Croatia!
10 days in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina & Montenegro
Our main trip this year was to Croatia and we loved it! Not too long ago Croatia belonged to the former Yugoslavia, but it feels much more Mediterranean than Eastern Europe. The country hugs the coast and has a romantic old towns, sunshine bathed beaches and super friendly locals.
There wasn't a lot to "do" on this trip. It was all about slowing our pace and taking in the scene. At first I had a little bit of a hard time adjusting to that rhythm. I just wasn't expecting it to be so slow paced (I say "slow," Brent says "relaxed!"). Once I threw our agenda out, I found Croatia so enjoyable.
Besides, what's not to love about warm white stone towns with venetian bell towers and boat speckled harbors. Or twisted medieval lanes, draped with drying laundry.
In Croatia, we went to Split, Hvar Island and Dubrovnik and then branched out into Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina. All of whom were fighting one another a decade ago. People asked if we felt safe and we really did. It’s so peaceful and stable now. It wasn’t really until we went Bosnia-Herzegovina that we saw skeletal remains of destroyed homes and churches.
We weren't expecting such amazing weather. It ranged from the 70s-80s to the low 90s. Fortunately, we weren't doing anything strenuous! I love how weather reports in Croatia include a 'biometerološka prognoza' which indicates how the weather will affect your mood. Weather maps come with either a smiley face or frowny face. A frowny face forecast comes with a prediction such as: “People will be tired in the afternoon and not feel like working.” Too funny!
We were there before the tourist season started, so we felt like were guests and had many of the places to ourselves. Traveling as much as we’ve been able to this past year, we really search for those authentic moments. Where you’re off the beaten path and experience life as part of the community. One Sunday, while we were on Hvar Island, we rented a scooter. We pulled into this little town on the far side of the Island and it appeared that everyone was hanging out in the town's square. A nun in a habit was behind us at the ice cream counter. We couldn’t help but eavesdrop and were able to figure out that she really wanted strawberry, but that they didn’t have that flavor that particular day. She settled for chocolate after much discussion. How often do you see that?? It was memories like that which made us smile.
There are just way too many amazing memories to mention them all, so we've complied our Top Ten list of favorites:
We had too many good photos and not enough room on the blog, so if you're curious to see more of Croatia from our trip, click the link here where we've organize some additional ones. Na zdravje! Cheers!
Our main trip this year was to Croatia and we loved it! Not too long ago Croatia belonged to the former Yugoslavia, but it feels much more Mediterranean than Eastern Europe. The country hugs the coast and has a romantic old towns, sunshine bathed beaches and super friendly locals.
There wasn't a lot to "do" on this trip. It was all about slowing our pace and taking in the scene. At first I had a little bit of a hard time adjusting to that rhythm. I just wasn't expecting it to be so slow paced (I say "slow," Brent says "relaxed!"). Once I threw our agenda out, I found Croatia so enjoyable.
Besides, what's not to love about warm white stone towns with venetian bell towers and boat speckled harbors. Or twisted medieval lanes, draped with drying laundry.
In Croatia, we went to Split, Hvar Island and Dubrovnik and then branched out into Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina. All of whom were fighting one another a decade ago. People asked if we felt safe and we really did. It’s so peaceful and stable now. It wasn’t really until we went Bosnia-Herzegovina that we saw skeletal remains of destroyed homes and churches.
We weren't expecting such amazing weather. It ranged from the 70s-80s to the low 90s. Fortunately, we weren't doing anything strenuous! I love how weather reports in Croatia include a 'biometerološka prognoza' which indicates how the weather will affect your mood. Weather maps come with either a smiley face or frowny face. A frowny face forecast comes with a prediction such as: “People will be tired in the afternoon and not feel like working.” Too funny!We were there before the tourist season started, so we felt like were guests and had many of the places to ourselves. Traveling as much as we’ve been able to this past year, we really search for those authentic moments. Where you’re off the beaten path and experience life as part of the community. One Sunday, while we were on Hvar Island, we rented a scooter. We pulled into this little town on the far side of the Island and it appeared that everyone was hanging out in the town's square. A nun in a habit was behind us at the ice cream counter. We couldn’t help but eavesdrop and were able to figure out that she really wanted strawberry, but that they didn’t have that flavor that particular day. She settled for chocolate after much discussion. How often do you see that?? It was memories like that which made us smile.
There are just way too many amazing memories to mention them all, so we've complied our Top Ten list of favorites:
10. Eating grilled Bosnian specialties while soaking up the view of the Old Bridge in Mostar. Mostar has a vibrant Muslim culture, mosques on every street, striking Turkish architecture, thought provoking war damage and the inspiring old bridge- it felt like a completely different world.
9. Walking Dubrovnik's Old Town Walls - we did it in the late afternoon and had the wall to ourselves- it was really peaceful.
8. Staying among the ruins of Diocletian's Palace. Split is famous for the palace that a Roman Emperor built as a retirement home around 300 AD. The palace ruins are now integrated into the city and the hotel we stayed at was built into the walls.
7. Dubrovnik's old movie theater where we saw new releases for $2.50 each! They showed only one movie a day and there were no concessions, no previews and it was in English with Croatian subtitles. For the curious- they showed Angels and Demons and Star Trek.
6. The secret restaurant nestled in the lush hillsides of Montenegro. We stopped here for afternoon tea (well tea for me- coffee for Brent!). We dubbed it the Baby Duck Kingdom because we saw 8 different groups of ducklings with their mamas.
5. Mostar- did we mention that already?? Well, it really was one of our favorites. We went inside a mosque, bartered shop keepers for a Turkish coffee set and explored a traditional Turkish home.
4. Zooming on a scooter around Hvar Island and stopping in small towns to watch Sunday life in the town square. We zipped along corkscrew twisty mountains roads for this panorama vista. I think this photo looks fake, but it's not!
3. Evening drink overlooking the Adriatic in Dubrovnik. Clinging to the outside of the city walls like a barnacle, this little bar was our favorite place to relax and watch ships sail into the sunset with Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra playing in the background. I could physically feel my pulse slow down!
2. Our Sobe in Hvar Island with a rooftop vista at sunset. Sobes are little apartments that locals rent out. We stayed in those throughout the trip and loved it! They were very clean and well kept and cheap- $50 a night!
And Number One is...Evening strolls with gelato!
This was our tradition every night no matter where we were- two scoops of gelato and a stroll around the town's square or main promenade. By our last night, we had a "gelato guy" who would give us extra since we came by so frequently! With a warm breeze coming off the Adriatic and the white stone catching the remaining light of the day, it's no wonder its a favorite pastime of the locals too.
This was our tradition every night no matter where we were- two scoops of gelato and a stroll around the town's square or main promenade. By our last night, we had a "gelato guy" who would give us extra since we came by so frequently! With a warm breeze coming off the Adriatic and the white stone catching the remaining light of the day, it's no wonder its a favorite pastime of the locals too.
We had too many good photos and not enough room on the blog, so if you're curious to see more of Croatia from our trip, click the link here where we've organize some additional ones. Na zdravje! Cheers!
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