Two Weeks in Croatia

There are three things I love most about traveling. The first is that it reminds me how blessed I am. We work hard, and we save for these trips, but I recognize that not everyone has the means to do the same thing. Second, we like to challenge ourselves to do a lot of things that we might not otherwise consider doing. We love a good adventure, and this trip did not disappoint. And last, being gone reminds us of how much we love coming home. 

June 5 and 6
We flew to Dubrovnik, Croatia on Monday and made it to our rented house on Tuesday evening. It was a long day to say the least.

View from our back terrace.

June 7
Our first day in Dubrovnik was all about sleeping in and doing a bit of exploring. I spent many days swimming in the Adriatic Sea.

Sunset Beach

June 8
On Thursday, we left Croatia by car for the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. With a guide, we crossed the border safely to visit the Kravice Waterfalls and the fantastic city of Mostar. If you're anything like me, you probably know a little about southeastern Europe, but only in a general way. That part of the world has gone through so many changes that it's hard to keep up, but according to our guides ... 

Croatia has been a "thing" since the Roman Empire when it was first called Dalmatia (as in the Dalmatian Coast). It has been its own kingdom and ruled by the Ottomans among many others. Croatians proudly say that they are excellent negotiators rather than soldiers. For centuries they negotiated with powerful countries for their freedom, particularly from their competitive neighbors, the Venetians. At the end of WWII, Croatia was combined with five other republics to form Yugoslavia. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Homeland Wars broke out, and after intense fighting - you might remember Kosovo and Belgrade, the different republics earned their independence from Serbia.

While Croatia has flourished due to its access to the Adriatic, the rest of the republics are still trying to recover from the Homeland Wars. Bosnia and Herzegovina are one country split by a deep religious divide. 

Kravice Waterfalls

The city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina

June 9
On Friday, back in Croatia, we spent the day exploring the Lapad Peninsula - the newer side of Dubrovnik, where we were staying. This is funny because the house we rented was hundreds of years old and even had its own chapel built long before the house.

The water was so clean and clear.

The house we rented is in the middle - stone building. The chapel is just behind it to the left.

The entrance to the chapel.

Interior of the chapel.

June 10
On Saturday, we tackled Velika Peak, 513 feet (171 m). That doesn't sound very high, but the climb was steep. As we climbed, we were certain we would have a great view from the top, but once we got there, we discovered it was a cell phone tower surrounded by trees and no view. Disappointing, but funny, too.  

The view from just below the peak.

June 11
On Sunday, we again left Croatia and drove across the border into Montenegro. Again we were regaled by the history of the six republics that made up the former Yugoslavia. We stopped at a few different points of interest, but the two most fascinating were Our Lady of the Rocks Island and the walled city of Kotor. 

The story of Our Lady of the Rocks Island is touching. After two fishermen noticed a strange light coming from a rock, they rowed out to discover an icon of the Virgin Mary. The fishermen tried to bring the rock ashore, but it kept washing out to sea. Returning fishermen began dropping rocks at the holy site in homage to Our Lady, and others began dropping rocks as well. Two centuries later, an entire island had formed. In the 1600s, a Baroque church was built.

Our Lady of the Rocks Island and church

The walled city of Kotor looks like Disneyland for adults. As soon as we walked into the city, we quickly found our way to the back so that we could climb the city walls to the Church of Our Lady of Health. We obviously have a thing about climbing. The view from the walls was stunning.   

Entrance to the city. If you zoom in, you can see the chapel and walls in the background.

Town Walls

Bay of Kotor as seen from the city walls.

June 12
After a very busy day in Montenegro, we spent Monday back in Croatia lounging around. I made my way to the beach for a swim, but the highlight of the day was a very traditional dinner of Peka - meat cooked under "The Bell." The dish consists of meat and potatoes and other vegetables like carrots cooked in a dutch oven or under a bell shaped lid. Since it must be ordered hours in advance, Mara, the owner of the house we were staying, kindly made arrangements the previous day for us to eat. It was absolutely delicious!

Our dinner cooking.

It was fantastic!

June 13
On Tuesday, we headed to the Peljesac Peninsula for wine tasting and a visit to an oyster and mussel farm. We both felt like this particular excursion was the highlight of our trip. First of all, our guide Ivona was delightful. She treated us just like family who had come for a visit. We toured two wineries, one in particular was so beautiful, and afterwards we headed out to the oyster farm.

Matusko Winery

The Peljesac Peninsula creates a very sheltered bay with water that is closely guarded against pollution of any kind which is perfect for the farming of oysters and mussels. The farm we visited is family owned. We were ferried out to "fields" where a floating moorage of sorts was anchored. Once aboard, Peter, our oyster farmer, showed us the process for farming both oysters and mussels. Then he pulled out a bag of oysters from the sea, shucked them for us, and served them with lemon, wine, and some typical sweets. He also steamed a large pot of mussels that were divine!

Peter, our farmer

Fresh from the sea.

Freshly steamed mussels with olive oil and herbs.

June 14
After our day of wine and oysters, we moved to an apartment in the Old Town of Dubrovnik. On Wednesday morning, we got up early to walk the city walls and visit the fort. Dubrovnik's Old Town was the site for many of the scenes from Game of Thrones, particularly those of Kings Landing.

Dubrovnik's Old City as seen from the fort.

City street

Old City as seen from Mount Srd

June 15
On Thursday morning, it rained. A lot. My husband wasn't feeling well, so I braved the weather on my own. It wasn't cold, but I was dripping wet from head to toe. I enjoyed the day on my own though as I was able to explore without really thinking about where I was walking.

City Street

Jesuit Steps - GoT Location

It rained hard!

Lunch

June 16
Because of the rain, we had to make a few changes in our itinerary, so on Friday we rejoined our earlier guide Ivona for a wine and tapas tour in the Old City. It was like meeting up with an old friend for dinner. Ivona took care of all of the ordering so that when we sat down, food was delivered. Everything she had arranged was local or typical for the region. She also paired wines with each plate to give us a taste of Croatian wine and food. For the entire afternoon, we laughed and told stories just like old friends. This is one of the things I love about traveling - the opportunity to share cultures.

Just one of the plates we enjoyed.

This grape, posip, tastes like peaches!

June 17
On Saturday, we met up with Ivo for an afternoon jet boat tour of some of the Elafiti Islands. If the Oyster farm was our favorite, this day was just behind it. Croatia is all about the sea, so to spend an afternoon on a boat with the wind in our face was perfection. Our guide took us to several sea caves to swim and explore, and then he asked what else we'd like to see. We stopped at a small island to explore a park, and then he found a private cove where we swam and enjoyed a chilled bottle of wine. Honestly, I felt like we were living the lifestyle of the rich and famous.

We had the boat all to ourselves!

Lopud Island

Great view!

June 18
On our last full day in Dubrovnik, we spent the day swimming and eating one last great meal. Wine was also involved!

The water was so clear and beautiful!

We swam right off the rocks and used the ladder to get back out.

Lunch (followed by a nap)!

June 19
On Monday morning, we headed to the Dubrovnik airport for a very long, long day. We flew from Dubrovnik to Helsinki, Finland. After a couple of hours "enjoying" Helsinki - all airports look the same, we caught a flight to Seattle, Washington which took us over the north pole. In Seattle, the wheels fell off our bus as there was a problem with our last flight home. We ended up wandering around the airport until 5:45 a.m. where we caught an alternate flight back to Los Angeles. By the time we got home on Tuesday afternoon, we were both pretty trashed.

From Tuesday afternoon through Friday, I spent my time unpacking, doing laundry, going through the mail, and catching up with our dogs and horses. My husband went to work. We were both in bed every night by about 8:00. We had an extraordinary time in Croatia, but we're happy to be home.

​Thanks for letting me share. Tomorrow ... back on schedule!