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No necktie needed in Dubrovnik
From the West Australian: May 2007
I felt a little guilty about arriving in Dubrovnik without a necktie. But the country that invented the cravat and gave rise to that international symbol of respectability wasn't bothered. Unlike much of the Balkan region Croatia is surprisingly laid back and never really bought in to the regimented and illiberal communist mentality.
It has shrugged off its brief communist past as an insignificant blip in its long history. In its maritime heyday the Republic of Dubrovnik rivalled Venice as a great trading power in the Mediterranean. It was an intellectual and cultural hub, a refuge for international dissidents and typically banned slavery 400 years before Britain or the America.
Perched on the western edge of the volatile Balkan region Dubrovnik has successfully fought, negotiated, bribed and withstood sieges on its way from its 7th century beginnings to the 21st century........