Marco! Polo! Marco! Polo! Fish Out Of Water!

Finally, the last ferry of the day and we would be on the Island of Korčula.

A beautiful fortified town

 Home to more churches and...

...the apparent birthplace of Marco Polo.  He is claimed by both the Croatians and the Venetians

This was his alleged house on the left and on the right is a bust in the window of the museum dedicated to him.

And here is a great big giant sized chair with Marco Polo written on it.  I don't think it was originally his though... He would have looked like a small child on such a big chair, and I can't see that fitting up the stairs to his house!

The town is full of shops with MP paraphernalia including these little figurines..... but they're not kidding me - Marco Polo was a normal sized man - there's no way he would have fit on these tiny boats!  I mean, the boat would topple over and sink for starters.   

I do so love it when a town is inventive with their street decorations..... we could have used this street (or at least the umbrellas in Hvar!)

It seems back in the day they were big on public shaming of people who had done the wrong thing.  In every town we've been to there is a pillar or something similar that wrong doers would be tied to and publicly shamed.  I think Jenny looks suitably ashamed of her actions!

On my previous jaunt to Croatia, I came to this island but couldn't for the life of me remember anything about it, until I found myself at the bottom of these steps and then it all came flooding back to me.

This is the "Ministry of Everybody's Affairs".  

The ministers sit here and watch the world go by day after day, hence getting to know everyone's business.

Here's a hint that a the Venetians were here once upon a time.  The little covered in walk way between the tower and the building behind it.  The top of that tower is now a bar..... I'm not sure that was the original plan, but I guess it all turned out well in the end.

It's very possible that the name 'Croatia' actually means lots of cats.  You've never seen so many stray cats ..... (unless you've been to Turkey.... or Bali!)