ring them bells

Well, I did find something to climb in Korcula, after all.

I must confess that these little restored medieval towns in Croatia are beginning to look a lot alike to me.  They have their attractions.  But they are a bit like dating the Doublemint twins -- if they were actually octuplets.  There can be too much of a good thing.

Korcula made a great backdrop for breakfast.  But once I got on shore, the tiny old town could be thoroughly covered in an hour.  What can be seen today was primarily part of the Venetian republic, but so restored that it even fails to show smile lines.  So, I started looking for something unusual.

And there it was in the center of town.  The bell tower of St. Mark’s Cathedral. 

I would have taken some photographs of the ascent.  But it was so narrow even my backpack could not make the full trip with me.  For 3 Euros (just over $4 (US)), though, it was my second best buy in town yesterday.  Even though the view looked similar to every other Croatian town we have visited, it was worth the climb.

Poor Korcula survives on the kindness of strangers.  Touring strangers.  And it hypes its history to keep the tourists coming back.

The big scam in Korcula is that Marco Polo was born here, instead of Venice, and that he was Corsican, not Venetian.  The advocates of that position (Croatians all) claim to have documentary proof.  But so did John Balliol in his quest to nab the Scottish throne.

History does not back the claim.  But, just as it is true with so many tales in Mexico, why let facts get in the way of a rollicking good story?

For me, it was a relaxing day.  With the exception of the tower climb.

But my best buy of the day was some fish paste.  It was not as good as the sardine paste I buy when I am in Lisbon.  But I wasn’t in Lisbon.  So, I enjoyed what was on offer.  And it was quite nice.  On some rustic Corsican bread.

If all goes well, I should have a bit of sculpture to share with you tomorrow in Split.