Korcula, May 11, 2018

We arrived at the island town of Korcula . . ,

. . . a little after lunch.  The day was wonderfully sunny and warm with a pleasant breeze.  Here are a few photos taken from our balcony as we were docking.

Our walking tour of the old town began at the foot of the gangway where we met our local guide.  Here is a photo of her orienting us to the old town.

From there we started our stroll.  Old Town Korcula is built on a hill and the first thing we did was enter the Great Land Gate, the main entrance to the Old Town.

 

The tower is adorned with the winged lion of Venice, evidence of four centuries of Venetian rule.

The town is designed in the shape of a fish skeleton; the main street serving as the backbone and the side streets as the ribs.  The side streets were designed to facilitate cooling in the summer, for breezes flowing up the “straight streets” from the west,

and prevent the winter wind from racing through the town by the “curving streets” on the east.

After passing through the town gate we made our way to St. Mark’s Square and the entrance to St. Mark’s Cathedral.  Remember that you can “click” on any photo in a mosaic to start a slide show.

Photos inside the cathedral are discouraged but I did manage to snap this one.

This photo I took from the entrance to St. Mark’s

As does Venice, Korcula claims Marco Polo as a son of the town and we were guided past his family home, which is a subject of restoration.  According to our guide, Marco Polo was born there in 1254, allegedly in this very house.

The Old Town has a small but interesting museum featuring many local artifacts.  The museum located in an old mansion is arranged like a traditional Dalmatian home; shop on the ground floor, living quarters in the middle floors and the kitchen at the top.  We were escorted to the middle floor where I took the following photos:

From the museum we walked down a curving street to the east side to walk along the Old Town Wall.  Here there were a number of attractive restaurants nestled under enormous, old pine trees.

The view of the Adriatic was outstanding.

We had the opportunity to meet and speak with Iskra, an owner of Pensatore. The old home, in which her restaurant is located, originally belonged to her grandparents and has passed down to her.  The restaurant has a beautiful dining room on the top floor with three seductive tables.  Most seating, however during warm weather, is outside.  Here is a picture of Iskra.

Tonight, our second on Le Lyrial, featured the captain’s welcome aboard reception.  Here is a photo of the captain and his senior officers as they addressed the assembly.

As we sailed from Korcula I was able to snap a few additional photos from our balcony.

Goodbye and goodnight Korcula.

mm