Time for our summer hols. This time it starts at the not so glamorous location of the Gatwick Hilton for the night as Nat was getting back from a hen do late and our flight was early but we were soon on our way to Croatia with Caroline and Dave.
I was on the right side of the plane for the great views of Dubrovnik on the way in to land.
After a pretty choppy landing due to the really strong winds we head to our hotel called Hotel Lapad which was really nice and not a bad location albeit on the other side to the old town.
http://www.hotel-lapad.hr
We can't check in straight away so jump in a cab and head to the old town. It was quite an eventful trip with Dave, in the belief we were getting completely ripped off by the taxi driver for what was a 5 min taxi ride, tries to get out of said taxi whilst moving in protest. Only when we gave him what we thought was a fare price and got out did we walk 10 seconds down the road to see the official taxi price sign next to the taxi rank which confirmed the taxi driver hadn't ripped us off in the first place!! Hilarious!
Anyway, with the excitement over we head through one of the old gates to the city to explore the absolutely stunning old town. It is genuinely one of the most beautiful cities I have seen and we can see why they film large amounts of Game of Thrones here.
The place is a labyrinth of little alley ways all packed with bars, shops and restaurants. A great place to get lost and explore.
Cele bar seems to be the key local bar and people watching place in town but we end up in the one next door for our first drink of the hol as were slightly put off by the chicken nuggets being advertised. Next door seemed more our place - a nice cheese and wine bar overlooking one of the main squares.
Cave in a cave.
After a good explore we stumble across a cracking little bar outside the city walls only accessible through a small door cut into the city wall. A really cool bar calved into the side of the rocks overlooking the sea called Buza Bar. Time for some Croatian beers.
We make a note to ourselves to bring our swimming costumes tomorrow as everyone just chills out here swimming and drinking. Perfection!
Spot of lunch down by the main harbour in a place called Lokanda Peskarija. Very pleasant eating spot and I had a great seafood risotto.
http://www.mea-culpa.hr/dubrovnik-fish-restaurant
After a little power nap by he pool back at the hotel we head back into old town for dinner. We eat at a great little restaurant called Zuzori, sat in one of the alley ways just off the main square.
Next day we head back into the old town for a pizza for breakfast at Mea Culpa pizza restaurant which lives up to its reputation as one of the best pizza places in town.
http://www.meaculpa-pizzeria.com
After filling up on pizza we head back to another one of the rock bars just down from the one we went to yesterday but this time ready for swimming! This one is called Bard Mala Buza.
We have such a great day sunbathing, swimming and drinking in a beautiful location and cooling off in the slightly chilly sea. It was too deep to stand so involved a lot of floating.
The entrance through the city wall to the bar...
Later on we decide to take the cable cart up to the top of the mountain to a restaurant / bar called 360 degrees to have a drink and watch the sunset.
Cracking views of the city. Shows just how small and packed in everything is.
Turns out at the top there is no bar and you can't sit down unless you eat but after a bit of negotiation / complaining they sit us on a windy table at the back of the restaurant well away from the view. Not quite what we had planned. As the sun started to set we head across the mountain a little way and managed to find a spot with a truly spectacular view of the sunset.
Every street has the same style lanterns outside very building which have the name of the shop, restaurant, bar etc on them to maintain the same style.
Back in town we head to our favorite little wine bar called Wine Bar Matusko named after our favorite Croation wine. Such a great little spot sitting in the steps with a nice glass of rouge. By far the best local Croatian wines we have found here are from the Matusko vineyard. Highly recommend and purchased a couple of bottles each for home! (Not this size!)
That evening we head back over towards our hotel to eat to a great place all the locals recommend called Orsan.
We very nearly didn't get in as we didn't book and the place was heaving but with a little pleading they squeeze us in and then proceed to give us the largest portions I have ever seen in a restaurant. Man vs Food had nothing on us this night. Needless to say we rolled out of here in a food coma and went straight to bed.
So our very short trip to Dubrovnik draws to a close before we head to Mintenegro down the coast tomorrow. Albeit short we felt like we have seen the main sights and I don't think you need more than 2-3 nights here. We will definitely be coming back though. Truly beautiful place.
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