Let’s rewind back to over a decade ago. I was out to lunch with a friend from college who had recently returned from Croatia with her husband. She described the cities, the coast, the turquoise waters, the people, the islands, and the language to me, and I went home (well, my parent’s home because I was living in their basement post-divorce) and Pinterested the heck out of Croatia. At that point, I was living off a loan from my oldest brother (above mentioned lunch was sponsored by this brother) and my parents’ generosity and I was able to numb the loneliness I was feeling for a few hours by scrolling through picture after picture and dreaming of going somewhere like Croatia with someone (at this point getting married again was out of the question but I knew I wanted to go with someone).
I met Andrew a few years later, and the rest is history. We planned on going to Croatia for more of a landmark celebration (e.g., a 10-year anniversary or 40th birthday type thing). Then, a few months ago, we decided to go on a scuba trip and were trying to figure out where to go–> And we thought… Why not now?
If I only had one sentence to explain Croatia: It was better than I could have ever imagined, which is saying a lot because I spent a lot of time imagining it from my bed in my parents’ house when my life had seriously blown up. I’m really thankful for hope. It got me through those years, hoping for a brighter future. I saw the sun come up every single morning on my runs, and I just knew it would come up in life, too (we still have hard things, but much different). Okay, I’m getting a little too sentimental about our trip, so let’s dive into the details. I’ve had a lot of requests for a detailed itinerary, so get ready for details.
I wish I could take an ounce of credit for the seamlessness of seeing this incredible country, but I can’t. I married a tour guide… Andrew’s job before I met him was taking groups of people (teens going through rough spots and their family) all over the world. He can see every side of planning and doesn’t settle for less than a 4.6 rating in all of his review readings (and he reads, A LOT of reviews). I always forget 30% of the things I need to pack, and he always senses that I will do this and packs them for me;)
We flew into Venice, Italy, because it was much cheaper than anywhere else. With the dates we had with our kids gone, there wasn’t a good connecting flight to Croatia that worked for us, so we rented a tiny car. I’m used to being in my Yukon with a car full of kids and their friends, so it felt like quite the change. There isn’t a great train system in Croatia, and having a car was really great because we saw SO much of the country and could do everything on our own time. We never experienced any sort of traffic other than a tiny bit when downtown in the big cities.
Our first stop was a hotel near Plitvice National Park, about a four-hour drive from the Venice airport. We stopped in Trieste, Italy, and a restaurant on the beach called Chiringutio Canovella.
It felt like a secret restaurant because you needed to go down a bunch of stairs in a spot you wouldn’t guess there is a restaurant. There, we had the most incredible pasta with anchovies. Andrew had mussels, and then we went for a long swim in the ocean before finishing the drive to the hotel. We even drove through Slovenia (and stopped for treats) before making it to our hotel.
We woke up at 6:30 the next morning to drive 30 minutes to the park. We had our tickets purchased (including the time slot), and the park got much busier as the day went on, so go when it first opens (7 a.m.!). I have more pictures in a few days from our 11-mile hike around Plitvice National Park, but I’ll just say now that it was almost too much for my eyes to process. We planned on doing the four-mile hike, but it was so beautiful we had to see the whole thing. The beauty was too good to be true. It is an absolute MUST if you visit Croatia. There were two good climbs, but the majority was flat.
We then jumped in the car at around lunch time and started our drive to Dubrovinik (which was around 5 hours). If it sounds like we drove a lot, it’s because we did ha. But driving just hits different when you can focus on the scenery, conversation and an audiobook together without being hit in the head with fruit snacks and Paw Patrol action figures.
We stopped at a place called Bistro-Pizzeria L’Mat which had the most amazing pizza and gnocchi in the cutest small town of Korenica.
We then finished up the drive and arrived at Dubrovnik Palace. This hotel was about 12 minutes away from Old City of Dubrovnik and was the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in (slippers, robe, chocolate on my pillow, ocean view, the most beautiful breakfast included). Andrew said that he found a deal for it, and it was around $200 a night, but I’m not sure if he was shielding me from the actual price tag and I don’t want to google it;)
The pool. It was stunning. It also had it’s own private beach.
We went out to Pantarul for dinner, which was very close to the hotel, and the steak was incredible (especially when Euros on the menu felt like pretend money to me). We finished off the day by swimming in the hotel pool and watching the sunset.
The next morning, I went on a 5-mile run from the hotel (it’s easy to run here!) along the coast.
We had breakfast at the hotel and got ready to visit the Old City of Dubrovnik. Parking was a bit tricky but we found a spot about one mile away and enjoyed the walk to the city. The Old City truly feels like you are on a different planet.
There is STONE everywhere. We walked the wall and could not believe the views. To be on these medieval walls that have so much history along the Dalmatian Coast felt unreal.
We then went down into the Old City from the wall and visited the Cathedral, every shop we possibly could and stopped at the restaurant that is on the outside of the wall next to the sea. This was a highlight for us. Andrew jumped from a terrifying rock, and I jumped from basically a pebble, but we felt equally terrified by our choices. The water was absolute perfection.
It was hot (I wore black to avoid seeing my clothing being soaked ha) and so it was necessary to take swim breaks often throughout each day. The entire trip, I always had a swimsuit on under my clothes because the water is so accessible anywhere, we went and the best way to cool off.
We had lunch at Soul Kitchen in the Old City which I’m going to require you to do if you are ever there. Please order the watermelon salad as your appetizer and send me a picture because I’ll be dreaming of it.
We went for another swim, went up to the fort and then took the Gondola to the top of the city. The Gondola was pricey and very short so I’m not sure I would recommend it (especially when it is hot…. There isn’t any water to jump into) but everything else was perfect. We finished up at the hotel pool for the sunset again.
Our next day started off with a run together. It was Andrew’s first run since the Budapest Marathon. He said he could feel some of the hardware in his ankle when going on and off of the curbs but other than that, he said his ankle felt great (but that everything else hurt;).
We had breakfast at our hotel (we stayed there for three nights total) and then went to the dive center located in our hotel.
I was so nervous I felt like I was going to black out but once we got underwater and my ears equalized (fun fact… it was much easier to do in Croatia than in Utah with all of the allergies I have there), it was one of the most peaceful things I’ve ever done. All you have to focus on is your breathing and moving slowly and the entire world is quiet.
I AM A SCUBA DIVER!
We saw a shipwreck, red starfish, a baby eel, fish, and a cave (the guide said it would be a cavern, but no… it was a cave, and I will never be doing that again). On the first dive, we swam through a tunnel that took you inside an island to a lake, which was pretty great. There weren’t a million tropical fish, obviously, like in Mexico or the Caribbean, but I loved it. The water was very strange, though, because one minute it would be warm, and the next minute, I would be almost shivering, so a wetsuit with a hood was a must! We had two dives that day with a break in the middle, so it took up most of the day with the boat rides, prep, etc. We made some really good friends during our day of diving. Ulga (we didn’t get a picture together) and Neale (he wanted to be on the blog)!
The people are my favorite part of traveling. I crave getting to hear about different ways of life! Neale will be taking us diving in Australia someday!
We finished this day back in the Old City for pasta at Trattoria Carmen and it was another must.
The pasta, the homemade bread, one of the best meals I’ve ever had.
Okay, I went on a bit too long today so I’ll be back tomorrow with the other half of the trip! Thanks for being the best, I really missed chatting in the comments with you last week!
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