(Continued from Part 1)

There were attractive views and vistas everywhere, but I no longer had a functioning camera. Later that day we walked northwards up the hill to a lookout platform. From this plateau it was as if we were staring at a giant upside-down map of Dubrovnik, only that this was the real deal. It was exhilarating to witness such a grand panorama of Dubrovnik. At the same time it was disheartening to stare down with my own eyes, but without the ability to capture these fleeting moments with my own trusted camera. My friend offered to lend his Nikon camera for a shot or two, but I declined. I just stared longingly below, as the warm afternoon slowly shifted into a pleasantly breezy evening sunset. The birds were chirping, the local dogs were barking, the leaves on the trees were rustling, but my camera was not clicking. I passed the time by writing a few postcards, rectangles of glossy cardboard that ironically depicted the same panorama I was staring at.

I decided not to buy a disposable camera for the rest of my time in Dubrovnik (eventually I would purchase one in Sarajevo for the remainder of the trip). Fortunately, my friend reached the end of a roll of film at a fortuitous time for me. He is a choosy photographer, so it takes quite a long time for him to complete a roll of film. Anyway, he generously offered his camera to me for about ninety minutes, so I took a joyous circuit atop the magnificent city walls that encompassed old Dubrovnik. Having and using a real, functioning camera really revitalized me! I walked up and down the steps of the walls vigorously as I was shooting, shooting, shooting. The 24 exposures went by quickly on a glamorously sunny morning atop the medieval walls. To me, these ninety minutes were definitely the highlight of my brief stay in Dubrovnik. I enjoyed the views so much that I took a second loop around the walls in the afternoon, even without a camera.

For those readers who like happy endings, my Canon AE-1 camera has now been repaired (for a nominal fee) in Chicago. I look forward to seeing more of the world through my old trusted camera.

OK, the title of this section is a bit melodramatic, but it really expresses the despair and demoralization I felt when my trusted old Canon AE-1 Program camera stopped functioning when I had arrived in Dubrovnik. This is a camera that has been with me for 20 years and 62 countries up to this point in May 2003.

My friend and I arrived in Dubrovnik on a partly sunny afternoon after a five-hour bus ride from Split, its Croatian cousin city along the Adriatic Sea. After hours of gawking at jaw-dropping vistas of rocky hills and cool blue waters through the windows of a bus, both of us were looking forward to snapping a few photographs in old Dubrovnik. After all, this beautiful medieval city was the intended highlight and centerpiece of our late spring jaunt through Eastern Europe. We were at the east end of Placa (Stradun) along with a good number of tourists and pigeons. I had already taken two photographs in this appealing plaza, one each of the bell tower and the Sponza Palace. A banner depicting a close-up of the aging Pope John Paul II, who would be visiting Dubrovnik a few days after we left town, was draped over the facade of the palace.

My third shot would feature the St. Blaise's Church, the third "side" of this charming pedestrian space. Intelligent and seasoned photographers (like my friend) would have balked at taking this shot, as the sun was all "wrong" for this view. Nevertheless, I wanted to get a snapshot of the lively scene in front of the dark facade of St. Blaise's. I waited for quite a few seconds in order to get the clear view that I wanted, but now the moment had arrived. Shooting...nothing. What happened? Did I not advance the film after my last shot? Shooting...still nothing. I kept advancing the film without shooting any exposures; there was no "stop" in the camera. My friend, who is an intelligent and seasoned photographer, examined my camera and determined that it was down for the count for the rest of the trip. It almost felt like my journey had effectively ended right there.

(Continued in Part 2)