August 2011
The mediterranean is one of my favorite places in the
world. Amazing food, great weather and such amazing
scenery. The sea breeze is one of those things I always
recall about that place. Even now in Australia, I cannot
wait to go back. This is a re-do of a blog post from
2011. Just a way to relive the experience and to have an
excuse to re-edit some photos :)
In search of a relaxing vacation, I asked my friends in
Europe about places that they've been. Between 5 places
that I listed, I asked them to tell me which 3 would be
"can't miss" locations - Croatia happened to be one of
them. I didn't know what to expect from Croatia prior to
this but let's just say that having been here for this
trip, I now know what the hype is about.
My trip to Croatia was the first 7 day holiday that I'd
taken so far this year (all my previous trips were 4
days or less) so it goes to show you how much you can do
in a few days but coming into this one, I was almost at
a loss at what I could do. I arrived in Dubrovnik on
another 6am flight (I really despise these but you can't
argue with the ticket prices) on the 30th of July. It
was definitely hotter than in London - 30 degrees versus
16-18. But it was pleasant since you were right by the
Mediterranean Sea as it brought this cool sea breeze
every once in a while. Anyway, the landscape was
incredibly gorgeous. As you can imagine, being by the
ocean, with a mountain filled landscape, it always gave
you something to look at.
I stayed in Dubrovnik Old Town which is basically
where you want to stay when you are here. At the very
least, you might spend the most of your time here when
you are in Dubrovnik. It really is small enough to walk
around in 1 day, it's almost impossible to get lost here
but I love how it is built. Small little alley ways with
cobble stone - mostly clean. The thing about Europe is
that even if you call it an alley way, there are little
cafe's and restaurants strewn all over with chairs
outside for you to sit in. That is very much the case in
Croatia as well.
Probably the best thing to do here is to walk along
the town walls. Dubrovnik is surrounded by a wall that
encloses the entire city but you can walk along the wall
and see the views of the Mediterranean and the
surrounding area. It really is gorgeous and it will only
take you about an hour and 10 euros to get through.
Remember though, that the gates to the walls close early
- about 7:30pm. During the peak of summer, this will
likely prevent you from catching any shots during the
sunset but if you time if perfectly and are good at
persuasion, you might just get it ;)
On my second day here, I decided to go and try
something that I've been wanting to do for ages... scuba
diving. What better place to do it than in the
Mediterranean? Alright, I know there are probably loads
of locations that have amazing dive locations but this
wasn't half bad :) The beginners course took place in
the Hotel Palace which is a 5 star resort just outside
of the old town - you have to take bus #4 there and it
is the last stop on the line which makes it nearly
impossible for you to get lost. Anyway, the experience
was awesome! The water was so transparent and clean
looking and it had the Mediterranean turquoise color to
it as well. Definitely a must do for anyone who is in
the area.
There are no real beaches in the old town so you will have
to go out of the town a little ways to find one. Maybe a
bit of a hassle but considering how small the town is, it
is worthwhile to do day trips anyway. On my third day, I
went on a day trip to the Elaphite Islands (three were
visited including Kolocep, Sipan and Lopud) and spent the
day lounging on the sandy beaches and enjoying the weather
and scenery. Even got to meet two very nice Aussies who
live in London - Katrina and Maggie. Wandering around with
them during the day and catching up again for dinner was
loads of fun and it was great meeting you two!
I N D U L G E N C E S
In terms of food, Croatian cuisine is centered
around seafood. With that in mind, any time I sat down
at a restaurant, I tried to order the fish of the day.
The restaurants that I did go to for dinner were not in
the main road, Placa. Instead, they were right next to
my apartment on the strip called Prijeko - there are
lots of restaurants along this stretch and they weren't
crowded with as many tourists as those by the harbor.
Anyway, back to the food - I sat down at Ragusa 2 the
first night and had fresh grilled sea bass with boiled
potatoes. It was certainly fresh but maybe a bit over
done - still, it wasn't unsatisfying :)
The second night I stopped at Moby Dicks and had the
monk fish. These are quite easily the ugliest fish I
have ever seen - like something from another planet who
was beaten with an ugly stick but slice it up into small
steaks and grill it and you have something there. Simply
grilled and topped with high quality olive oil, this was
a very pleasant surprise!
Another thing I ate with great frequency was ice cream.
When you are in the midst of 30+ degree weather, you yearn
for certain things - ice cream was definitely amongst
those things. Maybe not as good as in Italy but pretty
close.
T H O U G H T S
Dubrovnik is a beautiful little town. Definitely
small but lots of life here - although much of that life
is due to the tourists really. You won't see too many
locals living in the Old Town but you won't feel lost
either since you are surrounded by loads of people in
the same boat as you. I highly recommend anyone going to
Croatia to visit Dubrovnik but I would honestly say, 2-3
days max. If you stay any longer, you'll run out of
things to do - so supplement that time with day trips to
the islands like Korcula or Mljet. Anyway, on a side
note: TONS of beautiful people here haha. On to Split
now, will be there for the remainder of my trip. I'll be
sure to update you when I get back from there!
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