Croatia's been on my list for a while, but an unexpected work meeting in Zagreb quickly turned it into a reality. (I'll cover that lovely city in a separate post!)
PDY and I decided to spend a long weekend in Dubrovnik before heading up north, and it was a great decision. We stayed in an "interesting" Airbnb along the harbour which sported some pretty tacky decor (why settle for plain wall sconces when you can mold fake plaster floor lamps and lampshades around them and paint them gold?) but was spacious and had a lovely hot tub outside. And the location was fantastic.
While it seemed next to impossible to get a real croissant here (we did manage to find one at Bobis Bakery), there was great coffee right downstairs.
We had a lovely dinner the first night at Amfora, a small unpretentious place nearby. But our best meals were yet to come.
The next day we ventured into Old Town. Note: expect to pay cash for everything here including in your Uber (the app won't work until you change the payment method to cash!). Still, everything is relatively inexpensive so it wasn't a huge problem but if you're not used to carrying a lot of cash it's good to know in advance. (did I mention how much Croatia can be like Italy?)
We were blown away by Old Town. The sights, the people, the food... even the tourists couldn't ruin it. What a place. And with Croatia playing (and winning) a World Cup match that night, the place was electric.
(top two photos by me... bottom two by my super-talented photographer boyfriend). Also check out his Instagram highlights here. Dinner that night was at Trattoria Capriccio, a hidden gem off the beaten path (see my seafood pasta? amazing!)
After dinner we walked around watching the football match with locals and tourists alike. Just when we thought the night couldn't get more magical, we came across this:
What a treat. I think if we smiled any harder that night our faces would have cracked.
For our last day in Dubrovnik, I booked us an Airbnb Experience called When The Sun Goes Down. Our guide, Ante, picked us up in a very comfortable tuktuk for a drive around the harbour and then up the mountain, past the cable car station, for the most spectacular view of Old Town and the sunset. He couldn't have been nicer or more accommodating, and it was an experience we'll never forget. Words don't do it justice so...
He took us directly to the Pile Gate at Old Town where we walked to a rooftop restaurant that had promised us a lovely table with unobstructed views (see "photographer boyfriend"). When we arrived, we were sent away for 20 minutes because the table wasn't yet ready. As we killed time, we walked down an incredible street with so many great looking places on street level. But we had high hopes (groan) for our rooftop place.
So, back we went and climbed 5 flights to the promised land. The one where promises, apparently, aren't kept because our table was in the middle of the roof and the view was decidedly obstructed. We passed and headed straight back to the quaint street around the corner where we found a table at Restaurant Lanii. What a happy accident! Great food (again!) and impeccable service.
What a gorgeous place Dubrovnik is! Three days is a perfect amount of time to spend there. Next time we'd like to explore Split and also Pittivice. Stay tuned! But next... Zagreb.
Note: None of the restaurants or activities mentioned here were sponsors of this trip.
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