built on its own rocky outcrop across the bay.

From here too, we got a good idea of how formidable a city this would have been in its day, particularly if any aggressor tried to attack from the sea.

Passing by the old port area, we came to yet another of those ecclesiastical buildings.  This time it was the Dominican Monastery and this too came with its own tower. Completed in the 14th century, it has a cloister filled with gardens and tall palms, providing a cool place to escape the summer sun. We could have done with some of that coolness ourselves by this time as we were both sweltered in the sun.

Enough for today, more tomorrow!

Dubrovnik

On our first full day in Croatia, we took to the water and caught the taxi-boat to the old walled city of Dubrovnik. The day was warm and sunny and the sea was calm as we set off. Passing the cliffs and secluded beaches between Plat and the city, we soon got our first views of the city walls.

From the sea, several buildings of the old town, dominated the skyline. The first to feature was the church of St. Ignatius, complete with large cross atop the gable end.

As we approached the old port, the imposing edifice of St. John's Fort loomed above us, its curved walls as intimidating now as they would have been when first built in the 14th century. The fort we see today is a development of the original fortress and was started in the year 1500.

Soon we had docked and disembarked and as we headed through the outer walls, we were greeted by the frontage of the church of St. Blaise (or Blasius), the patron saint of Dubrovnik. The statue embedded in the walls of St. John's fort (above) is one of many throughout the city, of St. Blaise.

The church was built in 1715 on the site of a previous church of 1368 which was damaged in an earthquake in 1667 before being completely destroyed by fire in 1706.
As we stood looking at the church, behind us was a very grand bell tower...

And beside that, the beautiful Gothic-Renaissance front of the Sponza Palace. Dating from 1516, it is an indication of what many more of the buildings would originally have looked like in the city, before the devastating earthquake of 1667.

The palace has housed the town's mint, treasury, city bank and armoury in its time as well as being a bonded warehouse and customs office. Here too, we find another statue of St. Blaise.

Much more to come tomorrow....

Croatia

Malcolm and I have been on our travels again. We got back home yesterday afternoon from a week away in Croatia, staying just south of Dubrovnik, in a small village called Plat. As always, I have returned with hundreds of photos to sort out, so that will keep me busy for a few days.
We have enjoyed a wonderful week looking at great views of the countryside...

the old, walled town of Dubrovnik...

and the sea...

We've had some lovely weather...

Some fantastic food and wine... 

Had some 'culture'...

and added a few more 'ticks' to my life lists...

With all that going on, you can be sure there will be many more photos over the next few days, so keep watching!

Coming to an End

I like this time of year. Things have started to wind down in the garden as the tomatoes hasten to ripen before it gets too chilly and the bees and hoverflies gather the last of the nectar from our Pheasant Berries (Leycesteria formosa).

This attractive plant is a member of the Honeysuckle family, native to the Himalayas and China but it makes a welcome addition to our garden and is much appreciated by the insects.

The hoverflies are also busy gathering food from the last of the Gaillardias (Gaillardia pulchella).

The bright colours of this American native plant ensure that even though things are coming to an end in the garden, we are going out in a blaze of glory!

Black?

The most common gull to be found in inland regions of the UK, the Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) has a population in excess of 140,000 breeding pairs. Their numbers are boosted further during the winter months to around 2.2 million individuals.

We found these ones, enjoying the peace and quiet of Mapperley Reservoir yesterday. Already in their winter plumage, they have lost their summer head colouring and are left with just a dirty smudge behind the eye. Not that they ever have a 'black' head at all. Despite the name, their summer plumage actually consists of chocolate-brown head-gear.

Highly opportunistic in habit, Black-headed Gulls have taken advantage of our 'throw-away' society by making the most of our waste. Land-fill sites have become a stronghold for them although it is thought that they first started to colonise urban areas during the 'little ice-age' of the 1880's and 1890's when factory workers took pity on them and started feeding them scraps.

These individuals didn't seem to be interested in scraps. Indeed this yawning one, looked more as if he was ready for a nap!

Autumn

The colours of Autumn are beginning to show around the countryside. This morning, as Malcolm and I took our usual stroll around Shipley Park, the Maple trees were starting to turn from their summer green to autumn gold.

Their distinctive 'helicopter' seeds were clinging to the ends of the branches, waiting for a breeze to send them whirling to the ground.

Further on, we paused for a while by Osborne's Pond where the Coots were busy diving for food on the bottom of the lake.

Then it was onward, up to Shipley Hill where the hedges were bejewelled with the brightest red, the fruits of the Yew trees.

These colourful little fruits are actually modified cones, each containing just one seed and while the seed itself is poisonous, the red, fleshy part or 'aril' is edible.

Yew seed cones develop and ripen over a period of several weeks, increasing the likelihood that they will be eaten and dispersed by birds.

No doubt we will be returning to these gorgeous, red fruits for more pictures later in the season.