Back to Reality

Galešnjak, Croatia

So it's been 4 days since I arrived home from Croatia and to be honest I'm already thinking about what I could do when I return.  It is very rare that I have the desire to go back to the same location twice…after all, there's so much to see around the world…but Croatia could be one of those exceptions.  So much history, lovely people, stunning scenery and endless opportunities to explore…by land or sea.

what a journey!

People have asked me since my return what I liked about Croatia, so here are a few things that come to mind:

• endless twisting and turning cliffside roads with magnificent views
• lovely people who welcome you so openly and want to hear and share their stories
• the unique creations made by so many talented Croatian artisans
• visiting the local markets to pick up fresh fruit, vegetables and honey
• magnificent architecture
• the history
• wandering throughout the little alleyways and streets
• kava and lattes Croatian style
• exploring Plitvice National Park in the rain or shine
• relaxing at little caffees/bars (smoke free of course!)
• Komiza, Komiza, Komiza
• delicious wine, olive oil, grappa and carob brandy
• ICE CREAM!!!!

The list could go on I'm sure and next time someone asks me "why would you go to Croatia?",  I'll be sure to let them know.  If you haven't visited Croatia yet, you are definitely missing out…a must see on anyone's travel list.

For Lisa, my tolerant travel companion, she's certainly captured my thoughts when she said she would have flashbacks for a while to come (good ones of course) - surprises around every corner, nook, cranny, alley, etc.

Croatia did not disappoint, rain or shine…and my 1500+ pictures can tell the story.

Until next time…hope you enjoyed sharing in our adventure.

Lisa & Lisa 

Farewell Croatia…

Up up and Away

Our flight to Zagreb left at 6:30am and we were off to the airport by 4:45am thanks to our host Milena's father.  As we travelled the dark roads to the airport, I thought our driver was going to go right off the cliff we were going so fast! We said our last goodbyes to Dubrovnik as we passed Old Town one last time...this time all lit up in the dark sky; just breathtaking!

We checked into our flight with no troubles, boarded our plane...sans kava...for our 45 minute flight to the north. 

arrival in Zagreb

We arrived in Zagreb to the most beautiful low hanging clouds that were hiding the other side of the city. We did a quick stopover...just long enough to spend the very last of our kunas...and enjoyed a cappuccino and kava with cream.  Just what we needed to jump start the rest of our day...and appropriate for our last purchase in Croatia. 

our final kava

On our flight to London, England...2.5 hours...we crossed over the Alps. WOW!... is all I can say. I've been on the Swiss Alps before, but I don't remember flying over them...what a sight.  They seem to go on forever...at least 45 minutes of our flight was spent looking down at them. Not a bad view if I do say so myself...

the magnificant Alps

In London we had a 2.5 hour layover and chilled for a bit as we checked email and caught up on things.  The flight was pretty non eventful...watched three movies...and we touched down in Halifax early at 3:00pm. 

After travelling for the past 16 hours I was ready to get in the car and head home, but my luggage had a different story...at least for a while. When I finally found my luggage...and after being questioned a second time about where I had been travelling and what I was doing there...we made it through customs and quickly whisked away towards the city. 

Home Sweat Home

It's great to be home...except for the cold weather...but I could have stayed in Croatia longer. Maybe I'll have to visit again in the future...by sailboat perhaps. Lisa would you be up for that???  

So it's time to unpack and unwind as I recover from jet lag. Once I have some time to readjust to life back home, I will finish off my blog by capturing my final thoughts about Croatia...and maybe a few thoughts from Lisa as well. 

Until then...

Lisa

Ending with a Splash...and a chocolate dipped cone!

It is our final day in Dubrovnik and what a day it has been! The sun was out in full force...the hottest day yet I think at 22 degrees...and we were scheduled to do a half day kayaking tour on the Adriatic Sea.

Old Town

We arrived at the Old Town at 9 am with plenty of time to meet our 10:00am tour.  We eventually strolled down to the area we thought was where we were to meet our group...only to find out after a couple calls by the staff we were at the wrong location. Not only that, but it was the other tour company in the city...the competition!  After dealing with our embarrassment, the guy took us over to the other tour group and we eventually got things worked out.

prep time

We left from the beach right along the Pile Gate with about 14 other people and our two guides...most of us where in tandem boats. We put all our belongings in sealed barrels that were then attached to the kayak...no need to get everything wet, especially my camera. Once we had the obligatory paddling review, we pushed off into the water ready to explore this beautiful historic city from yet another perspective. 

check out my toes!

and we're off!!

We started off my paddling about 15 minutes where we met and got some of the history of the City Walls. It was interesting to hear during the early years all the women who entered the town were required to provide one egg as an entrance fee.  This was used in the mortar when the wall was being built...I suspect it was a stinky town back with all those eggs!

history lesson

the City Wall from the Adriatic Sea

From here we paddled out towards Lockrum island. This island is no longer inhabited, but it does have a monastery, lots of peacocks and a nudist beach...it is also thought to be cursed and history has proven this could possible be true. 

Lockrum island

After taking some photos we headed around the island and past the nudist beach...one man instantly stood up as he saw us coming, so I guess he wanted to give us a bit of a show!  On the other side of the island we then entered a small hidden cave. The views were beautiful...it really was the perfect day to be out kayaking on the sea. 

Lisa enjoying the day

From the cave we continued along the coast of the island where we saw the local ferry dropping people off and then we headed towards the Dubrovnick coastline. 

the ferry dock

After about 20 minutes we regrouped to hear a bit about the War of Independence, 1991-1995 when Croatia fought for its independence from Yugoslavia. The devastation in Dubrovnik was massive and for a 9 month period nothing was coming in or out of the city until support was provided from the north. It's hard to listen to people talk about this time period...especially since it was such a fairly recent war. 

paddling to the coast

a significant location during the war

Finally it was time to head to another cave, this time one with a beach...this is where we had lunch and could finally get some pictures. 

beach time

The little beach had turquoise water...it was freezing...large and small pebbles and a house was actually built right over it and you could see its window through a large hole in the cave....very weird. 

a  beautiful cove

We stayed here for about 30 minutes, ate some fruit and some of the brave souls also spent time snorkelling.

snorkelling time…bbbrrrrr

Not me though...I decided to enjoy some down time relaxing in the sun and enjoying the view above water.

sun!!!!

Lisa swore the water was not cold, but I think her shivering and hand colour begs to differ...

I told you it was cold!

Before she got out of the water...or passed out from hypothermia...we were able to get one modified selfie...

time out in Croatia

The final leg of our trip included passing by a former villa that is now an exclusive hotel...apparently Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman stayed there in another life time...and the cost for one night is in the $10,000 range!  

exclusive villa

Not far from the hotel is the former quarantine building where during the plague people could not enter the town until they passed through the five sections over an eight day period… because of this process Dubrovnik had very little illness at that time.

Quarantine behind the people on the left

Next we stopped outside another section of the town, learned a bit more history....while our group completely drifted into a boat mourned out in the harbour. 

one last look with our guide

Once we regrouped, we headed around the fort, took a few more pictures and basked in the excitement of being on the water.  Our final stop was in front of Fort Lovrijenat...or for you Game of Thrones enthusiasts you will know it as King's Landing. 

for all your Game of Throne fans

It was close to 1:30pm when we reluctantly made our way to shore again.  What a spectacular day...I think it ranks right up there as one of my top three things we've done while in Croatia. And it was certainly a great way to spend our last day in Croatia. 

fantastic day!!!

Once we dried off and changed, we heading into Old Town to visit the War Photo Limited Museum.

history in photos

It had haunting pictures of the devastation in Dubrovnik during the War of Independence, as well as another exhibit depicting the Syrian War, by Mexican photographer Narciso Contraras… very graphic and certainly excessively violent.  Once again I am brought back to how appreciative I am that I live in a country that is not under siege or in complete turmoil...my heart just ached for the people and their pain that was brought out in the photography. 

At one point while in the museum I started to feel faint as I hadn't eaten a real lunch yet, so we ventured back to our favourite restaurant Nishta...we are really disappointed with a lot of food we've had in the Old Town, so it was nice to find something we enjoyed.  At the end of our meal we were presented our bill inside this little box, with a bean and the following message…

so creative…love this!

Hvala (thank you) Croatia for a wonderful time!!

We had planned to head back to Lapad, but the weather was so nice we decided to find a little caffe in the sun where we could sit and people watch for our last hour in Old Town...and there was no shortage of people our sights to watch. 

enjoying our final moments in Croatia

At around 5:00pm we headed to the Pile Gate...not before snapping one last shot of one of the MANY ice cream shops around. People love their ice cream in Europe…and so do we!

we LOVE ice cream!

We also ran into another kitty cat having an afternoon siesta...how appropriate to see one as we left old a Town during our last visit in Dubrovnik. 

goodbye Old Town

Upon arrival at our apartment we were greeted to a locked gate. Our host Milos mentioned this could happen and gave us instructions as to what we should do to open it...thankfully we finally figured it out. I'm not sure why, but we've had door and lock issues almost everywhere we stayed in Croatia...we are obviously in need of lock opening classes. 

using my locksmith skills to break in

Since we are in the country of ice cream...or so it seems...it would only be appropriate to get one last scoop before we turned in for the night....chocolate dipped of course!

one last scoop…DELICIOUS!!

So now we've packed our things...hopefully my luggage won't be over weight..and we are heading to bed in hopes of getting a little sleep before we get picked up at 4:40am for our three flights home. 

It has been a phenomenal visit to Croatia...I would definitely return here again...and I enjoyed exploring this diverse country with my great travel companion and friend Lisa.  Thanks for putting up with me :)

Now for our final leg.

Until tomorrow...

Lisa(s)

A Bird's Eye View

This morning we slept in and decided to head into Old Town mid morning. We caught the 11:00am bus with no problem...aside from the women who pushed me out of the way to get on the bus after the bus driver said it was full.  We finally made our way to the walled city with the idea of taking a better look at some of the shops on the many side streets.

cute little shops everywhere

taking in the sights

As we were about to enter the gates, we noticed a film crew and actors below the entrance. It appeared they were filming a medieval piece...possible Game of Thrones!?!  Later on in the day, they moved filming inside the gates and we were greeted on numerous occasions by many of the actors...in fact I might have ran into a horse if it hadn't been for Lisa pointing it out. It was quite funny to see these people on cell phones, with modern sunglasses, while dressed in period clothing....lots of pictures were being taking as they walked through the streets.

what's wrong with the picture?

look who's strolling through the streets

Our first stop was the morning market where we saw a few things we liked yesterday. We met this sweet older couple selling dried fruit who just made my day.  We did a little bartering with them, bought a few items and then decided to buy something else...all while the wife was translating the prices by writing them down on loose pieces of cardboard. When we finally paid and started to walk away, the husband actually handed us some more money back...totally unexpected deal, but a nice surprise. Love these two!  The people in Croatia seem to grow their own fruit and vegetables, make their own honey and preserves, carve items out of olive trees, harvest lavender and spices, produce olive oils and wines, as well as create unique items from glass and Adriatic Sea salt.

a few items for sale

After our productive time at the market we headed in search of a vegetarian restaurant our hosts recommended...and what a treat it was!  I think Lisa would rate it as her favourite meal to date. All shops and restaurants in the alleyways are listed on nice scrolls, making it easier to figure out where things are...and it was certainly helpful in this case. 

take a peak

Nishta serves a good variety of vegetarian and vegan meals, but we both decided to try the falafel...especially after the reviews we saw on Trip Advisor...and they were spot on. Fresh cucumber, lettuce and tomatoes, with delicious homemade hummus and a spicy salsa....yummy!  The service was great, the meal well priced...food in Dubrovnik is extremely over priced...and they had the cutest little touches for decore.

a fantastic meal

After enjoying our lunch, we headed over to the old port as we only saw this area yesterday from the wall.  It is full of restaurants along the waterfront and a variety of boat tours leave from here...lots of tourists found here.  I also found the most spectacular handmade necklace made of silver and red coral. When the man put it on me, it looked stunning...and then he proceeded to warn me that it was the most expensive piece he had for sale...of course it was...at a mere 400 euros!!!  

along the marina

Once I was able to pull myself away from the jewelry, we walked around the other side of Fort St. John along the wall. 

strolling along the marina by the wall

Here we walked out onto the rocks where we saw people swimming yesterday. It was absolutely beautiful there, with the sun beaming down, the water hitting the rocks, boats sailing by and views of the islands and mountains in the near distance. We stayed here for a while enjoying the views and peaceful surroundings. 

loving it here

another view

On our way back around we came across several cats sleeping or strolling around. Lisa has developed an entire collection of cat photos while here...there are tons of cats in Croatia...so here's one of our subjects.  Sleeping beauty...

nap time

We still wanted to check out a couple other shops and look at a few more places we hadn't seen yet, so we headed back to the main Stradun. 

back into Old Town

loved taking pictures of this building

Here we found a little shop that sold the most unique pottery by a local Croatian woman. Lace of Dubrovnik is protected under UNESCO and she incorporates the many designs into her pottery in some form or another. She also uses lots of poppies in her work...this flower is seen all over Croatia...as well as beautiful mixtures of colours. Lisa and I spoke to two shop owners at length about the artist and then finally decided we would each buy a mug....don't rely on me to make the currency conversion however, as Lisa will attest to my limited math skills in this area!

dropped a few dollars here

Once we made our final purchases, we headed to the cable car. This attraction was destroyed in the war in 1991 and has since been reconstructed in its entirety.

the entrance

The very scenic 3.5 minute journey brought us up to an elevation of 367 meters, where you had breathtaking views of Old Town and the surrounding area.  

here we go!

areal view of Old Town

partially destroyed in the war

We snapped several photos...that was a chore in itself with everyone wanting the same location to get that one great shot. Lisa and I tried about 5 times to get a decent selfie...I'm pretty sure we are hopeless in this skill area. This is all we could produce….

the shot

sunset from above

We thought we would view the museum exhibit before we headed down, but the last car was heading back in an hour and we didn't feel we had sufficient time to see the entire museum, so as the sun was setting we caught our 3 minute ride back…beautiful.

our return in the evening sun

We thought we would take in an acoustic guitar concert tonight, but we were getting tired after walking around the past 8 hours...and it was getting cold out...so we decided to have dinner at a restaurant with a live guitarist. We were greeted with an aperitif and I proceeded to order the calamari rissoto that was coloured black by the ink of the squid and Lisa had fish soup. 

check out the colour

The meal was fair and the service was poor, so instead of having a nice evening kava here, we headed off in search of another place that we could relax and enjoy the rest of our evening. We found the cutest caffe called Orlando's, where we were pleasantly greeted, seeted by warm heaters and provided nice blankets.  We enjoyed our evening drink, while watching the people strolling along the main promenade...most of them eating ice cream!

loved this place

glowing from the war heat lamps :))

We arrived back at our apartment by 11:00pm after another full day of Old Town. We had a relaxing cup of tea, settled in for the evening...I think Lisa has invaded our living room...and looked over our newly acquired purchases.

living on the road

Tomorrow is our last day here and it should be a good one, as we've booked a half day kayaking trip.

Until then…

Lisa & Lisa