Croatia Day 2: Brela to Dubrovnik

We slept in and managed to miss the breakfast at the hotel, so decided we would just get pastries somewhere along the boardwalk. When we walked through the breakfast room, some stuff was still out and it looked very good. Next time, if there is one, I will not miss it.

                We walked for quite a while before finding a small spot with coffee and croissants. The coffee was small but strong, with steamed milk. The croissant was chocolate filled with a slight hazelnut flavor almost like Nutella. Yum. And again, the view was ridiculous. So beautiful it almost felt fake. One of the funny things we began to notice is that many of the cafes and restaurants play American and British pop music that was popular in the 80s and 90s. This was both weird and kind of enjoyable since I liked some of the music.

                After eating and relaxing a bit, we continued our stroll down the boardwalk, overwhelmed by the beauty of the place and unable to stop ourselves from taking numerous pictures. None of which really do it justice, but we felt compelled to try. We had read before we left, and it was widely advertised in Brela, that one of their beaches was a top ten beach in the world as ranked by Forbes magazine. And it was spectacular, though personally I prefer soft sand over pebbles. While smooth and ok to lay on, they dug into my feet in an uncomfortable way.

After a couple of hours of walking and taking pictures, we returned to the hotel for checkout (though not before stopping for gelato at the dessert place that we’d abandoned the night before) and got on the road for Dubrovnik. 

The first of many stops for gelato on this trip

 Check out was a super easy and pleasant procedure. Unlike many places on Croatia, this hotel accepted credit card. They also gave us a sweet gift of a lavender sachet. It had gotten a bit later than we had anticipated, but it was worth it for that amazing walk.

                We decided to take the coastal highway, rather than cutting over to the much bigger, faster highway in order to soak in the scenery. It was the right call. Over what was at least a three hour drive, we saw some of the most amazing scenery and beautiful coastline that I have ever seen. It is comparable to the Pacific Coast highway south of San Francisco, though more dramatic and stark with the granite mountains rising up so closely on the inland side.

Shots from the road

Mountains like this are everywhere, rising up right next to the road

The free pomegranate

                The first stop along the way was at a fruit stand. It was located directly across the street from an orchard, and we bought little mandarin oranges that had been picked right there that day. We also purchased some dried figs, as well as jars of marmalade and fig jam made by the owner of the stand. They even gave us a fresh pomegranate as a small extra. The oranges were on the sour side, but the figs were divine. We made a light lunch of those, along with some of the pistachios and snacks that we had brought with us from the States.

Orchard where the oranges were grown

Old building at the Arboretum

                We decided to stop at Trsteno Arboretum, as it was unlikely that it would work on any of our other days. This was located right off the coastal road about half an hour from our final destination. It was a good opportunity to get out and stretch our legs. We missed the initial turn off, so pulled into a church parking lot to turn around, but then saw signs directing us to a path for the arboretum, so we just stayed there and walked. The path was a little confusing, but we made it with only one wrong turn. The arboretum did have an admission price, which felt steep – I think it was 70 Kuna per person, which is over $10. They gave us a map and short description of the spots to see and we were off. The map was fairly easy to follow, but we did get off track once and walked into a neighborhood.

                

Ancient church at Trsteno

The grotto

               

Random circular garden with tree

The arboretum was interesting on a few levels. The actual trees and botanical specimens were interesting and diverse. It also had a walking path overlooking the sea that was a spectacular. In addition, there were several buildings that were ancient and had interesting back stories. Most appealing to me was the fact that it was a setting for the filming of Game of Thrones! We felt a bit rushed only because I wanted to get to D

ubrovnik before it got too late. I was worried about not being able to find our hotel at night, as well as keeping the host waiting for us. It’s a spot that I would consider visiting again, but given the price, I would not consider it a “must-repeat.” If I did go back, I would like to have about two hours to wander around and really soak it in. It would be a lovely place to bring a picnic lunch.

                Getting back on the road, we finally made it to Dubrovnik at dusk. Now, Dubrovnik is definitely a tricky spot to have a car to deal with. You cannot park inside the Old City at all. There are some pay lots and spots on the street, but I decided that the parking garage, while expensive, would be the easier and more secure option. It was a little confusing but the best deal was to purchase a three day pass, then go back and get another one day pass. For whatever reason, they would not let you buy them all at once. The garage had plenty of open spots, was well lit, relatively clean, and was not difficult to find. That said, I did go by it the first time, largely because I wondered if I would find something closer. It is not close. I basically circled around, and then just gave up.

               

Our first view of the city walls. In awe!

From the garage, we had quite a walk – downhill and downstairs, luckily – to get to the Old City. Once inside, we had to find our sobe (Croatian word for apartment). It was about as far within the city walls as possible from the gate that we came in, so there we were, hot, confused, tired, pushing our suitcases through the City. We kind of felt like a spectacle, but realized that folks like us are a common site in Dubrovnik. We took one wrong turn on the way to the sobe, but a kind person directed us to where we needed to go. We finally arrived and checked out the new digs – the longest stay of our trip, so we were relieved to find that it was nice.

View from our room at house Renata - the old harbor as evening falls

                We stayed at a spot called House Renata. It is an old home converted into three apartments. The owner, Renata, lives on the first floor, and she rents out the other two floors. We were on the third floor, in what appeared to have been a finished attic. Luckily, it was very well-finished. It had an eclectic mix of old world charm with very modern flairs. Everything was in good condition, and it included a full kitchen, as well as a bathroom, bedroom, and separate living area with a large table, couch, and desk. All of that was fine, but the real kicker was the view. All three windows on the north side faced the Old Port and a view back over the city, with the enormous and imposing Mount Srd in the background. It was spectacular at all times of day. We gushed and gushed about it, took tons of pictures out our window, and generally tried to soak it in as much as possible.

                After arriving, we got the dust of the road off and went out to explore and find dinner. We did not, at that point, check any reviews, so we just picked a spot in an attractive location and hoped for the best. It was called Restaurant Arka. It had free wi-fi, attractive outdoor tables, free table wine, and 10% discount. The view was of the Dubrovnik version of the Spanish steps, leading up the Cathedral of St. Ignatius. We enjoyed our meal, but it was certainly not memorable. I started with another antipasti style app, which was fine, and had beef kebob again. I don’t even remember what Ben ordered. 

Antipasti plate, really my favorite way of eating

View from the restaurant with stairs in the background

While we were eating, people began streaming by us, all dressed in white. At first, I thought that they were a chorus heading to the church to perform. Then we realized that they all had badges on that had the McDonalds symbol. They were streaming in droves up the steps and disappearing. After dinner, we followed them up, to discover that the plaza at the top of the steps had been converted into an outdoor dining/party venue for those folks. My guess is that they were all high-level management. I don’t think that McDonalds is in the habit of treating its frontline workers to super fancy parties in ancient Dubrovnik plazas, clearly catered with wine flowing, a band, and security.

                We moved on and almost accidentally stumbled upon one of the Buza bars. We had read all about this, and had been hoping to find it. Essentially, it’s a cut out through the city walls, and you emerge onto what amounts a ledge over the ocean with the walls looming behind you and nothing but sea ahead of you. It’s much less impressive at night, we learned. We grabbed a beer and relaxed for a bit, but wanted to find somewhere a bit more lively. 

Buza Bar at night, the blackness to the left side was the sea. Not as spectacular at night.

We asked the bar tender for a recommendation and he encouraged us to try a spot near the main square called Bodega– fourth floor, specifically. So, we found it without too much hassle, get up to the fourth floor, and it’s completely empty. The music is loud, the service was awful, and the drinks were priced very high (and this is from someone who thinks that Disney prices are pretty much normal). The décor inside was very artsy and cool, and the lighting was interesting. We would have been much better off to just sit at one of their busy outside tables, but live and learn. We both had a cocktail and just relaxed because, after all, we were on vacation and couldn’t really complain about anything.

                After leaving the bar, we headed back out into the main square to just wander and soak it all in. We ended up stopping in a market again to grab some beer and some small local liquor samples. We brought that back to apartment and just enjoyed the view before falling out. The jet lag kept me up a bit later than I would have liked, but I still slept at a fairly reasonable time.