Dubrovnik, Croatia - The start of our coastal love affair!

Dubrovnik, Croatia; Par-a-dise! When planning our next trip, we literally had no expectations of what Croatia would entail. We were slightly sceptical about the “beauty” that people had mentioned about the place, as in my mind Croatia was a small, war-torn, cute-but-rough-around-the-edges kind of place. My goodness, I am glad we gave it a shot!!

Late, in a humid yet lively evening, we arrived in Dubrovnik. As any traveller adventuring on an under-catered budget airline, we departed the dingy aircraft with empty stomachs and a keen desire to explore. After finding an abrupt but accommodating taxi man, we set out to find our Dubrovnik home. Speedily winding through the tiny streets that were ascending and weaving towards the sky, the taxi man put the breaks on and jumped out to dump us on our doorstep. The second we poked our heads out of the car door we heard this excited and welcoming “yoo-hoo!!” from what we assumed was a balcony above our heads, camouflaged into the night sky. We gave a big grin in the direction of the voice and headed up the steps.

Our host was what I can only describe as a motherly, kiss-you-on-the-lips, sweaty, but so sweet, older European lady who welcomed us with enormous open arms, and minimal English. We had a bit of chitchat through attempted sign language, but I loved her. She was gorgeous. She showed us around the homely flat and quickly left us to return to her home underneath our top floor accommodation. We put our bags down and then headed straight back out the door to find some food.

We were not anticipating the steps. We knew the direction to head in, so we took the opportunity when we discovered a little alley way of descending steps, thinking it would short-cut us to the main road, leading us to culinary delights. The darkness of the night was simultaneously enticing and deceitfully evil. The endless steps taunted our hungry selves, just working off more energy and creating a deeper urge to find food. But the second we did step out onto another cobble stoned street, we found to our right a small restaurant so appealing in appearance with its balcony adorned with hanging plants and small tables covered in red table clothes. Because of the hour of the night we walked into the empty restaurant, however the waiter was overly happy to seat us and feed us. Simple but incredibly tasty food satisfied the hunger, and my love for Croatia began. It always begins and ends with food, for me.

The next day started with a promising, gasping moment when we opened our balcony doors to see the post-card image of turquoise water with terracotta rooftops opposite the rolling green hills of Dubrovnik. It was unbelievable. I squealed a little, whilst Tim immediately grabbed his camera. We were only too glad to descend the killer staircase again, to see what else Croatia was hiding in its nightly shadows. The sunshine was gloriously illuminating the treasure that this place was.

After meandering down the main road we walked to the waters edge, grabbed some fresh fruit and just soaked in the warmth. It wasn’t long until our travel buddies, Israel and Ali arrived at the apartment, and we were busting to explore with them.  Once we had continued to marvel at the view, we decided to head into the Old Town. What a treat! The walled city that resembled an ancient civilisation was pumping with residents and tourists. The place was so attractive in its charm and enchanting structure, with a big wall circling the town and brick and stone houses/huts covering the inclining streets. It was swarming with small alleyways as the only travel route around. I LOVE backstreets. We encircled the main square of the town and quickly headed for the harbour side where we grabbed a gelato and weaved around the team of European, budgie-smuggler wearing men playing a game of football on the stone platform. It didn’t take long to find a cosy spot between the other swimmers, and we dived straight in. Turning around, once in the water, provided for one of our “highlight” moments when we saw the outskirts of the Old City, including an old castle, creating a picturesque moment to accompany the blissful feeling of swimming in cool, bright blue water with the summer heat.

Dubrovnik had us. The rest of our days were spent in the clear, photo-shopped looking water with in between moments of fruit eating and sun-blocking. I don’t know how we managed to always do it, but we found the best local restaurant which to my delight served unbelievably tasty seafood. Oh. My. Days! Needless to say, we went back every night and basked in the fresh Croatian delicacies. Tim’s carb addiction started at this point, with fresh bread served at every meal and traditional pizza and pasta alluring his taste buds. And of course beer.

On one of the nights we were wining and dining, an unexpected rain storm hit Dubrovnik, and we knew it was abnormal at this time of the year when the locals started freaking out a bit. It only made the experience more enjoyable as we walked home in the warm rain, completely full to the brim with the best tasting food we had ever had. To Tim’s absolute delight, the lightening put on a show for us, and Tim spent the last part of our last evening capturing the incredible scenery, which is now our lasting memory of Dubrovnik.

Tapas, Sangrias and... Coke? When in Barcelona!

As one would do in Barcelona, here I take a moment to say cheers to sun, friendship and, of course, good food! If I had a drink in hand it would be all too similar to the many moments that we had in the antique, lively and colourful city. There was so much to be celebrated, even in the short 5 days that we were there. The holiday was greatly anticipated as Tim and I had both been flat out at work and our itch for the sun was starting to kick in.

We arrived at the airport and headed straight out the doors to immediately hop onto a bus that drove us into the main city. With our wheelie bags trailing behind us, we began our short journey to our accommodation and upon arrival we were giddy with excitement to explore the eclectic, inviting streets that surrounded us and almost beckoned us. Our accommodation was another great win; we stayed in an apartment that sat at the top of an enchantingly stunning staircase, and throughout the apartment it carried on the theme of coloured tiles and quaint European décor. Our bedroom was adorned with big double doors that streamed in the sunlight… ahhh the sunlight!

Our first mission was to discover the food markets, ‘La Boqueria’ on the main strip, La Rambla. Whilst this strip is famous for the swarms of tourists and the slightly annoying locals trying to sell you everything, it was most definitely worth walking down here every morning to indulge in the fresh fruit juices, and fruit salads that the markets boasted. The flavours were endless and the tastes were too delicious. Tim stopped off at the little bakery on the way through and purchased himself a chocolate croissant and the meandering through the markets was made perfect with a juice in hand, flavours dancing on the taste-buds and many delicacies to taunt the eyes and nose.

Our first day consisted of food grazing, wandering around and a spot of sun soaking. The unwinding didn’t take long and the permanent smiles were in place. I have picked up an obsession for backstreets of all the towns I visit, and if they do their backstreets well I tend to enjoy getting lost amongst them. Barcelona delivered on her backstreets and with the smell of the bakeries guiding the way we zigzagged in and out of the old town, quickly falling in love with the town and with each other all over again.

The next day saw the arrival of our fun-filled and greatly loved friends, Mark and Terri. Honestly, the fun was intensified the second they arrived and it made the trip so memorable. We managed to fit a lot in with the 3 days we had together. We visited the Olympic city where the boys were daring each other to swiftly sneak into the arena and run the 100m sprint. It didn’t happen. But what did happen, and what most certainly deserves a big dedicated mention, was the visiting of Montserrat. This place has a huge monastery on the top of a hill, about 1 hour north of Barcelona’s Old Town. This deserves a mention for two categorical reasons; firstly, it was absolutely stunning and here words will fail to be able to explain the sights and the wonder of this place; secondly, Tez is afraid of heights and with Montserrat being 1236 meters above the valley floor we had to travel upwards on a somewhat steady cable car and then proceeded to climb the cliffs surrounding the small town. What a legend! It was crazily beautiful but the highlight of the excursion for me was a moment when Terri and I were sitting in front of a tiny stone chapel, looking out for thousands of kilometres. I suddenly felt overwhelmed, trying to take the view in but also realising how precious it is to be spending that moment with a new, but greatly treasured friend. Whilst Terri and I were enjoying the breathtaking views, the boys were proving their manliness by climbing to the top of a summit, which I will admit was epically high.

A stopover in Barcelona is no success without an encounter of a Gaudi wonder. Boy, it was a wonder! La Sagrada Familia was unbelievable! The enormity and the detail had our necks craned for a good few minutes, until every tourist saw Tim’s gigantic camera and kept asking him to take their photos. The Gaudi expedition continued on towards Park Guell, where again the architecture was simply amazing.

On our final night we put on something a little more elegant and classy than what the past few days of hiking around Barcelona entitled. We hit the town ready to create some memories over sangria, coronas (for the boys) and tapas, all followed by some live Spanish music.  On arrival at our little back street restaurant, Tim confidently stepped forward and offered up his services to speak some Española with the locals.  The 2 years he spent studying Spanish in high school surely paid off as he proceeded to boldly order our drinks in Spanish… “Ah, dos sangrias and dos coronas. Gracias!” He turned to us, avoiding immediate eye contact but evidently showed off the biggest, cheesy proud grin, which confidently assured us he knew what he was doing. A few minutes later our waiter arrived with our drinks that Tim had done so well at ordering in Spanish, however something must have been lost in translation.  2 Sangrias… yup! 2 Cokes…? Ah... Rather than contesting the order with the little Spanish that Tim knew, he swallowed his pride along with the taste of poison (coke).

After we worked off the delicious food with the endless laughing over dinner, we went to a tiny music venue and watched every local waltz in the door, kiss each other on the cheek and then dance with such ease as we all had a geezer at them, looking quite out of place. What a fun little hub of a place, the Harlem Jazz Club.

Every day was incredible and enriched by the tasty food we indulged in, the sangria or two that was consumed and the company of amazing, quality friends. Thank you Mark and Terri! Gracias Spain!!