October 9, 2026

Everyone Loves the Cats … or do they?

Dubrovnik, Croatia

There is a huge Italian influence throughout Dubrovnik because of the close distance from Bari and Venice. And where there is Italian influence, there are cats! Ok, I am sure cultures the world over figured out that cats will go after mice and rats and clean things up a bit. However, perhaps only recently, cats became a tourist hit! People love the cats – they are on t-shirts, at every restaurant, on every porch, and in every park. What I am no longer sure of is whether locals love the cats. In Italy, there were preserved communities with a patron saint cat. The cats are all very well-fed, fluffy, and perfectly independent as they go on their daily and nightly rounds. Our guide in Dubrovnik said that the cats are no longer helpful in catching rodents because it is too much work. Tourists feed them. They have the job of looking cute and they share all the cheese they get with the mice!

The kids have been perfectly entertained by the cat-lined patios (cat-ios) and the kittens that play at restaurants. We have generally held ourselves back from buying the t-shirts and bags and magnets all with funny cats and the town’s name. 

Other insider information we have picked up from our tour guides:

• There is history on the islands that you can only know by going there
• You need to know the special letter in words like Korčula is a “ch” sound – Korchula
• The stores on the main strada in Old Town Dubrovnik are extremely overpriced
• You can’t get lost in most towns because of the fishbone pattern of the street – one main street and all of the side-streets coming off of it (generally water on most sides)
• Put the emphasis on the first syllable – DO-brov-nik

You must know this … the locals do not call their country Croatia – it is Hrvatska.