Dubrovnik with Daddy

Dudrovnik

Well the time came when we finally got to meet up with Dad and Kath in Dubrovnik! Having just been on a hunt, with a few hiccups along the way, Dad and Kath needed a relaxing few days before heading home. We were not complaining as we needed a bit of time out too so we all took it easy for the next 6 days with strolls around town, eating and afternoon naps. We stayed in a cute, traditional Croatian 2 bedroom unit, just up some stairs from the beach. The weather was sunny and mild but our last 2 days were a bit rainy.

Sunset

and the morning

The old town of Dubrovnik is just stunning; different to any old town we have seen before. The old town is all contained in medieval looking fortress walls with a polished marble-looking floor. We spent a lot of our time winding through the streets exploring. We were lucky because on Sunday they had a folk festival where they were trying to break the Guinness world record for the most number of people to dance a particular Croatian dance. About 200 costumed dancers filled the main street of old town and danced this complicated looking dance with lots of spinning. Some locals even started an impromptu dance near us, including the town mayor! (we recognised him from his posters). We also caught some of the other performances that weekend, which included an amazing drum group from Korea.

Harbour

Harbour 

in the old pharmacy

group shot

Korean Drum group

National dance

That night Dad and Kath took us out for my belated birthday dinner. We started off by visiting a wine bar to try some local reds. We got to try 3 reds, all made from the same grape but grown in different areas, altitudes and climates.  We then headed to a restaurant serving local seafood; Kath’s fried squid won the best meal of the night.

a view of the town

We also ate LOTS of ice cream during our stay. Every night while walking home we would stop at our favourite ice cream place, sampling flavours such as hazelnut, jaffa and dark chocolate.

To counteract our ice cream addiction, Arvi and I decided to go for a run one afternoon. We had kind of given up on running and hadn’t run in about a month. We decided with all the massive staircases around the coast of Dubrovnik it would be a good idea to do a stairs session. Oh boy did we feel it, we were dying after about 3 minutes but stuck it out and ended up running up 1200 stairs in total. For the next 2 days were walking like elderly people desperately in need of a hip replacement.

3x160 and 3x 80

Because Dad and Kath had rented a car, we decided to drive to the nearby town of Cavat. The coastal drive was beautiful but very windy. We walked along the Cavat coastline and had lunch in the harbour while admiring all the boats.

Cavat harbour 

On our last full day we were going to get the boat to Lokrum, an uninhabited island 10 minutes boat ride from the city. Sadly, the small ferry was cancelled because of bad weather, even though the sea looked flat from the harbour. So instead we went for a walk along the coast outside the city walls and soon saw why the boat was cancelled! After our walk we ate a lunch of delicious bureks while listening to a street performer playing Spanish style guitar.

Game of thrones was shot around Dubrovnik

Our last dinner together that night was the best of the trip. We ate at an Italian restaurant as Dubrovnik has a large Italian influence. We each had delicious Pasta and enjoyed a great red wine that we had tried at the wine tasting. After our meal the waiter bought out 4 shots of homemade grappa or, as he called it ‘rocket fuel’. Of course we ended our night with a last visit to the ice cream parlour.

with Dad

It was so good to catch up with Dad and Kath again, especially since I haven’t seen them since Christmas. I’m pretty sure I almost talked their ears off but I was just so excited to see family after such a long time. It was sad to leave them but I know it won’t be long until we see them back in Australia again!

- Leah