Dubrovnik, Croatia - The start of our coastal love affair!

Dubrovnik, Croatia; Par-a-dise! When planning our next trip, we literally had no expectations of what Croatia would entail. We were slightly sceptical about the “beauty” that people had mentioned about the place, as in my mind Croatia was a small, war-torn, cute-but-rough-around-the-edges kind of place. My goodness, I am glad we gave it a shot!!

Late, in a humid yet lively evening, we arrived in Dubrovnik. As any traveller adventuring on an under-catered budget airline, we departed the dingy aircraft with empty stomachs and a keen desire to explore. After finding an abrupt but accommodating taxi man, we set out to find our Dubrovnik home. Speedily winding through the tiny streets that were ascending and weaving towards the sky, the taxi man put the breaks on and jumped out to dump us on our doorstep. The second we poked our heads out of the car door we heard this excited and welcoming “yoo-hoo!!” from what we assumed was a balcony above our heads, camouflaged into the night sky. We gave a big grin in the direction of the voice and headed up the steps.

Our host was what I can only describe as a motherly, kiss-you-on-the-lips, sweaty, but so sweet, older European lady who welcomed us with enormous open arms, and minimal English. We had a bit of chitchat through attempted sign language, but I loved her. She was gorgeous. She showed us around the homely flat and quickly left us to return to her home underneath our top floor accommodation. We put our bags down and then headed straight back out the door to find some food.

We were not anticipating the steps. We knew the direction to head in, so we took the opportunity when we discovered a little alley way of descending steps, thinking it would short-cut us to the main road, leading us to culinary delights. The darkness of the night was simultaneously enticing and deceitfully evil. The endless steps taunted our hungry selves, just working off more energy and creating a deeper urge to find food. But the second we did step out onto another cobble stoned street, we found to our right a small restaurant so appealing in appearance with its balcony adorned with hanging plants and small tables covered in red table clothes. Because of the hour of the night we walked into the empty restaurant, however the waiter was overly happy to seat us and feed us. Simple but incredibly tasty food satisfied the hunger, and my love for Croatia began. It always begins and ends with food, for me.

The next day started with a promising, gasping moment when we opened our balcony doors to see the post-card image of turquoise water with terracotta rooftops opposite the rolling green hills of Dubrovnik. It was unbelievable. I squealed a little, whilst Tim immediately grabbed his camera. We were only too glad to descend the killer staircase again, to see what else Croatia was hiding in its nightly shadows. The sunshine was gloriously illuminating the treasure that this place was.

After meandering down the main road we walked to the waters edge, grabbed some fresh fruit and just soaked in the warmth. It wasn’t long until our travel buddies, Israel and Ali arrived at the apartment, and we were busting to explore with them.  Once we had continued to marvel at the view, we decided to head into the Old Town. What a treat! The walled city that resembled an ancient civilisation was pumping with residents and tourists. The place was so attractive in its charm and enchanting structure, with a big wall circling the town and brick and stone houses/huts covering the inclining streets. It was swarming with small alleyways as the only travel route around. I LOVE backstreets. We encircled the main square of the town and quickly headed for the harbour side where we grabbed a gelato and weaved around the team of European, budgie-smuggler wearing men playing a game of football on the stone platform. It didn’t take long to find a cosy spot between the other swimmers, and we dived straight in. Turning around, once in the water, provided for one of our “highlight” moments when we saw the outskirts of the Old City, including an old castle, creating a picturesque moment to accompany the blissful feeling of swimming in cool, bright blue water with the summer heat.

Dubrovnik had us. The rest of our days were spent in the clear, photo-shopped looking water with in between moments of fruit eating and sun-blocking. I don’t know how we managed to always do it, but we found the best local restaurant which to my delight served unbelievably tasty seafood. Oh. My. Days! Needless to say, we went back every night and basked in the fresh Croatian delicacies. Tim’s carb addiction started at this point, with fresh bread served at every meal and traditional pizza and pasta alluring his taste buds. And of course beer.

On one of the nights we were wining and dining, an unexpected rain storm hit Dubrovnik, and we knew it was abnormal at this time of the year when the locals started freaking out a bit. It only made the experience more enjoyable as we walked home in the warm rain, completely full to the brim with the best tasting food we had ever had. To Tim’s absolute delight, the lightening put on a show for us, and Tim spent the last part of our last evening capturing the incredible scenery, which is now our lasting memory of Dubrovnik.