On Saturday I returned home from a 10 day trip to Dubrovnik in Croatia. It was a lovely time spent with my family, full of laughter, books, sun and sea. When I’ve done posts about my travels previously (for examples click here, here and here), it’s normally been a day by day account. Those trips were filled with activities and my experiences going to a whole bunch of new places. This holiday was, well, exactly that: a holiday. There were many days that were literally spent doing nothing. By nothing, I mean reading and lounging around by the pool. As you can probably tell, I can’t really write such a detailed account of those days. Instead, I thought I’d tell you about the other half of the holiday, in which we were a bit more active.
Dubrovnik is an amazing city. The sight as we walked through the gates into the Old Town we breathtaking. The marble main street that shone spectacularly in the sunshine and was lined with restaurants, tourist shops, sweet shops and plenty of other businesses topped by homes of locals who looked out every day onto the sea of bustling tourists below.
Despite the crowds, Dubrovnik was still one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. From Stradun, side streets just wide enough to fit two people side by side snaked up the hill or towards the sea. There was so much hidden in those streets, guarded by hundreds of sickeningly steep steps. I think it was mostly residential, however, we visited a war museum in one of them and I saw many tables stood outside what must have been small independent cafés.
One of my favourite things about the city was that there were buskers and live music playing almost everywhere, it seemed. There was a jazz group playing near the harbour, a violin and classical guitar playing all sorts of pieces in a restaurant just outside the city walls, a man playing what I thought was a bouzouki by the water fountain on Stradun and more. As a music lover, this was amazing, particularly seeing some of my favourite instruments being played so well. It also added a lot to the atmosphere of the place, making it quite unique in my eyes.
The architecture was fantastic and we could admire it properly during our walk of the city walls. Many narrow streets were a great asset, considering how hot it got during the day and many buildings were just so pretty - these were mostly churches or halls. The views of everything in the city could be admired a lot better from the city walls. There were so many other angles and points of view we could see, giving us another interpretation of the city and stunning views of the Adriatic.
We went kayaking twice during our trip. The first time was in the middle of the day and without my mum, who didn’t feel great so instead had a lazy day. The heat combined with the type of kayaks we were using, meant it was exhausting but still fun. We stopped off in a cave further around the coastline, where we ate our sandwiches and snorkelled in the warm and ridiculously clear water. The second time, this time with my mum, we set out later in order to catch the sunset. We used different kayaks this time and were in pairs, which made it a lot easier. I was less tired even though we travelled a further distance, but I enjoyed it more because it was fun to spend a while just paddling and being really relaxed with my brother. Also, the sea looked like something you’d find on Pinterest - just saying.
Another must-do in Dubrovnik is to travel up the hillside on the cable car to get a jaw-dropping view of the area. There’s also a restaurant up there, an amphitheatre and a museum. First, we ate a picnic once we got to the top then looked around for a while then went for a drink in the restaurant.
Have you been to Dubrovnik? Or are you planning to? I would definitely recommend it!
If you liked this post you might like: Lake Garda 2015
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