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Published: July 17th 2011
The full picture
The Old Town of Dubrovnik After two nights rest in London, we were off to Croatia.
Because we like to keep things interesting, our trip to the airport on the Monday morning went something like this:
7am - go to Post Office and collect passports (we had sent these away to get our Russian Visas while travelling through the UK)
7.30am - after being driven through London traffic (thanks LB!) it was a run to the Underground then a run to the train station to get the 7.42am train to Gatwick Airport.
8.10am - run through the airport to the check-in desk where 'last call' passengers were being bought forward: that was us for sure!
9.00am - We made it before the check-in closed, headed through security and got to the gate with a whole 5 minutes to spare before final boarding.
9.05am - sitting *calmly* in our seats ready for take-off (with Jo thinking passports have caused enough problems on this honeymoon already!)
Two hours later we were flying over the Adriatic Sea and thoughts were no longer on passport-related stresses but on beer, beach and sunshine.
Dubrovnik
Having both been to Dubrovnik separately before, we'd seen most of the sights -
luckily Dubrovnik is a beautiful town and worth a second visit. One we thought would be nice to do together (awww - this is a honeymoon after all)
Dubrovnik is commonly known as 'the pearl of the Adriatic' and in 1979 was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of it's beauty and significance. Thought to be founded in the 7th Century the town still holds beautiful examples of Renaissance style churches, libraries and an old monastry interwoven with alleyways along which the apartment residences of the town are built. In it's modern life Dubrovnik also has gained plenty of restaurants, tourist shops and gelato stands.
A feature of Dubrovnik is the wall-top walk around the city along it's 2 km walls. The walls are four to six metres thick in some areas with a system of turrets and towers that were intended to protect the vulnerable city from attack. There are two hidden gems on the sea-front face of the wall - multi-platform bars in the cliff face. With their white umbrellas for shade and sweeping views along the coast and out to sea they are a great place to have a cold drink and get
Bar with a view
The cliff-edge bar is perched on the on the outer wall of the old town. away from the 37'C heat - and swarms people - on the streets.
Another remedy from heat is ice-cream and this place has plenty of it! There were a few flavours to work through but Jo's heart was won by one almost immediately: Extra Black. So chocolaty she couldn't quite believe her luck so thought a second would be needed to make sure it wasn't a dream.
We were fortunate with our accommodation, despite the fact it took us nearly 45min to find (tourist map's don't have street names outside of the old town). It was with a couple and their two young kids - one whose English speaking talents went as far as 'Hi', 'Bye' and the chorus of 'We Will Rock You'. The couple were very friendly and the man was very entertaining.... and caring. So much so that we were asked - or
told rather - to not to got to bed until two of their other guests arrived back safely from their day out. This led to about 2.5hrs of story telling (mostly from the man) and the occasional
forced drinking of some of their local liqueurs. Thankfully, the two other guests were back
Extra good
Jo's new all time favourite gelato - Extra Black. It's chocolate heaven! (p.s she is just holding Brett's icecream while he takes the photo. He got it right back afterwards. Honest!) before midnight!
One such story telling was about the famous people frequently visiting Dubrovnik. It was common to look out onto the sea and spot a Russian owned super yacht or some other equally luxurious vessel, then hear of celebrity sightings in the town. He could list dozens: apparently Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas were happy to wander unnoticed through the streets on their visit, even Bill Gates was spotted lining up for a gelato. Tom Cruise (surprise, surprise) however got so mad that the locals were not making a big deal about him that he stormed back to his boat furious (probably to jump up and down on the couch). The old town is not the place for egos...
Our last day in Dubrovnik we decided to seek out a highly recommended Bosnian restaurant for dinner. Jo had been two years before with friends and could remember that the food was good but couldn't remember the name. The town is made up of a series of intersecting alleyways that come off the one main street - basically the place is a maze. Looking for an unknown restaurant in a maze is hard. We eventually found the place
Petrcane peninsula
The perfect place to spend the day - the name? Taj Mahal! Of course that's the name we were thinking of when searching for an authentic Bosnian restaurant (!!) Wonderful food though.
Leaving Dubrovnik for our next destination, Petrcane, provided for some extra fun. Jo had decided it was her turn to choose when to arrive at the airport - instead of Brett's run of last minute dashes. So although we already had a 6 hour stop-over in Zagreb (which turned out to be the smallest international airport for a capital city either of us had seen), Jo had decided to get to Dubrovnik Airport for a domestic flight 2.5 hours before take-off. This is now a moment which is not talked about. But we were there on time - and that was the main thing!
Petrcane
Petrcane is a small village on the Dalmatian Coast, a short drive north from Zadar. Jo had been twice previously in the last three years for the same reason we were here now - the Garden Festival. It's a small scale dance/dj event set on the Petrcane peninsula. For us it was all about enjoying the sun and floating around (with the help of our specially bought inflatable
The Garden Festival
In full multi-colour swing rings) in the beautiful water, listening to the music play in the background. At night all the 'young things' hit the dance floors, we made an effort but were happy to keep it chilled - it was more in keeping with the tone of the trip.
After five days of enjoying sleep-ins, tasty seafood pastas, plenty of sunshine (again it hit the high 30's) music filled evenings and beach-side donuts - it was time to call it quits, compare tans and head back to London ... but not for long.
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