Our oldest daughter and her husband gave us four reasons why we needed to make a stop and stay in Ston on our way home.
ONE, because they’ve been producing salt for over 2,000 years
…so we went there and bought some.
TWO, because they produce the finest oysters
…so we found a restaurant and ate some. Actually—Mark ate the oysters while I made disgusted squishy faces watching him eat them.
THREE, because the town is encircled by an ancient Stone wall that climbs steeply up the mountainside and they said it must be hiked
…So we hiked it. Which is to say we hiked the section that was currently open. And when I say hike, I mean that Mark hiked it while I, at a sloths pace, cussed my way up each and every steeply pitched step of the perverse enclosure.
I thought it would be a breeze, having already hiked up to Kotor’s fortress, and up to all of Meteora’s monasteries, but this hike seemed endless.
The Ston walls are the longest fortress walls in Europe and often get compared to the Great Wall of China. Though admittedly, I’d never heard of them before my daughter sent me on this sadistic errand.
Incidentally, if you happen to be a sadist, there’s a Ston Wall Marathon– something Mark said he’d love to do. Me? I’d rather eat the oysters.
Our Son Connor saved the day by calling us to say hello. I couldn’t have been happier sitting in the shade of a defensive alcove for the next hour and chat with him. I’ve never loved that boy so much as I did when he called and accidentally interrupted our intrepid sojourn up those hideous walls.
The FOURTH reason we went was because they said they didn’t get enough time there when they recently visited us and made a quick stopover in Ston. They told us we needed to go and enjoy it for them
…which we did. Which is to say I enjoyed the salt very much.
They can keep the hiking and the oysters.
