Discovering Beautiful Croatia!

Many of the places that we have visited with the girls are favorite spots that Randall and I have been to before.  Croatia, however, was a country that none of us had ever visited that was on our list of must sees.  Given its popularity as one of Europe's hottest new destinations, I had read that it can get overcrowded in the Summer months and many people recommended May and September as the best times to go.  Since the girls had another four day weekend, we decided this would be the perfect time to go discover Croatia together!  With Easy Jet offering a direct flight from Geneva to Dubrovnik, it was the perfect long-weekend getaway to the Dalmatian coast.

With the promise of sunshine & already warm temps by mid-May, we were a bit disappointed when the forecast called for thunderstorms/rain and a high of 64 F each of the four days that we would be there.  You can imagine our delight when instead we arrived to blue skies and sunshine.  Since we thought this might be our only sunny day we decided to spend the afternoon taking advantage of all that our hotel had to offer.  With its own rocky beach, four beautiful pools overlooking the Adriatic, and a playground, the Radisson Blu was the perfect home base for our visit.

The girls loved getting to swim every day and Randall and I enjoyed the stunning views & poolside drinks.

On Sunday morning, we were excited to wake up to sunshine once again.  Given that the temperature was a bit cool we decided it would be the perfect morning to go explore the Old City of Dubrovnik.  I had seen pictures of the medieval walled city, but these did not prepare me for its true beauty.  With marble streets and terra-cotta rooftops, this was one of the most clean & picturesque places I have ever visited.    

We wandered through the narrow marble streets, checking out the market and a few cute shops.  Lexi befriended some birds along the way (while Kenzie was terrified that they were going to hurt her sister).

We then walked along the old city walls.  This mile long walk is definitely worth doing, as you get gorgeous views of both the city and the Adriatic. 

After many steps and lots of walking, the girls were excited to head back to the hotel for a swim.

There was a thunderstorm during the night, but on Monday morning we woke up to the most gorgeous skies yet.  We started our day with a walk to the beach, and the girls had fun climbing and collecting rocks.

We had hoped to take a private boat that day to do some fishing and island hopping, but the captain called us on Monday morning to say that the sea was too rough.  So instead we went back to the Old City and made our way to the marina as we planned to catch a larger ferry boat out to Lokrum Island. Once we were in the marina, we were happy to find that the sea had calmed a bit and happened upon a last minute deal on a private boat that would take us out to see the different islands.

Our first stop was Sipan, the largest of the Elaphiti Islands which has only 500 inhabitants.  At one point there were over 250,000 olive trees on the islands and while it still is know for olive oil production it is mainly a small fishing village.  We went for a short walk outside of town and happened upon an old man selling homemade olive oil and almond liquor in his driveway.  After purchasing a bottle of each we made our way back to the marina and Kenzie bought a seashell from a little local girl who had set up shop near the harbor, before hopping back on the boat.

Our next stop was Lopud, the second largest of the Elaphiti islands which is economically the most developed.  It is famous for its sandy beaches, particularly the bay of Sunj.  The bay of Sunj is on the opposite side of the island from the marina, so after our skipper dropped us off we went for a short hike and then hitched a golf cart ride to the beach.  

It was definitely worth the trip across the island as the bay was beautiful and the girls loved going for a swim in the shallow waters.

Our last stop was Kolocep.  It used to be an important shipbuilding site, but today has less than 300 inhabitants.  Visiting the islands was fun, but my favorite part was just being out on the Adriatic.  I would love to go back sometime in September when the sea is still warm and you can stop and go for a swim and check out the many caves and swimming spots along the beautiful coastlines.

We had the boat drop us off back at the hotel so that we could take advantage of the warm afternoon for some pool time.  Later that evening we took a taxi back to Old Town for dinner and to pick up our rental car.

It was fun to see the city at night and we had a delicious meal at Proto.  I had heard that the food was nothing special in Dubrovnik, but we really enjoyed many of the mediterranean dishes & fresh seafood.  And the people were especially friendly!

On Tuesday morning we went to the pool & spa one last time, before packing up.  Just as we were checking out from the hotel it started to rain.  We still had some time before our flight and had wanted to take the cable car up to Mt Srd, where you have beautiful views of the Old City from above.  Given the rain, the cable car was not operating but we decided to drive up the 778 meters to the plateau and restaurant.  It was a beautiful (albeit somewhat scary due to the narrow road winding up the edge of the cliff) 10 minute drive to the top and definitely worth it!  The views were stunning and the rain had stopped by the time we reached the top.

Now this is what you call lunch with a view!  It was unbelievably gorgeous!

We had just a little bit of time after lunch to go for a short hike, and only caught a glimpse of the beauty that there is to discover along the coastline and within the mountains of Croatia (we did spot some donkeys & foals).  There is so much more to see, we will just have to plan another trip sometime in the future.    

Croatia definitely won our hearts!  Between the stunning blue Adriatic and the old world charm of Dubrovnik it was a trip that we will never forget!  I will forever treasure the memories of Randall teaching the girls how to skip rocks in the Adriatic, Lexi turning every railing in the Old City into a gymnastics bar, Randall & Kenzie training together for their triathlon in the bay of Sunj, and time spent together with just the four of us.