Dubrovnik is in his heart

In an apartment in Graz in Austria you will find a rather unusual exhibition. Covering all of the walls of this apartment are the front pages of The Dubrovnik Times. Dietmar Gamerith is a self-confessed lover of Dubrovnik and The Dubrovnik Times and his home resembles an exhibition to the newspaper, the first weekly English language newspaper in Croatia intended for foreign tourists. From the first issue in 2007, Dietmar has not missed a single issue. He first reads them from cover to cover, then carefully frames them and hangs them on the wall. Due to the fact that his apartment is only 50 square meters he is starting to get worried where he will hang the future copies, he is running out of space fast. - So far I have 190 copies and will certainly not give up my collection. Dubrovnik is my second home, and I especially appreciate the idea of the editor Mark Thomas, who through this project allows foreigners and locals to learn all the important news about events and people in Dubrovnik, weather, anything that they might be interested in while on vacation - says Dietmar who has ever visited the city a whopping 70 times.Family connections - The first time I was here I was four years old with my parents in 1969. My father's sister Henrietta married in Dubrovnik into the Regjo family, so I am connected with the city and citizens. I simply cannot live without Dubrovnik. Every year I come at least twice, I have stayed in the Hotel Lero 40 times, all the staff know me - boasts Dietmar who still vividly remembers the yellow Dubrovnik tram and the old cable car station Atlas on Srđ. - I remember when you had in the former state dinars, the exchange rate in the 1970s was one to one compared to the shilling. We now have the Euro, and you have the Kuna. A lot has changed, including the infrastructure. A lot of new small hotels have opened and it is good that the devastated hotel Belvedere has got a new owner - says Dietmar. During his time in Dubrovnik he has established and gained many friends and acquaintances. As a connoisseur of local conditions he has detected the biggest problems. Like most of the "citizens", he is tormented by the summer crowds. - When I want to escape the crowds, I go to the church of St. Blaise on Gorica or in the Park Gradac - admits this amiable Austrian who, interestingly, does not mind cruising tourism. - They earn revenue. In those five or six hours that the passengers remain they visit the walls, bars, restaurants and souvenir shops, all of which brings a lot of money to the city, do not you ever forget it - reminds Dietmar. - It is true that food and drinks in Dubrovnik are very expensive. For example, beer, there are restaurants that have charged me 45 Kuna, which was too much even for me. That's why I prefer to buy beer at the supermarket and I go to drink at Porporela, it's cheaper, and the atmosphere is beautiful. But every time I go out to dinner on the Stradun or the Lapad, I do not complain about the cost. If you want to see Dubrovnik you have to pay. The atmosphere and the unique aura simply cannot be free – concludes this collector from Graz.Text - Gabrijela Bijelić