Hey, what’s up?

In this Balkan travel blog, I’ll be writing about Croatia! Croatia probably has some of the best beaches, accompanied by absolutely stunning sunsets. On a side note, the hotels and food here are quite expensive! Well, tourism is one of the country’s major sources of income, so I’m not really surprised. The scenery was breathtaking, and so were the prices. My wallet was definitely fighting for its life.

I took a bus from Montenegro to Croatia. The border crossing was actually proper this time, but because of that, it took forever to get here. There were so many buses, and everyone had to get off to have their passports checked individually. It took nearly 2 hours just to cross the border! The same thing happened when I was leaving Croatia for Bosnia. At this point, I think I spent more time at border crossings than actually enjoying my holiday. My passport was having a busier holiday than I was.

We only had limited time here, just one night, so time was of the essence! We arrived in the afternoon, so we decided to quickly check into our hotel, drop off our luggage and head straight out to explore. After spending nearly two hours at the border crossing, we really couldn’t afford to waste any more time. At this point, our itinerary was running on hopes, prayers and pure desperation.

The first place we went to was, as usual, the Old Town. This was probably one of the prettiest Old Towns I’ve ever visited! It was giving Edinburgh vibes because there were so many stairs, but the Old Town itself was absolutely stunning. Probably because it’s right by the sea, which makes everything look ten times more beautiful. They also had plenty of beautiful postcards and other souvenirs. Honestly, at this point, I think I’ve spent more money on postcards than actual food. My priorities are clearly questionable.

The Old Town is surrounded by city walls, but you have to pay quite a hefty price to walk along them. I was initially perplexed as to why it was so expensive just to walk on some walls until I recently found out that they actually filmed Game of Thrones (GOT) here. Well, thank God I’m not a fan of GOT, because there’s no way I’m paying that much just to walk on some ancient rocks. My bank account has already suffered enough on this trip.

There’s a cliff at the part of the Old Town facing the sea. There were quite a few Europeans and Brits jumping from a rather high cliff into the sea for a swim. If I knew how to swim and had 100% confidence in my body shape, I would definitely have joined them. Unfortunately, I’m basically a hermit crab with the swimming skills of a brick, so I’ll pass. I’d rather admire the sea from a safe distance than become a breaking news headline in Croatia.

It was almost evening, so we decided to head back to our hotel, and that’s when we witnessed the most amazing sunset! I think this was probably the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen. The colours of the sky were absolutely breathtaking, and for once, I actually stopped complaining about how expensive everything was in Croatia. Honestly, the sunset was so beautiful that I almost forgot about my financial struggles. Almost.

At night, I decided to go for a walk to admire the city from above. Here’s the photo! I felt quite safe walking around at night, and I swear almost every house here seems to have a pedestrian pathway leading down to the Old Town! Very convenient, although with the amount of stairs everywhere, I feel like the locals probably don’t even need a gym membership. Their daily commute is already a full leg workout.

The next morning, I went for an early morning hike and managed to catch the sunrise while enjoying a stunning view of the Old Town from above! It was definitely colder up there, and the early morning breeze was incredibly refreshing. I also encountered a small snake along the way, which I casually took a photo of, only to find out later that it was actually venomous. Thank God I didn’t accidentally step on it! Apparently, encountering snakes has become a recurring theme of my Balkan adventures. At this point, I’m starting to think they’re following me across international borders.

By the way, Dubrovnik has these unique red rooftops on almost all its houses, especially in the Old Town. I find them incredibly aesthetic and beautiful in their own way. The view of all those red rooftops against the blue sea is just stunning!

They also have amazing fish burgers here! I went to the same fish burger shop twice because their burgers were so good that I simply had to go back for more. I still remember that salmon burger! So juicy and delicious. Honestly, I only had one night in Dubrovnik, yet somehow managed to visit the same burger shop twice. Clearly, I know how to prioritise my limited time abroad.

Anyway, stay tuned for the last country of my Balkan adventure, Bosnia and Herzegovina! Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in my next post. Hopefully, with fewer snakes and less financial damage!