Dubrovnik

Welcome to Dubrovnik!

After spending two restful days beachside in Zadar, my friends and I were getting antsy and wanted to move again. Our next pin on the map was Dubrovnik, the water polo capital of the world.

We woke up at 8am to finish packing for our 10:30am bus fare, hopped on the bus and were super excited to be heading to a place so popularly known in Croatia. For the many times in my life that I've been to Croatia, I've never had the chance to experience Dubrovnik until now.

For the first hour on the bus we were all smiles, discussing the numerous adventures we would have in this new city. 

Abruptly, we were forced to get off our bus and switch to a double decker bus in Skradin. Everything was still going fine, but the new bus had zero air conditioning and the bus was baking in the heat of the sun. On top of that I couldn't even use my phone to distract myself because there was no wi-fi. Thankfully, the bus was not very full so Sarah and I had our own rows and didn't feel each others body heat.

Stop after stop we eagerly looked out the window, hoping it would finally be the one for Dubrovnik. Seven agonizing hours later (two whole hours longer than it should have taken) we arrived and walked from the bus stop to our hostel. 

The city is super hilly and our hostel was in the middle of a steep staircase. Imagine two 18 year old girls with heavy backpacks on walking the city, sweaty and disgusting from traveling... That was us times 10. I wonder what our hostess thought when she met us panting and shook our moist hands.

We arrived at the hostel, dumped our bags in the room, turned on the fan, took showers, connected to the wi-fi and then decided we were hungry. 

We locked up our room and headed to the streets to find food.

We struck gold with this little gem of a restaurant called Bon Appetit and began to eat there for pretty much every breakfast, lunch and dinner for the four days in Dubrovnik. Once we found something we both liked we didn't really want to stray from it. It was also a prime location because it was only a few blocks away from our hostel and had an impeccable view of the water (and all of the expensive yachts.)

That first night I ordered this dish that consisted of chopped up and grilled chicken on top of lettuce and tomato in a burger bun with fries on the side. When I ordered it I was freaking out that I made the wrong choice and was worried that I'd end up hating the meal. It arrived about 15 minutes later and as soon as my eyes made contact with that plate my mouth was watering. This meal was love at first sight. I quickly snapped a picture and dove into the meal, finishing every last bite. Delish.

After dinner Sarah and I were pretty exhausted from our day of traveling so we retreated to the hostel and got ready for bed. We opened up the shutters and were in awe of the view from our own bedroom.

The hostel we stayed at in Dubrovnik was on Radnicka Ulica and unfortunately does not have a link. We booked through hostels.com which I would recommend. For four nights we paid $150. I loved this hostel because it was close to the Jadrolinija (Ferry) office and since we island hopped a bit that was convenient. I also loved the view and the gem of a restaurant we found in this area (Bon Appetit.) However, it was not centrally located to the city so the two days spent there were a bit of a pain. We also did not have air conditioning in the hostel so it was unbelievably hot and the fan was running non-stop. Having to share a bathroom with other guests was a tad bit difficult especially after having a private room in Zagreb.

Nevertheless we slept, woke up, and began our first day as tourists in Dubrovnik.

Day 1:

 

What would the day be like if we didn't go to our favorite restaurant in town? The meal I ordered most mornings consisted of two chocolate filled crepes with a chocolate drizzle on top. Ah-maz-ing. The meal also came with fresh squeezed orange juice and a coffee of my choice. First off, I don't like pulp but this orange juice tasted amazing, pulp and all. Second, my all time favorite coffee is called Bijela Kava. This would be comparable to a latte. Can I just say that there is something much better about getting one in Croatia than America. I personally think there's less sugar and it's less processed, making it a ton more delicious and satisfying to drink.

After a hearty and delicious breakfast, we were ready to tour the sites.

Dubrovnik has a fence where people attach locks sealing their love with there loved one.

Sarah and I spent a half hour just breathing in and taking in this view.

I love sailing.

Croatian flag waving proudly on the Dubrovnik Stone Walls.

Sarah and I walked the entirety of the stone wall of Dubrovnik in Stari Grad or Old City. It took the whole morning and we were exhausted by the end of it. Especially in the intense heat. Fun Fact- Game of Thrones was filmed here!

We took care to hydrate and utilized Dubrovnik's public water fountain at the entrance of the city. That water is as cold as ice and tastes amazing!

We saw people jumping off rocks down there into the sea. Definitely on my bucket list!

There were so many boat tours going on- from the yellow semi-submarine to the glass bottom boats.

Red tile roofs are the classiest and most esthetically pleasing.

After walking the wall and spending some time in the city, we decided to head back towards our hostel and find a beach to go swimming in. Being around all that water in the heat we were in was so tempting. We needed to cool off.

It was another hour walk to reach a public swimming area and I was thanking God when we finally saw the last sign directing us to the beach. This was our savior coming to rid us of this heat!

We went to a beach on Lapad, New City, but it was super packed with people and not clean at all! Sarah and I put our feet in but did not feel comfortable going in further. We walked around a beach bar in our bikinis to find a cleaner swimming area and were catcalled in Croatian by some guys. They kept asking for our names and calling us "ljepa" or beautiful. I gave one of the guys a huge stink eye to show that I wasn't going to take any of his sh*t. A few seconds of that were enough so we turned around, found places to sit, decided to rest for 45 minutes and enjoy the sun until we walked back to the hostel.

We showered, put on dresses and made a reappearance at our restaurant. This time we were served by an attractive tall, dark and handsome guy with a gorgeous smile. I was in a flirty mood so I kept smiling back at the guy as he practiced his english with us. A hair flip here, a smile there. All in good fun!

I don't even remember what I ate that day because I was so exhausted from the walking we did and was just shoving anything edible down my throat.. I'm sure the waiter thought that was super attractive!

Beat from the day, we retreated to our hostel and got ready for bed. Once in bed we checked the weather for the following day and began to stress.

It was supposed to rain.

We spent the next two hours trying to decide what to do so that our plans would not be ruined. We were coming up with ideas of going to museums, spas, anything. In the end, we decided to maintain our original idea of island hopping - rain or shine..

Day 2:

We got up bright and early and took the first ferry of the day to Lopud island at 9am. We ditched our restaurant and went to a Pekara or Bread Bakery and bought strudels for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch.

On the ferry ride over to the island I sat next to an older man who kept stealing sideways glances at me. A lady then went up to him and asked him for directions somewhere in english and he replied back in very broken english. I then decided to talk to the man in Croatian. I jokingly smiled, questioned him and said "Ti znas engleski?" You know english? to which he looked at me with a huge smile and responded in Croatian "I knew you looked Croatian!" I was so shocked that he said that but also flattered. We continued to talk (in Croatian) about my plans for school and he told me that he hated Psychology (a subject I love and will be studying...) and that he was so happy I knew Croatian. He went on to tell me that so many Croatian-Americans he meets don't know anything and it makes him sad. He was so excited to hear that we were going to Lopud Island because that was where he was from. He even gave us tips on good beaches.

I love having conversations in Croatian with people I don't know because it's a true test of how much I know. Hearing someone else say that I know Croatian well makes me exhale and feel better. I don't generally speak more than a few words of Croatian a day so it's satisfying to be able to talk and understand others.

After our boat docked on the island Sarah and I were surprised to see that there were no cars, but rather, golf carts! It felt like we landed on a really large resort country club!

We visited a flower garden on the island.

Such clear water.

The first sandy beach I remember being on in Croatia.

And then it happened... The weather forecast was right and a huge lightening storm prevailed. We ran out of the ocean and sprinted to put on our raincoats over our bikinis. Tourists were running around the island trying to find cover while we perched ourselves on a park bench under a tree that provided protection from the rain. We ate our lunch listening to the rain and chilling. If anything the storm helped to get rid of the heat.

We hopped on the next ferry out and left the island after a just a few hours.

As we left the sun started to shine again. Ugh, of course!

We decided to branch from our favorite restaurant and I ordered a pizza with mushrooms and ham. I ate the entire pizza. Every. Last. Bite. It was quite the show and I was very, very proud of myself especially considering that it was large.

We got back to the hostel, packed, showered and went to bed. It was time to rest up for our last day in Dubrovnik.

Day 3:

We woke up eager to see one last location, had our last breakfast at our usual restaurant and made our last trek to Stari Grad or Old City. Once there we hopped on a ferry to the UNESCO Heritage Site Lokrum.

We saw peacocks! Sarah kept taking photos of them and I called her the peacock girl. :)

The "Dead Lake"

It looked gross.. This photo doesn't show that at all! But in reality the water was an ugly green and it just looked dirty.

On the other hand this side of the island was impeccable. We were astonished to see open sea stretch for miles. 

Bluest water I have ever seen.

We ate our lunch admiring this. It was such a relaxing day to walk around the island and just stop and go as we pleased.

This is the funniest sign ever! Usually it's just a no smoking cigarette, but this is a pipe!

After leaving Lokrum we went back to the bus stop..

But first we stopped at Konzum, a supermarket, to grab some quick food for dinner. This was the funniest ordeal. Sarah and I gawked at every food item and were so proud that we could go to a supermarket by ourselves and get dinner. Mind you it was nothing fancy (I got museli, milk, and dried apricots and Sarah got bananas, a whole loaf of french bread that I totally found hilarious, and dried apricots.)

Then we headed back on a bus to Zadar for another few days.

Later gator Dubrovnik! Next stop...

Plitvice Lakes

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I'M NOT READY TO MOVE INTO COLLEGE THIS CANNOT HAPPEN YET!!!