Croatia part 3 - Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik was the one place I was able to find a room in and book in advance, but it turned out to be not the greatest place since we were a bus ride to the old city. Oh well. We made it into the city the first night for a late dinner and I think the entire population of Italy who were in Split had moved down to Dubrovnik as well and brought with them lots of Americans and Japanese too. Crowded, but such an amazing city.

Somebody a long time ago dubbed Dubrovnik ' the pearl of the Adriatic' and rightly so. Its a small, Venetian walled city that sits on a peninsula with the walls of the city running into the cliffs that end in the sea. The interior of the city was much more dramatic at night, but during the day we walked along the 8th century city walls and seeing the white limestone of the buildings and walls contrasted with the blue cerulean water, the red tiled roofs and the green of the trees around the city was incredible. I just would never expect to see colors as simple and brilliant as those in a city.

As crowded as the city itself was, we walked up to a fortress that looks on to the city and had the place to ourselves. It was the one place where we had a view of the city from the water side (since the ferry terminal is 10 km north of the city) and that's where we had the most stunning views. It was a short stay in Dubrovnik, but long enough to know I want to go back, preferably by sailboat.

Our plane and train connection didnt quite work out as planned, so we spent our last night in Zagreb and walked around a bit the next day. But we were both exhausted from the previous few days and, no offense Zagreb, but the city during the day was quite boring in comparison to turquoise water and idyllic walled cities on the rocky Dalmatian coast. Also, I think 80% of the important buildings in the city are being renovated, and who wants to take pictures of scaffolding?

So the moral to this series of giant long blog posts, if you've made it this far, is to go to the Dalmatian Coast. Probably dont go in August, as its the month that all of Europe goes on vacation and most of them go to Croatia. But any month of the year is going to be gorgeous. I promise. And if you're going by boat, take me with you.

Again, all the photos from Croatia are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/acadiak/CroatiaWithStu