A week in Croatia!
Flew to Dubrovnik, the landing was quite rocky as there was a storm in Dubrovnik. Luckily it passed within a few hours and for the rest of the week we only saw sunshine!
I was very excited for Dubrovnik because of obvious reasons. Game of Thrones is one of the best series there are (excited for the new House of Dragon as well) and Dubrovnik literally is King's Landing. Everything is GOT themed there, and it is beautiful, medieval and has this awesome vibe about it. On the other hand it is also a lot more expensive than other cities we visited in Croatia. Being a super popular tourist spot obviously allows it. So, all things considered it is definitely worth it to visit Dubrovnik and spend a few days in the city and/or surrounding areas, but I would not spend the whole vacation there, Croatia has a lot to offer!
Dubrovnik is a beautiful 13th-century city on the southern Dalmatian coast of Croatia. Due to its iconic city walls, beautiful architecture, and crystal-clear waters, it's often called the Pearl of the Adriatic Sea.
We actually stayed in a suburb/resort area near Dubrovnik, Lapad, altho in the beginning hard to figure out the bus stops and time tables, it was actually a quick and easy ride, and then stairs stairs stairs to our apartment with lovely views over the beach, sea and rest of the town.
Cave bar More. Featuring awesome interior that is literally spreading inside of the cave, and a beach-side seating with stunning views. The bar is on many levels literally inside a cliff under a boutique hotel.
Dubrovnik bay
Stradun - the scenic main street of Dubrovnik Old City that begins at the Pile Gate near Onofrio’s Fountain, Church of St. Salvation, and the Franciscan Church and Monastery and finishes at the Sponza Palace.
The throne!!!!
There is a souvenir shop that also organizes GOT tours, and it has THE throne! You can either pay a few euros for the photo or buy anything in the store and take as many photos as your heart desires. The ladies in the store where cool as well.
And obviously all the wine and seafood... what's not to love.
Fort Lovrijenac or Lovrijenac Fortress or the Red Keep
The Jesuit staircase aka shame stairs, where Cercei did the iconic walk of shame. This location was used as The Steps of the Great Sept of Baelor.
Church of St Ignatius, a Jesuit church in Dubrovnik.
Hello King's Landing!
Rector’s Palace, an elegant Gothic-Renaissance palace from the 14th century, aka the city of Quarth.
A hole in the wall in Dubrovnik led to a the loveliest Sunday afternoon chillout spot: Buža bar. A literal hole-in-the-wall (the translation of “buža”), this dreamy place for “cold drinks” as the sign on the street says, can only be accessed by going through a small, somewhat hidden opening in the city walls. On the other side there are few tables on multiple terraces carved into the cliffs overlooking the sea.
On the promenade there's a beach bar serving GOT themed cocktails. Red wedding was veerrrryyy tasty. On the afternoon happy hour there was also this super fresh and juicy Pina Colada, I don't usually even like pina coladas, but this one was to die for!
Beach day and some hydrocycling
After Dubrovnik we were headed to Split, instead of a bus opted on a early morning boatride.
Split is lovely to check out, but I would say one day is enough.
We expected that some places in Croatia might still work only on case, but honestly a lot of them do, and many of them do not have signs out that they do not take card. So, get some cash. At this lunch spot we almost would have had to wash dishes to pay for our food, as we were out of cash and nearby atm-s either were out of order, did not want to give us cash, or were horribly expensive.
Did another short boat ride to Trogir, a charming town and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Decided to go back to Split in the evening by bus. A bus driver almost gave us a heart attack. We were walking on a crossing at the edge of the station, when suddenly a huge bus honks a horn behind us. We turned, and the bus was literally less than a meter from us. My heart skipped so many beats, every idea went through my mind, as it was impossible to assess that quickly how fast the bus was going. We screamed and jumped away, when saw the busdriver laughing his ass off. Obviously he was practically not moving, and had somehow very quietly creeped behind us to brighten his day. Good one buddy! I guess he made us quite jumpy as on the next evening in Zadar we were walking back to our hostel and a dog started suddenly barking behind an iron gate of some old dark manor-like house. Do I need to mention that we screamed.
Next on: Zadar! I have once been there in 2012 on an internship and summer law school. I loved Zadar already then, and this has not changed. For me it's this hidden little gem, a bit underrated, not often talked about. Not too many tourists, reasonable prices, great gelato, the promenade to walk at and jump into the sea occasionally.
Our hostel Backbackers Home. It was lovely, but I am starting to prefer these local apartments or airbnb's we have been usually getting.
Boatman of Zadar. The quickest way to get to the Old Town if coming from the residential area away from the bridge. For only a few kuna he takes riders over the harbour in a rowboat (a couple minute ride).
The unique sea organ. The pipe organ isn’t recognizable at once as it’s installed under the concrete steps by the sea on the Riva. There are a series of holes in the ground through what by the help of the waves the music sounds.
"Malo Misto" taverna in the city. Amazing food for such a decent price. Those truffles!
Another fun fact. Taverna in Croatian is: konoba. Many of the restaurants have the word Konoba in front of their name or are just called Konoba. For some time we thought that Konoba is some chain restaurant and tried to avoid it!
And lastly, Krk island. The aim for a couple of days was to enjoy beach and sunshine, swim, read a book, eat drink and do nothing, and that is exactly what we did. A very needed vacation.
Another lucky break for us non-planners. From Zadar to KrK one can go by bus but it takes 5 sth hours. The easier way is by ferry, which goes 3 times a week. Luckily one of these times was literally the morning we needed it to be. To find the ticket office was another hustle. They actually have an online booking site as well: check www.gv-zadar.com.
We flow out from the capital, Zagreb, so spent a couple hours there the last evening. Most places seemed to be closing early compared to the rest of the towns we had been to. Thankfully one taverna "Purger" kept itself open altho we were the only clients in the end. Food was great! Slept at Hi Hostel Zagreb. Nice, cheap, clean, yet very soviet-like.
Until next time Croatia!
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