Croatia: Day I (Dubrovnik)

Friday, July 15^th:

The Old City of Dubrovnik:

            Today was an absolutely crazy day, and one of the most fun filled ones so far on my whole trip. Max and I woke up, had some cereal at the hotel, checked out, and then took the train across London to Stansted airport with our friend Chris Burt. We got on our EasyJet plane with ease after some airport food, and off we went on a three hour flight to Dubrovnik, Croatia. Thanks for the good time, London, and all of Northern Europe, but it’s off to the South!

Zdravo Croatia!

            When we landed, Croatia, or Republika Hrvatska, was much hotter and much more humid than I had become accustomed to. It was well over ninety degrees Fahrenheit when we got there, the hottest for me so far on my trip. We got our bags after passport control, rented a car for the weekend at the airport, and drove the twenty-five minutes or so to the city of Dubrovnik. This part of the world is so foreign to me, but absolutely beautiful. The drive to the city of Dubrovnik is all along the coast, and that part of Croatia is literally just a strip of land between the tall Balkan Mountains and the Adriatic Sea. We got our first glimpse of the walled-in old city, or Stari Grad, of Dubrovnik at a scenic lookout on the road, and it was one of the prettiest sights I have ever seen. No wonder nobody tried to attack these guys for over one thousand years!

The View of New Dubrovnik from the Dubrovnik Backpacker's Club Hostel:

            We kept driving on passed the Old City of Dubrovnik to find our hotels. Max and I had gotten a room in a hostel called Dubrovnik Backpacker’s Club before we knew Chris was coming, so we went in to check in there first. We were greeted by the charming old couple who runs the hostel and a couple of shots of a local Croatian alcohol—one straight, and one with honey which tasted much better. We checked in there, got our bearings on a map of the city, and then went over to Chris’s hotel, the Rixos Libertas Hotel. This hotel is a massive resort-style hotel and much more expensive than Max and I were willing to shell out for, but Chris was only there for the weekend and was also generous enough to offer us beds to sleep in there as well. We checked in here, went down to the ocean-side and immediately jumped into the super warm Adriatic Sea before sunset. It was a beautiful location offering safe cliff jumping from over twenty feet up, as well as very clear water for snorkeling.

The Rixos Libertas Hotel:

            After our swim we headed down to the Old City of Dubrovnik for some dinner and to check out scene. The city was surprisingly really busy at night, but it was gorgeous. The lights of the city are very charming, and there was not a cloud in the sky so the sky seemed a certain tint of deep blue that I have never seen before. We asked around where a good spot to get dinner was, and ended up going to a restaurant called Gil’s. It was slightly expensive, but it was perched atop the old medieval walls of the city and overlooked the old port of Dubrovnik and the whole city. I had an excellent meal of Turbot with Peas and Prosciutto while we enjoyed some Croatian white wine called Benvenutti. After dinner we did some bar hopping, checking out some local spots such as Skybar and The Gaffe. Skybar was a club-style place with many young people and lots of group-style drink specials. We tried some redbull-vodka drink that was served in a sand bucket before moving on to The Gaffe, a traditional Irish-style pub. Here we tried some Croatian beers (pivo) such as Karlovacko and Ozujsko. We hung out at The Gaffe for a while because they had a live band before we headed to a club called Eastwest right on the beach. We had heard that it was free entry before midnight, and we successfully pleaded with the bouncers to let us in for free after walking up just following the ringing of the midnight bells in the Old City. We spent a good time dancing and socializing at this club for hours before heading back to the hotel. All three of us jumped into the Adriatic again at sunrise before heading in for some much needed shuteye. Props again here to my friend Chris for the table service at Eastwest.

Placa-Stradun (Main Street) in the Old City of Dubrovnik at Night: