Page 64 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SPRING 2023 SPECIAL CRUISE EDTION

downhill ride of 20 miles. In the distance, we saw head of the Roman Empire at age 40.
1,300-foot tall Mount Ucka, once known as the He retired to Split at age 60 - in part because
“Istrian Lookout.” Rome had a history of emperors getting assassi-
That evening, after dinner in the Stella Bistro, nated by members of their own courts - and lived
we sailed on to Split, the largest city on the Dal- for another eight years, tending his gardens. We
mation coast. At bedtime, a thunderstorm lashed also spent a few hours in Trogir, another UNESCO
our ship and lightning crackled in the sky while I site built on a small island connected to the main-
read Hemingway's "Across The River and Into The land by a bridge and had lunch in a former mill.
Trees," which was set in Venice at the end of We sailed on to Dubrovnik, known as the “Pearl
World War II. of the Adriatic” for its beauty. Before climbing
The sun was bright the second day and we had narrow steps to its ramparts of the city - also a
a tasty breakfast under an outdoor awning in the UNESCO site - we walked along the main prome-
Veranda Restaurant. During our shore excursion, nade and stopped in at the Church of St. Blaise,
our Croatian guide led us through Split's Old Dubrovnik’s patron Saint.
Town, a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, But the highlight was walking along the Old
Scientific and Cultural Organization) site and the City’s high walls, which were completed in the
walled palace built by Diocletian, who became 13th Century. The drizzle falling on us didn’t di-

64 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SPRING 2023