Croatia

 After a smooth flight we caught the bus into Dubrovnik, first stop old town.  Which was cool to see it again from the bus, we drove right down by the old walls, another mini sightseeing tour.  Ours was the last stop at the bus station.  Fortunately our hostel is a five minute walk away.  We are also close to the port, where there was a great big cruise ship in. 

We checked in, the guy on the desk was most helpful.  I do like it when they are.  Some literally check you in and tell you where your room is, this guy another level.  He told us of sights to see, places to see sunset, tips for going into the city and there were free sweets in reception.  He also gave us a tour of the hostel.  Now this is the most expensive hostel we are staying in at nearly 50€ a night! So we have high expectations!!

The hostel has a little garden, with some tortoise, a BBQ, chairs and tables.  It has two kitchens, the main one with a common area and then a smaller one.  The large one has an air fryer !!! You know where our 50 bucks are going.  Our 4 bed dorm was just off the smaller kitchen and next to the bathrooms.  All good so far. 

When I first get into a hostel I check two things, their book collection and their free food cupboards.  The books not bad a lonely planet Spain experience.  But the free food .. Winner winner...In the fridge was a white bottle and a rose bottle of wine both with one glass left in them and on the side a tin of sardines!!! Happy days.  So we started off our dubrovnik stay with a little picnic 😊

Our plan was to grab and snacks from the nearby supermarket and head for the bus to the old town.  To our suprise and delight in the supermarket we found English cider and reasonably priced so that accompanied our snacks.

The guy in the hostel had said it's better to buy your bus tickets in the kiosks, so as we passed a kiosk on the way to the bus I thought I would try.  2.50 on the bus 1.73 in the kiosk bargain!!

A quick ride into the old town and we were soon among the thrives of people!! Luckily our hostel guy had pointed out some places to go off the beaten track.  He wasn't wrong.  The old town is made up of narrow passage ways and lots of steps.  A brilliant place just to wander.  So that's what we did, away from the crowds. 

We found a nice little place to sit have some snacks and enjoy our cider.  Happy happy days.  We wandered some more and then the hostel guy had also told us about an archway on the outer wall that led to some rocks and steps where you could swim.  So we went of in search.  He had also said it was in the quieter part of the walls.  

Again he wasn't wrong.  He definitely is good at his job.  There were a few people down there but compared to the amount of people that were walking around it was minimal, maybe like 20 people!! 

And the water, omg sooooo clear, beautiful.  Bikinis in we went, it definitely was refreshing!! Coming from the sea in Santorini..it was near on freezing 🤣🤣🤣 but amazing.  The views also were incredible! But I forgot my goggles 😔 so no diving deep for me.  A snack price to pay. 

We hung out for a while, people watching, enjoying our second cider and snacks.  So when you Google what to do in Dubrovnik one of the things that comes up is kayaking.  Now bare in mind we were on the rocks around sunset.  As we sat and watched, literally there was an invasion of kayakers an invasion .. Hundreds of the things coming from everywhere, everywhere!  We were quite happy sat on our rock 🤣

We didn't see the sunset but the change of the colour of the sky and the water was incredible especially with the back drop off the walls.

This was also an incredible time because Jere the legend that he is had just crossed the channel.  It was all quite emotional 🫶

Emotions in check we headed out along the wall and back to the entrance again joining the throngs of people, we even had a little bit of a queue to exit.  Luckily enough there was a bus right there to take us back.  A quick stop in the supermarket to pick up something for tea and some more cider.  We settled on tuna and cheese toasted bap very traditional here in Croatia!!! Coupled with a Somersby.

After a long day we hit the hay.  Oh after a nice shower again with a proper towel ..it really is a treat. 😍



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