A Delightful European Afternoon In Dubrovnik, Croatia -

It’s finally time!!! I have been waiting for this post for what feels like an eternity, but I wanted to save the best stop on our cruise for last. Dubrovnik, Croatia absolutely stole my heart, and I can’t wait to return. I had a feeling I would fall in love, just by the photos, and then when I arrived it was magical. Dubrovnik is like a few of the cities we toured, but only because it is considered a walled city. Besides this, is was exactly what I wanted and more.

This was another beautiful sail in! I love seeing places from such a different point of view. The cruise port is a 10-minute bus ride into the city of Dubrovnik, and there was a bus stop directly outside of the port. We got onto the bus and made our way downtown. It was such a pretty ride along the coast while making our way towards the walls, I wish we could have walked or biked it. The bus dropped us off right on the outside of the walls at the tourist center, which is the Pile gate of the city. I had read that this is the best location to buy any tour our museum tickets.

The tourist center had so many options, kayak tours, walking tours, Game of Thrones tours (supposedly a lot of the show is filmed in the area), and then tickets to get into the city walls. We ended up purchasing a day pass which included walks around the walls and entrance into the museums, and it was about 15 euros. We started out day on the walls. Once you walk over the drawbridge, you are led into a big courtyard with shops, restaurants, fountains, and the most amazing architecture you could ever see. It was amazing to see these beautiful buildings.

There was an entrance to the walls right when we walked in, so we started there. We took the steep steps up and started our walk around. The view was incredible! We could see the sea and islands on one side and then mountains full of flower fields on the other. Magical doesn’t even begin to explain this place. Among the inside of the walls were countless houses with clay roofs, windows open to let in the breeze, and laundry hanging in alleys.

There were a few stops along the way where home owners were selling drinks or ice cream. It was over 100 degrees, so that was a nice bonus. My favorite part of walking the walls was the grotto area that looked like it was straight out of The Little Mermaid. The color of the water, the mountains of stones in the middle of the open area, and the fortress at the top of the hill was beautiful. As we continued our walk, we stopped for photo after photo. There was just too much beauty in one space to rush through it all. We spent about 2.5 hours walking the walls. It would have been nice to be there as soon as the walls opened, because they were busy!

After we finished walking the top level of the walls we made our way to the second level. I had heard there was a small cafe built into the side of the wall, and it was hard to find, even though we could see it while we were walking the walls. The cafe was called Buza Cafe and that is about all I knew to look for among the maze. We asked around and after getting lost a few times, we found it! I was SO happy to have made it, and the reviews I read were right, it was one amazing view!

We grabbed some drinks, we stuck with coke even though they had wine and beer, and some snacks and watched people jump off the cliffs right under us. It was nice to take a break from the heat and enjoy each others company for a bit. Then we decided to join the folks jumping and swimming. The water looked so refreshing, how could we just walk away?

I know I say this every time, but that water!!! It was crystal clear, even though it was at least 20 ft deep, and I truly felt like a mermaid. We swam and watched people climb the outside of the walls to jump in, and closed our eyes when they got a little too close when making the jump. After what seemed like an afternoon of floating, we decided to retreat back to land. After walking around a bit more, we went back to the ship to change and then come back for dinner! More on night time in Dubrovnik, Croatia next week!