I thought I would add a small postscript to the end of our time on the Aurum. We left the ship in the late morning under cloudy (what would become very rainy) skies. We were only going to spend the day there, so we didn’t stop back in Dubrovnik, having been there before. Instead, we headed to the small town of Cavtet, which is south of Dubrovnik and near the airport. We were chatting with taxi driver and admiring how fast Dubrovnik had come back after the war. He acknowledged that fact, but noted that a lot had not been (and never be) rebuilt. He cut off the main highway and headed to the waterfront to show us what he meant. There was an entire complex of hotels that were mostly destroyed by the shelling (both from the mountains above and the sea). It was shocking to think that many parts of Dubrovnik looked like this only a few years ago. Given how long these buildings have sat in this condition, I think any redevelopment will involve a scrape.
Having said that, we arrived in the small town of Cavtet. It was a charming little town and we looked forward to walking around it. We tried to check into our hotel but, as we expected, rooms weren’t ready. We had a very pleasant conversation with the desk manager and left to explore the fishing village and do a little shopping in the rain. Of course, there were lots of typical jewelry, art, etc. shops, but we came across this Croatian crafts store and, to our surprise, found black and white truffles — whole, diced, paste, oil, etc. And the prices were very reasonable. It turns out that only France and Croatia have truffles in abundance in Europe and they send them around the world — and, in answer to the question in your mind, they use dogs (not pigs) to hunt them. They even gave us a free cookbook! I can’t wait to get these babies home for some sampling!
By the time we got back to the hotel, the manager said our rooms were ready, but that he upgraded us. Amazingly, he put us in the Presidential Suite! It had 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a living room, kitchenette and a huge deck that looked up the coast toward Dubrovnik. Wow! Anyway, we braved the evening rain for a lovely dinner in Cavtet and got ready for our short night sleep before heading to Turkey!
I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.
