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After getting back  from Korcula Island, it was time for a late lunch but first Roman took us for a drive up in the hills so we could get a great view overlooking the Sea.  I'm not sure if Roman unintentionally  or intentionally missed the cutoff to where the restaurant was but I'm sure glad we got see the views.

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20150526_Ecuador_0004 One last shot.  Alan was another member of our group.  

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20150526_Ecuador_0014 We stopped at a restaurant for lunch where we could sit beside the water.  I'm not sure if this man was one of the owners but he was telling us that he was a musician so perhaps he just worked for the restaurant.  The food was delicious which I found to be the case just about everywhere we went.  That could be because Roman knew where to take us or perhaps all of the restaurants in Croatia are very good.

20150526_Ecuador_0015 Roman's friend joined us for our lunch/early dinner and this was their little girl.

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After lunch I took a walk along the main street in the town.

20150526_Ecuador_0016 On the way back to Dubrovnik we stopped off in the village of Ston.  Solana in Ston, is one of the three salt flats in Croatia.   It is the oldest in Europe and possibly the world.   Salt flats are flat expanses of ground covered with salt and other minerals.  Solana originates from the 14th century and is still functioning today.  It was created after the Dubrovnik  Republic in 1333 bought Ston and was enclosed by a defensive wall in 1360.  

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Walking in the streets of Ston.

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20150526_Ecuador_0021 An old door in one of the streets.

20150526_Ecuador_0022 A reflection outside of the town's entrance way.

20150526_Ecuador_0023 Ston was a major fort of the Ragusan Republic whose defensive walls were regarded as a notable feat of medieval architecture.  The town's inner wall measures 890 metres in length, while the Great Wall outside the town has a circumference of 5 km.    This photo was taken outside of the city's walls.  We wanted to walk along the  inner wall but it was closed by the time we arrived.  The Walls of Ston are a series of defensive stone walls that surrounded and protected the city of Ston.  The walls were known as the "European wall of China".  Demolition work began on the walls following the fall of the Republic.   Later the Austrian authorities took materials away from the wall to build schools and communities buildings.  The demolition was halted after WW I.  The wall was completed in the 15th century, along with its 40 towers (20 of which survived) and five fortresses.  

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20150526_Ecuador_0028 Some farmers working in the fields.

20150526_Ecuador_0029 A couple more reflections.

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20150526_Ecuador_0032 On the way back from Ston, we stopped at another small town to photograph this church.  

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20150526_Ecuador_0036 We stopped to photograph the Franjo Tudman Bridge in Dubrovnik.  The bridge is 518-metres (1,699 feet) long.  The original bridge design was developed in 1989, however construction was stopped at the beginning of the Croatian War of Independence.  The bridge was named after Franjo Tudman, a Croatian politician and historian.  Following the country's independence from Yugoslavia, he became the first President of Croatia.  

20150526_Ecuador_0037 Initially, Hrvatske Ceste who financed the construction of the bridge named the bridge Dubrovnik Bridge.  In 2004, the name of the bridge was officially changed to Franjo Tudman Bridge.

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20150526_Ecuador_0039 The last shot of the evening.