Waking up to the sound of the ocean is one of the best feelings in the world, especially when you look outside your balcony window, see the Adriatic waves brushing against the side of Dubrovnik’s Old Town and remember you’re on vacay!
Day 2 was weather dependent, but when we woke we saw the sun shining and decided to give Lokrum Island a shot. With a quick pit-stop at Banje Beach to kick off the day, we headed off for the Old Town port. The local ferry takes you to and from Dubrovnik/Lokrum every 15-30 minutes, and it’s a short and easy ride (depending on the choppiness of the waves and the strength of your stomach). We made it over in no time, got our bearings with a look at the local map and made our way over to Mrtvo More – a lake that is fed from an underwater canal from the Adriatic (similar to the Dead Sea in that you float versus sink). We explored the grounds above the lake, and hiked up a passage that overlooked all of Dubrovnik. It was a gorgeous scene with the waters below varying in different shades of light blues and greens.
Patrick had planned a lunch reservation for us at the island’s well known Lacroma restaurant. We wrapped up our scenic picture taking, made our way to lunch and settled our legs (which were still burning from the day before). Soon after we had a table filled with tomato gazpacho soup, tuna steak and fresh sea bass, which we gobbled up before setting off for the second part of explorations. The botanical gardens were supposed to be luscious and ripe with vegetation, but to our dismay, they were completely destroyed in a tropical storm this past year. While the plants were recovering, the vast array of peacocks and bunnies that roam the island were out in full force! And oh how adorable and fun they were! After several shots of the animals, we trekked up a massive incline, boasting more than 200 steps, to Fort Royal for shots of Dubrovnik and panoramas of the surrounding water. The Fort used to serve as a base for the Austrian-Hungarian militia.
Side note: For GOT fans (Game of Thrones), Lokrum is the where they filmed the Qarth garden party, and Mančeta Tower was host to the location where Dany’s dragons were held captive.
Just as we were descending the massive climb from Fort Royal, rain started to sprinkle and we were coming up on the 3:30 pm ferry departure. We decided to head to the port and make our way back over to Dubrovnik for some more sightseeing. A few hours later, and a few more raindrops on our jackets, we made our way back to Banje Beach for another dip in the sea. As we eased into the chilly waters, the rain ceased and the sun was back to greet us.
We had heard from a group of travelers that Taj Mahal was an awesome spot for dinner (Bosnian menu and a full wine list to boot), so we put our name in around 7:45 pm and then headed to a local bar that we had wanted to try, located near the coastline. With roughly 90 minutes to kill, we explored the dark backroads of the city and were in awe of how many small, lovely stone cobbled side streets there were. After passing several more landmarks worth marveling over, we found Buza bar (translation: hole in the wall) which literally sits on the edge of the Adriatic on the sides of the castle walls. They had a small fridge for beer, neon lights to guide your way up the rocks and some music – so all you need! We had an awesome time chatting and watching the waves roll up.
Our Bosnian dinner was everything we could have hoped for and more. Insanely delicious (see proof above)! And the wine was just as yummy. With our bellies full – we made our way out for the night, heading back to our “Irish” pub who promised they could get some American football on TV. Alas, they couldn’t figure out the channels but we did meet an American couple at the bar who were from… COLUMBUS! They were the sweetest couple – Lorin and JJ – who were celebrating their honeymoon. Together we bounced from bar to bar… and then nightclub to nightclub and rounded out our “day” at 3 am. I think it’s safe to say we had too much fun and made great friends along the way! Lorin and JJ – we are looking you up the next time we are in Columbus.
Our wake up call on Sunday was rough, but we packed our bags and made our way to Banje Beach, where we rented a cabana for the day and sipped “hair of the dog” Piña Coladas. Not a bad way to kick off the 3-hour ferry ride to Hvar, which is an island North of Dubrovnik. We made it safe and sound, and look forward to sharing more on our next post…
~Two for Takeoff
