View from the terrace at our hotel
Dubrovnik, Croatia was one of my Top 3 places to visit while we are living over here. Jeff decided the perfect time to go was around my birthday. We got up around 2:45 AM, and were at the Manchester Airport to fly out by 5:30. We got into Dubrovnik, found our beautiful hotel, went into the city, grabbed lunch, and....it starting storming. We rushed back to our hotel to wait out the storm. Ended up working out well that we could take a quick nap since we got up so early. Later that evening we went back out to explore the Old Town (a walled city). We then fulfilled every child's dream...ice cream for dinner! Jeff and I walked around the old city eating our ice cream. We found some places we wanted to explore more in the morning. We walked north of the Old Town to just explore more of the city. We made it to a marina filled with boats, which was pretty cool.
View from our hotel window
View from the hotel window...beautiful clear water!
Sidenote: Cats. I thought Italy was known for the amount of cats on the city streets, but I think I found a place to beat that record. There was a crazy amount of cats walking around the city. No matter where we were, like a side of a cliff...there was always a cat around. A couple adorable kittens (one of which was all black, like Mackey) wandered the streets as well. All the cats looked like they were in good condition, whether they belonged to someone or not. I just kept walking around the city think of Bob Barker. Yes, you heard me, Bob Barker. I kept picturing him saying "Have your pets spayed and neutered." Dubrovnik needs this...
Could get a little chilly and windy at times. "All you need is a light jacket."--Name that movie!
Great view of the wall we walked around in the Old Town
At another fortress that has a great view of the city and the Old Town Wall
The Croatian flag
If we were there longer, it would have definitely been great to go out on a boat!
We headed back to the hotel to go to the hotel's private beach (About mid-60's). We grabbed lunch seaside at the hotel restaurant, and then we laid around reading until the sun was hidden by the large cliffs. This was perfect timing to head up to Mount Srdj, the 412 meter (350 feet) high mountain. We braved the cable cars, as the walk up the mountain would have took for-ever! Not a huge fan of cable cars, but this one was definitely better than the one we rode in Barcelona. Not nearly as scary. We made it to the top, went to to Fort Imperial. This fort was a crucial part during the 1991 war, and much of it is still in shambles. It was crazy to look from the west side of the fort, as it was beautiful, beach-filled Dubrovnik. The east side was Bosnia, which was mountainous and bare. The fort was turned into a museum, but a lot of the material presented wasn't in English. Needless to say, I lost focus.
The Bosnia side of the mountain
The Croatia side of the mountain
We ate at
the top, Restaurant Panorama, where I had the best Bailey's coffee ever.
Jeff was checking off a few new beers off the count. For those of you who know our goal, I will look at our count later, and get back to you. We
had a great time watching the sunset over the city. We grabbed an
"linner" (lunch+dinner), as the sun was setting around 4:30! We took
the cable car back down, enjoyed another chilly night in the city, and
headed back to the hotel.
Our beautiful view for dinner & drinks
The next morning, we went down to the beach for a few hours. The feeling of relaxing on a beach, reading a book felt amazing. Are my snow-filled Indiana friends/family closing their computers at this point? Sorry! Jeff and I both finished our books, and put our feet in the cold Adriatic Sea. Well, Jeff braved it and got all the way in. I was a chicken.
After our beach-filled morning, we went back into the city to check out a bar on a cliff and walk around the city one last time. We had a few beers at Buza Bar (Buza=hole, not Booze). We grabbed a seat right in front, and enjoyed the view. It was great to see sailboats, kayaks, ships, etc. go by in front of us. Besides the cultural side of walking around the walls, I really enjoyed this afternoon. It was so relaxing!
Best view in the house!
So stinkin' pretty, right?
We ended our time in Dubrovnik by walking to a restaurant outside of the city walls and getting a "jumbo" pizza. I'm not sure if I was just so hungry or what...but it was one of the best pizzas I have ever had (pepperoni, hot peppers, Tabasco, arugula, sauce, and a couple kinds of cheese). We ate the entire thing, and headed back towards the hotel.
Beautiful view on our way to the pizza place
And yes, we ate the last piece! Yum!
Once the sunset, we went on a long walk to the Cave Bar (One of the Top 5 Hotel Bars in the World). It was really impressive, as stalactites were still hanging from the ceiling. You could also see through the cave floor in one spot of the bar where the water flowed. Really cool! It was definitely a long walk to this hotel bar, but definitely worth it.
This "hallway" leads into the room in which you could see the floor.
(People were in there, so I couldn't snap a photo)
The entrance from the outdoor seating
I leave you with an odd picture. We were walking late in the city on our first day, and found this picture... Many of my loyal readers know my new-found fascination with the world of eggs over here. Bet you have never seen eggs in a pop-like machine!
Overall, I was very grateful to spend my birthday weekend celebrating with Jeff in this beautiful destination. Thank you to all of you who sent cards, messages, emails, etc. for my birthday. You definitely made me feel right at home! Love you all!
Want to come along, too? Check out this interactive website I found!
Onto the next adventure...
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