Lokrum Island

Before I talk about our adventure to Lokrum, I want to touch on what we did yesterday. 

After our lunch (our group goes together everyday after class), Ivana took us to the Maritime Museum in Dubrovnik. 

We learned about the importance of shipping in the history of the city, and a history of the ships Dubrovnik has housed over it's history. 

I really enjoyed the old maps throughout the museum, specifically the variety of languages used on various maps/documents. 

The museum was overall very interesting, but it was the cathedral we visited afterwards that blew my mind. 

The cathedral is built on the cite of an old church, which was built on the foundation of an even older church (both were discovered during an archeological dig). 

Within the cathedral we visited the treasury, which contained beautiful reliquaries (containers for relics).

The relics are generally bones of, or items owned by saints.

The treasury contained bones of Dubrovnik's patron saint (Saint Blaise), a piece of THE crucifix (which has stood up to scientific testing), and many other relics. 

The reliquaries were adorned with gold and silver, all designed beautifully, and usually carry symbolic meaning.

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Today we traveled to the Lokrum (an island off the coast of Dubrovnik).

The island is the home to a botanical garden, peacocks, beaches (with cliffs - I jumped), an old fortress, an old monastery, and the occasional sea urchin. 

Brave! 

 HUGE! 

Hiking these cliffs in my Birkenstocks was truly something...

 Old fortress. 

 View from atop the Lokrum. 

 A boy reading on top of the fortress... I was envious of his spot! 

Cyprus path leading to the beach. I wish we would have taken this easy route to climb the mountain... but alas... haha. 

The yachts here are spectacular! 

 Momma and her babies. 

 I wanted a feather, but I figured peacock plucking is discouraged! 

I jumped from the highest point! It was about twice the height of the trestle in Madrid.

Just as I jumped! 

I found American Ketchup... bliss.