Country: Croatia Capital: Zagreb Main Language Spoken: Croatian Currency: Kuna Dubrovnik, aptly termed the ‘the pearl of the Adriatic’ and a UNESCO world heritage site used to be called Ragusa and is a must-see town. It’s a city in Croatia on the Dalmatian coast and was founded in the 7th century. Croatia used to be part of former Yugoslavia and gained independence in 1991. Dubrovnik’s old town is a fortified city with its 10th century wall. The wall is the longest intact city wall in Europe. Old town has 4 gates: Pile, Ploce, Buza and Ponte. We entered from the Pile gate, a wide arch that leads to the Stradun, Dubrovnik old town’s main street. The Pile gate has a drawbridge that used to be closed every night. The walls are 1,940 metres long and you can walk all the way around them but you need to get tickets first. If you don’t want to walk the the whole wall you can get off at the many exits along the way. The Minceta tower is the highest point in Dubrovnik old town and I climbed it. The views were unforgettable with the red roofed old town on one side and the sparkling blue sea down on the other. The walk around the wall has quite a few steps can be quite narrow in places. Most of the time I was bouncing ahead of my parents in my excitement. There were canons on the way overlooking the sea. The experience was amazing. The Stradun, the old town main street, is lined with shops and cafes and is paved with limestone and runs from Pile to Ploce gate. It’s 300 meters long and 30 meters wide. It used to be a marshy channel of water and that’s why it is wider compared to the the other streets in Old Town. The other lanes of the old town have long flights of stairs and are like narrow alleys. You can also see a lot of washing hanging outside the houses. The Old Town has around 800 inhabitants. Something unique about the Stradun is that it has main doors and windows under the same arch. The two 15th century Onoforio Fountains in the Old Town are the only operational drinking fountains left in old town and were built because in the old days they didn’t have much water as the summers were long and dry. The original fountain was decorated majestically but was damaged in the earthquake of 1667. It was replaced with a new one that you see now. The Pile gate is marked with big Onoforio fountain while the Ploce gate is marked with the small Onoforio fountain. The big Onoforio fountain has 16 taps that you can drink from. During the Yugoslavian wars, parts of the old town was destroyed and in the places where the bricks are lighter are where the bombs hit and those were reconstructed. One must also go up mount Srd from where you can see incredibly beautiful views of the city. You can get to Srd are by gondola or by car. Most people go to Dubrovnik to see the Old Town and walk around the walls. UNESCO has threatened to revoke the city’s status as a world heritage site if more than 8000 people enter the old town per day as it is now getting difficult to maintain the site. Isn’t it amazing to learn that the concept of ‘quarantine’ was a Dubrovnik invention. In 1377 Dubrovnik decreed that any foreign merchant, sailor or goods went to an island for 40 days to see if they carried any disease. Only if it was proven that a person was healthy would they be released into the city. Dubrovnik is also interestingly home to one of the world’s first orphanages. I saw many new things in Dubrovnik and the trip was replete with memorable moments. It was fascinating to learn about the city’s history and even better to gaze at its beauty.
Young Bloggers
An Early Morning
Ring, ring, ring. My alarm went off, and it flashed 6:30 am. I had to get out of bed because we were on a tight schedule. I put on warm clothes to face the brisk weather outside. I had an exhilarating morning ahead. My dad, my brother Max, and I piled into the car and left the house. It was a beautiful but chilly morning, and I could see the sun rising. The sky was shades of pink and orange, and it was clear with almost no clouds. We had to be at Hessel Park before 7:00 am. When we arrived at the park, I saw about thirty other people all gathered in a circle near a tree. In the middle of the circle stood Josh Whitman, the University of Illinois Athletic Director and former Illini football player. Mr. Whitman has a tradition of leading a four and a half mile jog every time there is a home football game. We were all there to run. The general course started at the park, then went through the community to campus, and finally looped back to the park. Mr. Whitman started the run at exactly 7 am, and we left the park heading to the quiet University of Illinois campus. It was silent because all the college students were still asleep. We ran on the streets, and the cars did a sudden stop and let our group pass. We kept running towards the Quad and Alma Mater on campus. These two landmarks were our halfway point, which meant we had run about two and a quarter miles. I was starting to feel tired, but I pushed myself to keep going. We were running at about an eight and a half minute mile pace. Max was a very motivational partner, and he cheered me on. I started to remember the sights around me, and before I knew it we were back at Hessel Park. I was breathing hard and sweating, but I was happy that I had accomplished this long run. I was smiling ear to ear when I saw my dad waiting for Max and me. After the entire group finished, Mr. Whitman shared donuts and water, the breakfast of champions, with everyone. I was parched and drank the water bottle quickly. The donuts tasted extra delicious, and it is a tradition for Mr. Whitman to take a picture with everyone who ran. After the picture, we thanked him for doing the run and returned home before 8:00 am. I had plenty of time to go back to bed.
Undying Glory, Reviewed by Daniel, 10
Have you ever been discriminated against or treated unfairly for an unjust reason? The 54th “Glory” Regiment definitely was during the Civil War. All the soldiers in this regiment were Black, but even though their desire to serve their country burned bright in their hearts, they were heavily discriminated against because of their skin color. During the time of the Civil War, Black people were often treated unfairly because the whites thought they were superior. Even at the beginning of their career, when they were not even officially in the army, the 54th Regiment was treated unfairly. They were not given a bounty, which is the money that you get when you join the army, and their pay was very low compared to the whites. They weren’t given extra money to buy clothes like the whites, and every rank of Black soldiers got the same pay, whereas the higher ranking white soldiers in the army got a higher salary as they were promoted. It was only until nearly the end of the war that the regiment’s pay was raised, and even then, it was only for the soldiers that had been free before the war started and alive at the time the pay was given, which was still only a fraction of the number of Black people that had enlisted. Also, even when the 54th Regiment was hard at work storming Wagner and Charleston, an anti-Black riot spread throughout the Union. It was a devastating experience; many Black people were killed, and many others were forced into asylum. It is not the typical civil rights protest, where people hold up signs with big, bold, words displaying a motto or opinion; it was an all-out, kill or destroy the first thing or person that you see that is related to African-Americans. It was like Doomsday for the Blacks. Keep in mind that when the 54th Regiment departed to fight, they were treated like heroes. What happened to the Black people’s reputation? Finally, toward the end of the war, they wanted to promote Sergeant Swails, a member of the 54th Regiment that had served faithfully with his leadership, to an officer. However, their request was denied by someone that had previously warned people to treat Black and white people equally. How hypocritical for him to go against his own word when the choice fell into his hands! Finally, after much persuasion and pressure, Stanton, the Secretary of War, finally approved his becoming an officer. Now you ask, why did the whites think they had a reason to treat the Blacks differently? According to President Lincoln, if they enlisted Black men, the slave states in the Union, which included Illinois, Alabama and other states, would join the Confederacy. However, the whites’ enlistment rate was dropping, yet the Blacks were still willing to join. The government had to grudgingly admit that if they kept holding back the Blacks, they would have no soldiers at all. But, even though Black men were finally allowed to join the army, they were still seen as dirty and unclean, simply because their skin was darker than the Americans. Ironically, the Black camps were much cleaner and well-maintained than the whites’. Even though racism is not as liberal and outspoken in America anymore, let this be a lesson to you to never bully, tease, or judge someone because of what they are. One of the most common types of discrimination is pitying someone. When you see someone that is disabled, is your first reaction, “I feel so bad for him/her?” Know this; the pitied are often ashamed of themselves. So, instead of just standing there, reach out for him if you really do pity him. Prejudice is in human nature; it’s natural. As Mark Twain said, “The very ink with which history is written is merely fluid prejudice.” So why not just change the ink, and make the world a better place? Undying Glory: The Story of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment by Clinton Cox. Scholastic Biography, 1993. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process! Have you read this book? Or do you plan on reading it? Let us know in the comments below!
