Keeping Up with Kimmy: Spring Break in Dubrovnik

Last week was spring break for us, so I headed to Dubrovnik in Croatia with two of my friends for the week. We left early Friday morning and flew from Gatwick airport in London to Zagreb, which is the capital of Croatia. We had a connecting flight from Zagreb to Dubrovnik, and only waited about a half hour between flights. We got to Dubrovnik around 3:30 pm and took a taxi from the airport to the apartment we rented for the week. At first we couldn't figure out where to check in and thought maybe they had closed for the day, and I thought for sure we would be homeless for the first night. Turns out we were right where we needed to be and eventually found the owner. He was an older man who rented out apartments for travelers, and was the nicest guy ever. After we got settled in, we walked to Old Town and had dinner at an Italian restaurant. We were all very tired from a long day of traveling so afterwards we headed back to the apartment to relax for the night.

On Saturday, we slept in (as we did almost every day) and walked back to Old Town. We had lunch at a restaurant and while we were eating, the President of Croatia walked by outside. He was with a swarm of people who appeared to be interviewing him. We didn't know who it was at first and why there was such a fuss, but the workers in the restaurant informed us that it was the president. After lunch, we explored the magnificent streets in Old Town. I say magnificent because not only did I not see a single piece of garbage, but the streets looked like they were made from marble. It definitely did not feel like walking on the streets of, well anywhere! We wandered out to the water and found rocks that we could play on and take pictures. I seriously felt like I was 10 years old jumping from one rock to the next. I absolutely loved this! On our way home that night, we stopped at the nearby market and bought a few groceries to make supper. We made spaghetti and had wine, and was another relaxing night watching t.v. We loved being able to watch t.v. here since we don't have one in our rooms at school.

Sunday was spent exploring more of Old Town in Dubrovnik. We had lunch at a pizzeria and it was so delicious. It is a personal size pizza served on a plate, so we were able to each order our own. I like this concept for pizza better than sharing. :) We sat outside while we ate our pizza, and it was such a beautiful and sunny day! Birds were flocking all around us and little kids would chase them to make them fly away. It was rather cute to watch, but not so cute when the birds about clipped our faces. After we finished, we found a beach and more rocks to climb on. It was so nice outside that this time we went barefoot on the rocks. We even got to put our feet in the sea! I also walked on the sand/rocks to experience the sea water more. Later we found the cable car and took a ride to the top of the mountain. It was such an amazing view from the top! There is a gift shop and restaurant at the top as well. We took some great pictures from the look-out spot. Then we headed back down to the city. We stopped and got gelato on the way home which tasted awesome. We relaxed for a bit before going to dinner at Magellan's which was located just up the street from us. It was incredible food and rather cheap as well. Then it was back for some more t.v. and reading.

On Monday we walked to a different part of Dubrovnik in search of some shopping. We ended up finding the shopping center but soon realized it didn't offer as much as we'd hoped. So instead, we grabbed a table outside at a cafe and ordered a cappuccino. This is something I already miss. Everywhere we went in Dubrovnik had cafes where you could just order something to drink and sit outside in the sun. It was very relaxing. We then found a restaurant for lunch and enjoyed our food with views of the mountains right outside. We picked up a few more groceries on the way back and decided to make spaghetti again for dinner since it was the cheapest and easiest to make at our apartment.

One of our more adventurous days was on Tuesday. We walked the city walls of Old Town, capturing some pretty amazing views of the entire town. We climbed a lot of steps before making it to the top, but it was well worth it once you made it. We even met an older couple who was from Denver, CO! Such a small world that we would meet people so close to home, considering where we were. After spending about 45 minutes walking along the walls, we came out at the harbor. We saw they were giving boat rides so I of course had to go find out details. We ended up paying 75 Kuna (the currency in Croatia) a piece, which is about $13, for a boat cruise around Lokrum Island. This is another activity I was so happy we were able to do since we were visiting Dubrovnik in the off season. It was a perfect day for it. The water was so pretty, with its aqua tint to it. That also lasted about 45 minutes, and that was fine because by this time we were all hungry for lunch. We stopped in a shop and each got a sandwich. We looked around at some souvenir shops where I bought some playing cards and coasters and then went for another round of gelato before walking back to the apartment. We ended the night with dinner at Magellan's again, because you can't go wrong there! We even had the same waitress as the other night, and she recognized that we ordered the same things!

Wednesday was the day for our 'day-trip' to Montenegro, a country that borders Croatia to the Southeast. We booked this online as a tour, but there ended up being only five of us, since it is still offseason for tourists. It was the three of us girls and two older gentlemen: one from Australia and one from America. Our first quick stop was just outside Dubrovnik on the mountains so that we could get pictures of the town from a distance. Then we continued on for about an hour where we made our actual first stop in the town of Kotor. It was a cute little town, similar to Dubrovnik. We explored a bit and then stopped at a cafe for a cappuccino and a slice of cheesecake. Again, love this! We were in Kotor for about an hour and a half before we were back on the road en route to Budva. When we got there, we had a brief orientation of a few highlight spots with our tour guide, and then we were off to find something to eat. We ate lunch at the Old Fisherman's Pub right next to the harbor. It was a gorgeous day with breathtaking views. You could see mountains, palm trees, and the sea all in one glance. That was a first for me. After finishing up lunch, we met back up with our group and made our way back towards Dubrovnik. On the way, we had to take a ferry at one point to get across the bay. This was a perfect way to spend our last full day of spring break.

Thursday we headed back to London. Our flight was delayed a half hour leaving Dubrovnik, and by the time we got through customs in London we had just missed our bus to take us into central London. We ended up having to wait another 45 minutes for the next bus. The bus ride took about an hour and then we still had to take the tube to get us into our neighborhood. It was a long day of traveling but felt so good to get back to London. Spring Break 2012 will definitely be a memorable one!