Dubrovnik

As promised here's the next update:

Heeding to the advice of multiple people who have been to Croatia, I made sure before I left for Europe that I would go and check out Dubrovnik. I finally made it and I can say that those people that gushed about how gorgeous and amazing the city were correct, but Dubrovnik doesn’t come without faults.

First and foremost, Dubrovnik is a city built for the summer. Seeing it in the off-season would prevent you from taking advantage of everything it has to offer. The city itself is quite pretty (most notably the Old Town) but the many boating activities, island adventures, and enjoyment of the Adriatic can only be done with warm weather. Fortunately the early days of October were kind to us and gave us hot weather.

By us I mean the two friends I made on the ferry ride from Bari to Dubrovnik. They are two

beautiful young women who just came from Greece. Their names are Sarah and Katie and will be reoccurring characters in the next couple of posts. Sarah lives in Denver and Katie is from San Francisco and both are traveling for 3 months. They have another month and a half to go. The following week we spent together was filled with made up stories of magical monsters, intelligent criticisms of each-others faces, and and smelly trees. We had lots of fun. Anyway, they ended up staying in the same hostel as me. Now back to the city in discussion.

My first impressions of the city brought up feelings of Venice. The buildings were all very close together making small shaded alleyways. The old town was littered with cafes and restaurants that were overpriced. The biggest difference I would say is that the city was not nearly as crowded as Venice and that was appreciated. But it was most definitely overpriced and really did a toll on my wallet. I was definitely expecting Dubrovnik to be pricey but I was not prepared for the what I got. A margharita pizza (normally priced 5 euros) was at a minimum 10. All other prices follow this model.

Later in the day I payed the 50 kuna (5 kuna per dollar) to take the hour long walk around the castle walls of the old town. This provided us with many pretty views of the red tiled roofs, churches, and islands that makes up the area around Old Town. Nothing too exciting but nonetheless essential to get a view of the beauty seen in Dubrovnik (that I hope my pictures express).

The following day we went to the Island Lokrum which is a short 10 minute boat ride from Old Town. We heard it was interesting enough to check out. We ended up having an amazing day there. Theres some minor hiking involved which brought us to cool coves and rocky shores. Roaming around the island are lots of peacocks. I didnt see any other wildlife on the island. I dont quite understand this, but I guess they thrive there. We ended up swimming in a small pond filled up by the ocean called the "Dead Sea". Afterwards we climbed down to a rocky shore where we chilled for a while and were blessed with the presence of this old lady who was absolutely gorgeous. She looked like a goddess. I wasnt even attracted to her, I was mostly amazed with her beauty. She was totally naked by the way.

Sunsets were nice and so was this cliff side bar. Dubrovnik is absolutely worth checking out, but make sure you do it during warm weather, otherwise you wont be as entertained and you'll be paying a lot and not getting as much out of it. Getting in the ocean is essential to enjoying this waterfront city.

The next day we took off for the island of Hvar...