Letters From Dan

What a strange title I just wrote. I’ve spent my life traveling – seriously – my entire life. My father’s military career decided that he should move frequently so his family could test out restaurants, churches, schools and airports nationwide. It was a good plan, really. Making friends as a military kid is not so easy – but in the end you learn a lot. So whenever I talk about my life people inevitably ask which place has been my favorite. Until this very moment, my answer 100% of the time has been “I always like where I am more than where I was, so I’ve never had a real favorite”. But I can say that 2 years ago I spent 25 minutes in a place I totally loved.

Follow the sign . . .

On the northern side of the Mediterranean, just east of Italy is a beautiful, little town called Dubrovnik – in a wonderful country re-named by our egocentric culture, Croatia. Dubrovnik is not the place though. In fact, Dubrovnik is a mix of good and bad. There are some really cool unknown swimming holes with tide pools and rock walls to climb, there’s a place that makes an unbelievably good hamburger (which sounds strange) and then there’s the old fort which is a bit like Disney. The old fort houses my favorite place, but it’s not the fort itself. When you enter the old fort at the main entrance you are greeted by tons and tons of tourists, shops, museums, vendors and outdoor seating. It’s fun for, like, 10 minutes and then it’s just annoying. Loud, obnoxious Americans and lots of tourists from cruise ships.

(Can you believe I found this place after reading a tiny notation in the Southwest Airline magazine a year before I’d planned to go to Croatia. Well, that’s not true, which is why you don’t believe it. I did know that we were going to Croatia.)

The bar from the castle wall

But walk all the way down the main hallway and take a right heading toward the outside western wall. Look for a sign that says “best bar” and follow it. Eventually, you’ll come to a hole in the wall of the fort that actually take you outside the walls to a bar. It’s not a typical bar – I mean it’s outside – on a the edge of an old fort. And you’re sitting in plastic chairs at plastic tables and there are people swimming just off the rocks. The bar itself is small. I had a Coke, but I’m sure it had alcohol.

The unbelievable part is your sitting there looking out over the Mediterranean with a view so vast and wide that you can see the curvature of the earth. And there are yachts moored just off the shore. And down the way a bit, and around the corner of the fort wall is a water polo ‘field’ (?). And you’re just sitting there, enjoying the moment away from the maddening crowd. It’s beautiful. It’s my favorite place on the planet.