Travels with Louise-in Dubrovnik
By LOUISE HUGHES

Hotel Hibectas

Good service! The car is here so I lost no time getting out to check it out. Very happy to see a new V.W. Diesel Jetta-a big cut above the Yugo! And easy on gas. I just had to jump in for a test, comfy and as European cars did not have emission stuff on the cars that means even better mileage- Ginny was happy about this as well.

We started by going to Old Town and luckily found a parking spot near the gates so we looked in awe at the white marble town with every roof tiled in red. It still is the prettiest city I've ever seen. We wandered around looking in the neat shops, no chain stores here. There is an unusual Dominican Monastery which we will explore later-we looked in the Franciscan Monastery to view the outstanding collection of odd objects from one of the oldest pharmacies in Europe 1317. The cloister, garden and terrace are beautiful.

As this "Old City" area is all below the walls you must walk many steps and it is worth it but we will split these excursions up as you can't see it in one day and I plan to walk the entire ramparts if it kills me!! The over 1000 year history of this amazing city is a book in itself and very much worth reading.

Rooftops of Dubrovnik

The Placa (Plaza) is the social center as well as shopping, eating visiting churches, museums, and more. You walk under the walls at the clock tower end, where the ancient pharmacy is and whoa!! What do I spy, but a wonderful bakery under the wall! But first we looked at the old harbor. A beautiful scene to remember. Time to take a break and sit down for an ice cream, but which charming place! There are many choices, all with blue canopies. So, we collapsed at one and regained our pep.

I bought several cd's and posters which were tough not to bend on planes but are hanging on my walls today and just by luck these are still my favorite cd's which I have copied for several friends.

Several steps above the stone placa is a sort of balcony or second story which is a street of restaurants out in the open, all set beautifully, each different and include many from other countries. As they adjoin each other, a well dressed waiter or owner tries to outdo each other extolling his enticing dishes. Oh my, we would return many times. This is hilarious. Personality for sale!

As this got us part way up to the top we decided to take a ride-there is no way to see it all today and we have a month. There is much more or the coast, more towns and Korcula, one of the cool islands to visit. There is so much to see and do. Well, I noticed the VW is a golf not a Jetta, and real spare tire- our idea of a useless fake spare is a crime!

I read about "Cavtat" a lovely town twelve miles south so we headed there. We were glad we did, as it is on a beautiful bay with a friendly, small downtown on a park-a border of tall Cypress trees is gorgeous. The population is only 1000, but there are many cafes, bars and casinos. It is small because the airport is so close that it is right in the flight path and noisy but is still a very busy resort and we enjoyed a luscious lunch there out doors. Delightful service from the German family who ran this cafe, it puzzles me why we can't have places like this where you can talk to people and feel perfectly at ease. Ginny loved it as she will strike up a conversation anywhere and with her cheerful demeanor we chatted to lots of other travelers.

There are two lovely churches here and an interesting museum in the former mansion of the governor which contains a library and a lapidarium with a large collection of unusual stones plus a notable graphic art collection, over 10,000 items. You will not be bored here! We skipped the steep hike up to the mausoleum by the internationally known Slavic sculptor Ivan Mestrovic. Our poor knees! By now we were ready to

return to the splendid hotel which we had only seen a small part of the facilities. There is an enormous marble staircase leading down to the dining rooms, bars, night clubs, two pools and more beautiful beaches.

My first disappointment of the hotel was the rather thin mattress. Hmm! What to do? Well, there sits the other bed so I called a maid and somehow told her my idea-we dragged the second mattress over and put it on top of mine. This worked fine and she laughed- crazy American! Nice tip and all is well. No way could I sleep for thirty nights on the one. The sitting room was a nice extra and the added large balcony. Heaven!

After a nice bath and a glass of wine we checked out some of the amenities, this is a large well planned resort and we were happy as clams. We tried the very big dining room and noticed the first socialist custom. Six or more "overseers" the service was perfect and so was the food. The soup, had the Hake (the good whitefish), of course more wonderful bread and desserts-we could not move-the wine with every course. The custom was several rather severe gentlemen who stood all through the evening watching to be sure everything was done correctly. No mistakes! It was all fine and we collapsed in one of the lounges. Until later...