Dubrovnik

My friend Belinda and I left really early on Monday morning to catch our flight to Dubrovnik.  I was intrigued by the place because it was never on my list of must see places but I had a handful of friends that had been there and raved about it.  So I called up Belinda and asked if she wanted to take a trip with me.  We waffled between going to Lisbon or Dubrovnik, one of the major criteria being that we wanted somewhere relatively warm, in the end Dubrovnik won out and we were booked.

We arrived early afternoon and the drive from the airport had some spectacular views, we were soaking up the warm rays through the windows as our cab driver regaled us with facts about Dubrovnik and surrounding areas and on where to eat.  We got to the hotel and were blown away by the amazing view from the wall of windows that looked out onto to Adriatic Sea. They showed us to our room and because Belinda had arranged for us to have a room with a view and balcony we headed straight out there.  The view made us gasp, I don't think I have stayed anywhere before with a more stunning view.  The weather was nice and sunny so we made a quick change of clothes and headed out.  We decided to go into the old town which is surrounded by an impressive wall. As we walked down the hill that led us there we stopped at every lookout point to admire the beautiful scenery around us. On the way we found an inviting patio just outside the city walls and stopped for a quick lunch.  It felt so good to sit in the sunshine and get a much needed dose of vitamin D. As we went through the large gate into the city I marvelled at the wonderful main street with it's shiny stone walkways and lovely architecture.  Most importantly we spotted the first gelato shop and stopped in for a treat.  It was delicious. We meandered a bit down the main street and peeked down the many small alleyways and stairs that branched out from it, mentally noting the ones that we would go to at another time. We passed one of the churches and got nearly beheaded by the kamikaze pigeons that crowd the squares hoping for something tasty. Our next stop was the old harbour.  It was full of charm with all the little white boats lined up and some of the city strewn along the hillside behind.  We whiled away the rest of the afternoon wandering and window shopping, as well as taking chances on paths that all seemed to have a dead end but each had their own special view out to sea.  Back to the hotel to change and have a quiet dinner in the hotel.

Tuesday dawned with another cloudless sky and us with a plan. After a yummy breakfast on the patio of our hotel, our first stop was to the cable car station that would take us to the top of the hill that overlooks the city.  A short ride later we were admiring the view and amused by the stray cow that was eating her way around the building they have up there.  There was a big cross and altar up at the top as well and an old fort.  Neither of us felt like going inside so we hopped back on the cable car and made our way down.  Next on the agenda was to walk the city walls, it is about 2km round the walls and well worth it.  We got an insight into the old town that you can't really see from ground level.  Also the views out to the sea were beautiful. We agreed the seaside part was prettier but that may have been our grumbling stomachs that marred the other side in our opinion.  We went down to the harbour to another nice patio and had a wonderful lunch of calamari and salad with prosciutto and mozzarella.  Almost all the menus had a definite italian slant to them in Dubrovnik which was just fine with me. Shopping was our next activity and we picked up some ties for our hubbies, the tie was invented in Croatia.  There were a lot to choose from but we did steer clear of the limited edition ones that were quite pricey. I also bought a lovely bracelet for myself. We had stopped in to visitor information to check if there were any shopping areas outside the old city and were directed to a couple so we went to the newer part of Dubrovnik and searched them out.  A bit disappointing but we did get to see the new harbour, which doesn't quite have the same charm as the one in the old city. We asked the hotel for a recommendation for dinner and were pointed in the direction of a place called Magellan.  It was a great little place with delicious food and really cheap prices only a couple of blocks from the hotel.

Both Belinda and I agreed that we would like to have a bit of downtime on this trip so much of Wednesday was spent down on the sun loungers at the private beach of our hotel.  It was so nice to relax, read a book and soak up the sun.  I was annoyingly diligent with putting sunscreen and poor Belinda was disturbed every hour to help with with my back.  Belinda did some searching of the beach which was mostly pebbles, no sand, for interesting rocks and shells.  I decided to test the water, our cab driver had told us that it was about 14C in the water and I believe him, it was cold! Take your breath away cold.  But once I was out I did feel quite invigorated. We split a leisurely room service lunch and got cleaned up.  Back into the old town to pass some time before dinner.  As we were walking around we happened upon our friends Karl and Susan who were also visiting Dubrovnik. We joined up with them for a while and we all went to the famous Buza Bar that sits outside the city wall overlooking the sea.  It was nice to catch up with them and have a drink while watching the sun go down.  We bid them adieu and went to have dinner.  We went to one of the restaurants that had been recommended by our cabbie, Proto.  The food was pretty good, not spectacular but very expensive so then and there we decided that we would be going back to Magellan for our last dinner the next day.

We had been told by one of the ladies in the jewellery store that there was a market in the newer part of Dubrovnik Thursday through Sunday and when we asked our hotel on Thursday morning they had no idea so we decided to head in that direction anyway.  We found a lovely path that snaked its way around one of the peninsulas and enjoyed walking along and gazing at the scenery.  All along part of the path were steps down to man made terraces for the people whole lived along the coast where they could swim from and sunbathe. It looked ideal.  We also passed several large hotels along the way, where they all seemed to be getting geared up for the upcoming tourist season. We walked further and got a great view of the bridge that is near the mouth of the harbour, it reminded Belinda of a sail boat. Glancing at our watches we found that we were getting close to the time that we had to head back to the hotel for our massage appointments at the spa.  I thoroughly enjoyed my massage and was tempted by the indoor pool in the hotel. So I went for a swim while Belinda read on the balcony of our room.  It was a nice relaxing afternoon.  We prettied ourselves up and went back to Magellan for another great meal.  The rest of the evening was reserved for packing and a bit of reading before bed.

The alarm went off quite early on the Friday as we were flying back to Aberdeen that day.  We had arranged with a cab driver to pick us up and we were pleased when he showed up just as we were out the hotel doors.  We flew through Frankfurt and had a 6 1/2 hour layover but the time went quickly and before we knew it, we were back in Aberdeen.

I had a wonderful time on this trip and would definitely like to visit Croatia again sometime.  The scenery is beautiful and the people are warm and friendly.  Thanks to Belinda, my travelling companion, for making it such a great trip!