The host where I am staying near Dubrovnik suggested a restaurant for me to have my dinner last night. Konoba Rozario is a nice little trattoria on a narrow alley just up from the main square in the old city.

I plunked myself at a table that was quite near the street. They are all quite near the street that is actually an alleyway with crooks and curves and stone floor.

As I ate, there were lots of people wandering by and some were stopping to look at the menu that was posted near me, occasionally booking a table for later in the evening or snapping a photo of the cat that was curled up on on of the chairs of an adjacent table. One group was looking over at my food to get a glimpse of the fare. I gave them a big smile and thumbs up on the food but they glanced at each other and moved on. I wondered why my enthusiastic recommendation had almost the opposite effect.

I felt that I may have some dinner stuck in my mustache so I took the white linen napkin and politely blotted my lips and mustache. I was horrified to see that what I blotted off was blood. This week I have had a sinus infection following a cold and occasionally am getting bloody mucous from my nose when I blow. But I did not realize that I had been sitting there smiling like an idiot and recommending the food to passers-by with blood trickling from my right nostril into my white mustache. I hope that I didn’t scare too many away.

The food, by the way, was indeed excellent. I had a delicious olive spread on crustini followed by pork medallions with gnocchi in a tartuffo sauce. Local red wine. Ice cream with hot chocolate sauce for dessert.