I partnered up with a couple Canadian girls for the bus ride to Dubrovnik. It was only five hours, which generally I would consider to be a very short trip. Unfortunately, the bus driver refused to turn on the A/C, so it was a very sweaty and uncomfortable five hours. He'd flick it on when we approached a Croatian police/border guard stop (of which there are many) and then turn it back off when the officers all left. I have no idea why.
So we got to Dubrovnik and the girls (who had been to Dubrovnik before) pointed me in the direction of my hostel. I walked up a hill seemingly going nowhere, found a random switchback in the road, followed that up another hill, and then wandered through what looked like a residential neighborhood until someone shouted out "are you looking for the hostel?"
Turned out that someone was Nik, the son of the hostel owners. The hostel, called Dubrovnik Backpackers Club, was absolutely awesome. I met a great group of people, which is always nice, but more than that the hostel itself was a great place. Big common room, kitchen, outside seating areas, projector TV (perfect for pregames and hangovers), and solid wifi. Not to mention the family that ran it were some of the nicest people in the world and the mother made amazing food (and lots of it).
The first night everyone hung out at the hostel, playing card games, drinking games, and watching Ali G on the projector. The next morning I headed out with an American and two Canadian girls (different Canadian girls) to see the city. We got the bus to the Old Town, and wandered around. It was a really cool place with a lot to see but it was insanely touristy...just loads and loads of people in dense crowds and tour groups. Still, we had a great time and we climbed up to the old fortifications and walked all the way around the city.
Later on, we wandered around to a little cove where we all enjoyed a beer. The American, Joe, and I each got some seafood. I had some excellent clams, "Dalmatian style" which was basically made it taste lemony fresh.
That night, everyone hung out at the hostel again, same as the previous night.
The next day the Canadian girls asked if I wanted to join them on some kind of three island tour which was organized through the hostel. I thought it sounded cool so I went for it. The day ended up being pretty relaxing. We were out on a boat all day long, got to see some of the interesting surrounding islands, and enjoyed some more great views.
We wandered through some botanical gardens, went swimming a few times, it was great. The weather didn't quite cooperate and it was overcast all day but it was still a lot of fun.
That night, a large group of people all wanted to go to the club, but I declined. I think I had a better night at the hostel when I found out the next day that all the clubs were closed and they just wandered the empty streets for a few hours.
The next day at breakfast, a large group of American guys who had just arrived asked if I wanted to join to Lokrum island. I had planned to climb Mount Srd to get cool views of the city, but Nik said he was going to take us out and show us the best beaches and places to hang out so I absolutely had to join.
We hopped on the bus down to Old Town and had to run though the crowds to make the ferry we were minutes away from missing. We eventually made it with not a second to spare, and wandered on to find our seats. The ferry didn't take long and we got some great views of the Old Town fortifications from the water. We even saw a beach that had been ranked in the top 5 beaches in the world, although Nik doubted the ranking system by saying "I don't know how people think so highly of it. We think it's not even top 10 in Dubrovnik."
We came ashore and crossed the island (it wasn't very big) to an area where there were big cliffs that we could use to jump into the cool blue water below. We passed a lagoon, a bunch of peacocks, and arrived at the cliffs. There was one monster cliff we passed which Nik claimed he enjoyed jumping from, although today wouldn't be a good day for it due to the fact that the water was too still and would hurt too much on impact. A few of the Americans were afraid of heights anyway (not that I would have jumped from the monster cliff, I'm not stupid), so we went for a few smaller ones, between 5-10m. The water was pretty cold but the sun was scorching, so it felt good to jump off into the ocean. I tried my first swan dive, which is notable because I messed up and landed on my head.
After a little while spent swimming and relaxing, we decided to climb to the fortress on the top of the island. It was annoying to hike in flip flops but it wasn't much of a hike...so no problems. And the view from the top was awesome
We walked back down, got some food, and ended up hanging out by a lagoon for a few hours before we caught the ferry back.
That night, we met a Peruvian girl and a Canadian who were both studying in Vienna. I enjoyed speaking Spanish with the Peruvian and it was cool to know exactly where she lived in Lima, because I had been there just a few months prior (even though I wasn't particularly fond of the city). We got a HUGE meal prepared by the mother of the house. It was some traditional Croatian stew...basically a meat n' potatoes thing, which seems like it's the staple of every diet in the world. It was delicious and she kept piling the food on to the point that we were all completely stuffed and had to tell her--with a serious tone--that she wasn't allowed to keep feeding us or we'd all die from overeating.
After a few hours of uncomfortable digestion we decided to grab a few beers and head out to Copacabana Beach to hang out and drink for a little while. I said I knew where to go (which I did...at one point at least) so everyone followed me until I realized I was lost. We had an interesting wander through darkened streets until we finally found the beach. From the beach I did know the way back and was able to guide everyone...although they were all understandably doubtful of my ability to get us home.
The next day I just hung out for a few hours until Brittany--an Australian girl--and I got a ride to the airport for our flight to Germany. She stayed in Munich while I had to wait a few hours for my connection to Berlin. It was one of the easiest layovers I've ever had. Plenty of good beer to drink.
Next post from Berlin
So we got to Dubrovnik and the girls (who had been to Dubrovnik before) pointed me in the direction of my hostel. I walked up a hill seemingly going nowhere, found a random switchback in the road, followed that up another hill, and then wandered through what looked like a residential neighborhood until someone shouted out "are you looking for the hostel?"
Turned out that someone was Nik, the son of the hostel owners. The hostel, called Dubrovnik Backpackers Club, was absolutely awesome. I met a great group of people, which is always nice, but more than that the hostel itself was a great place. Big common room, kitchen, outside seating areas, projector TV (perfect for pregames and hangovers), and solid wifi. Not to mention the family that ran it were some of the nicest people in the world and the mother made amazing food (and lots of it).
The first night everyone hung out at the hostel, playing card games, drinking games, and watching Ali G on the projector. The next morning I headed out with an American and two Canadian girls (different Canadian girls) to see the city. We got the bus to the Old Town, and wandered around. It was a really cool place with a lot to see but it was insanely touristy...just loads and loads of people in dense crowds and tour groups. Still, we had a great time and we climbed up to the old fortifications and walked all the way around the city.
Later on, we wandered around to a little cove where we all enjoyed a beer. The American, Joe, and I each got some seafood. I had some excellent clams, "Dalmatian style" which was basically made it taste lemony fresh.
That night, everyone hung out at the hostel again, same as the previous night.
The next day the Canadian girls asked if I wanted to join them on some kind of three island tour which was organized through the hostel. I thought it sounded cool so I went for it. The day ended up being pretty relaxing. We were out on a boat all day long, got to see some of the interesting surrounding islands, and enjoyed some more great views.
We wandered through some botanical gardens, went swimming a few times, it was great. The weather didn't quite cooperate and it was overcast all day but it was still a lot of fun.
That night, a large group of people all wanted to go to the club, but I declined. I think I had a better night at the hostel when I found out the next day that all the clubs were closed and they just wandered the empty streets for a few hours.
The next day at breakfast, a large group of American guys who had just arrived asked if I wanted to join to Lokrum island. I had planned to climb Mount Srd to get cool views of the city, but Nik said he was going to take us out and show us the best beaches and places to hang out so I absolutely had to join.
We hopped on the bus down to Old Town and had to run though the crowds to make the ferry we were minutes away from missing. We eventually made it with not a second to spare, and wandered on to find our seats. The ferry didn't take long and we got some great views of the Old Town fortifications from the water. We even saw a beach that had been ranked in the top 5 beaches in the world, although Nik doubted the ranking system by saying "I don't know how people think so highly of it. We think it's not even top 10 in Dubrovnik."
We came ashore and crossed the island (it wasn't very big) to an area where there were big cliffs that we could use to jump into the cool blue water below. We passed a lagoon, a bunch of peacocks, and arrived at the cliffs. There was one monster cliff we passed which Nik claimed he enjoyed jumping from, although today wouldn't be a good day for it due to the fact that the water was too still and would hurt too much on impact. A few of the Americans were afraid of heights anyway (not that I would have jumped from the monster cliff, I'm not stupid), so we went for a few smaller ones, between 5-10m. The water was pretty cold but the sun was scorching, so it felt good to jump off into the ocean. I tried my first swan dive, which is notable because I messed up and landed on my head.
After a little while spent swimming and relaxing, we decided to climb to the fortress on the top of the island. It was annoying to hike in flip flops but it wasn't much of a hike...so no problems. And the view from the top was awesome
We walked back down, got some food, and ended up hanging out by a lagoon for a few hours before we caught the ferry back.
That night, we met a Peruvian girl and a Canadian who were both studying in Vienna. I enjoyed speaking Spanish with the Peruvian and it was cool to know exactly where she lived in Lima, because I had been there just a few months prior (even though I wasn't particularly fond of the city). We got a HUGE meal prepared by the mother of the house. It was some traditional Croatian stew...basically a meat n' potatoes thing, which seems like it's the staple of every diet in the world. It was delicious and she kept piling the food on to the point that we were all completely stuffed and had to tell her--with a serious tone--that she wasn't allowed to keep feeding us or we'd all die from overeating.
After a few hours of uncomfortable digestion we decided to grab a few beers and head out to Copacabana Beach to hang out and drink for a little while. I said I knew where to go (which I did...at one point at least) so everyone followed me until I realized I was lost. We had an interesting wander through darkened streets until we finally found the beach. From the beach I did know the way back and was able to guide everyone...although they were all understandably doubtful of my ability to get us home.
The next day I just hung out for a few hours until Brittany--an Australian girl--and I got a ride to the airport for our flight to Germany. She stayed in Munich while I had to wait a few hours for my connection to Berlin. It was one of the easiest layovers I've ever had. Plenty of good beer to drink.
Next post from Berlin
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