yet another crazy weekend adventure for us! this time, we spent literally 24 hours in croatia. we wish it could've been a lot longer of a visit. it was so beautiful!
so, friday morning, we were on the road at 545am (so early!!!). it was a 3 hour drive through beautiful windy mountain passes to Ancona (the coast of italy). we got all checked in and, after a long wait, the van was on the boat and we were off! it was supposed to be a 4 hour fast ferry ride, but we left a bit late, which made us just over an hour late docking in Split, Croatia. then the van was literally the 3rd last vehicle to get off the boat!!! lots of waiting but finally, we were in croatia!!!
so, friday morning, we were on the road at 545am (so early!!!). it was a 3 hour drive through beautiful windy mountain passes to Ancona (the coast of italy). we got all checked in and, after a long wait, the van was on the boat and we were off! it was supposed to be a 4 hour fast ferry ride, but we left a bit late, which made us just over an hour late docking in Split, Croatia. then the van was literally the 3rd last vehicle to get off the boat!!! lots of waiting but finally, we were in croatia!!!
after getting lost right off the bat, we got onto route 8 (which would take us all the way to Cavtat (where we were staying) and were ready for the beautiful sights. we had read that this drive rivals the beauty of the PCH (highway 1 in california...which we've driven and was epic). but we got stuck in an hour of traffic through this small town just outside of split. chris was a frustrated bean at this point but became much happier when we got out on the windy mountain roads :) it was supposed to take about 4 hours, but, with the traffic at the beginning, our journey to Cavtat took about 5. and half of it was in the dark because our ferry was late. but what we DID get to see was GORGEOUS. and all the little port towns were so pretty in the dark, with their twinkling lights and harbours. we got to our apartment, got the best sandwiches ever (and croatian beer!) and slept slept slept!
saturday morning we did the work we set out to do. we met up with thilo and sakis (2 B&R guides on trip), loaded up our van with all their bikes and equipment and headed off to Dubrovnik for some good old fashioned tourism :)
Dubrovnik was a gorgeous city (as you can tell), one that still has all it's walls surrounding the city and has so many gorgeous boats coming in and out of it. we had a super yummy breakfast right on the water (the bread was to die for...with honey and butter! heaven!) and walked around, exploring the main square. it was really busy with tourists (as is anywhere this time of year) so we went straight for...THE BEACH!!!! it was our first beach moment of this whole trip and boy was it worth the wait! the water was PERFECT! it was turquoise and just cold enough to hate it at first then crave it when you're back in the sun. we laid our beach towels down and just relaxed for an hour and a half. now we can say we've swam in the adriatic sea! so cool!!! it's too bad we didn't have more time, but we've made a deal that we are going to try to swim more often back here in italy...apparently there's a river nearby that is perfect for hot summer days. we WILL find it! lounging by the water was our favourite part of this mini trip :)
Dubrovnik was a gorgeous city (as you can tell), one that still has all it's walls surrounding the city and has so many gorgeous boats coming in and out of it. we had a super yummy breakfast right on the water (the bread was to die for...with honey and butter! heaven!) and walked around, exploring the main square. it was really busy with tourists (as is anywhere this time of year) so we went straight for...THE BEACH!!!! it was our first beach moment of this whole trip and boy was it worth the wait! the water was PERFECT! it was turquoise and just cold enough to hate it at first then crave it when you're back in the sun. we laid our beach towels down and just relaxed for an hour and a half. now we can say we've swam in the adriatic sea! so cool!!! it's too bad we didn't have more time, but we've made a deal that we are going to try to swim more often back here in italy...apparently there's a river nearby that is perfect for hot summer days. we WILL find it! lounging by the water was our favourite part of this mini trip :)
since we made such good time on the way back (p.s. did you know you have to pass through BOSNIA to get from Split to Dubrovnik and Cavtat?? yup...the border control was a joke but we spent a whopping 30 mins in bosnia!)...and got to see all the beautiful scenery that we missed on the way there, we stopped in that little town where all the traffic was...Omis, Croatia. cute little town with cute little shops. and the fruit stands! look at them! we got some of the yummiest grapes either of us had ever tasted! they served us well on the ferry for breakfast, that's for sure! the wait to get back on the ferry to take us home was a nice long one (i was alone most of the time so chris could sort out the carnet) but once we got onboard, it was great! there were a bunch of restaurants and a casino/night club (not a dance party like i thought, unfortunately). once we got our room and settled in, we explored the boat and got drunk off croatian beer! it was pretty fun, we must say! even sharing the twin bed wasn't as disastrous as we'd thought it would be :) this was an overnight, 12 hour ferry but it didn't seem that long at all. we'd definitely do it again for another chance to see croatia!
we actually docked on time in italy but customs was a disaster. they weren't open and we had to wait over an hour to get the carnet stamped again. and then the guy didn't speak english and chris had to get one of the office gals to translate (poor thing, it was a sunday!). but, we got home, after a wonderful wonderful trip. we're so glad we had the chance to do this! a random weekend in croatia - thanks butterfield! hahahaha. hopefully one day we can go back and see more of the country (and more of the beach!).