I am finally able to post about our recent travel last spring break. Hubs and I were both sick after we got back, blaming it on Germany's crazy weather! :) Anyway, we spent 6D/5N in Dubrovnik and stayed at Hotel Bellevue about 10 min walk to the city wall. I love, love, love this place! It was a perfect location away from everyone ha!
Dubrovnik the beautiful.
Day 1 - We arrived in Dubrovnik around 1pm from a hour and 50 min flight from Frankfurt. Our hired driver was already waiting for us with hubby's name. It was hilarious seeing his name with a Ms. in it. Just so you know, I laughed at his name too the very first time we met as it is of a lady's and it never fails that people think he's a she.
The scenery from the airport to the hotel was spectacular! I didn't even think of taking pics as I was too excited at the thought of just being there. After checking in and getting settled in our room, I opened the door to the balcony and this is what greeted us :)
I can already tell that our vacation is going to be amazing! We decided to just hang out at the hotel for the rest of the day since the rest of the week will be busy. Come dinner time we tried the restaurant a couple mins from our hotel, Magellan. Hubby ordered lamb chops and I had grilled squid then chocolate souffle for our dessert. Yum!
Day 2 - We woke up early to get ready for our trip to Montenegro. After eating a sumptuous breakfast at the hotel, which by the way was very good, our tour guide picked us up and we started the journey until we passed the border and went thru passport check. Our first stop was in Perast, an old town in Montenegro rich in Venice-like architecture. We took a small boat and went to Our Lady of the Rocks, the only artificial island in the Adriatic sea. Story has it that in 1452 two sailors were jutting small rocks after a long day at sea and discovered a picture of Virgin Mary perched on the stone, the chapel was built in 1630.
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| Our Lady of the Rocks island |
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| Monastery of St. George |
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| Little cafe by the bay |
We continued our trip to Kotor located on the beautiful coast of Montenegro. We then went and walked inside the city wall declared as UNESCO World Heritage then climbed on top of the hill to see Kotor bay. While driving around towns, the ruins of the war were visible and some places are still rebuilding homes but the town was not as lively as it look probably because it wasn't summer yet. Then we had a quick stop over to see the islet of Sveti Stefan where the rich and famous stay for vacation. After seeing the attractions we sat down and had late lunch at Restaurant Jadran in Budva. Hubby had grilled squid and I had mussels in white wine. After we ate we walked around some more but at this point I was feeling tired and I wasn't in the mood to take pictures anymore haha! Then we head back to Dubrovnik 11 hours later. It was a good trip with Olga our tour guide and Ivan our race car driver :))
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| View of Kotor Bay on top of the hill |
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| Sveti Stefan islet |
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Lunch by the sea side
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Day 3 - Another full day of traveling as we were headed to Bosnia & Herzegovina. We had the same driver Ivan but a different tour guide this time, Sonja. We traveled on the other side of Dubrovnik and saw another view of Croatian islands. We feasted our eyes on the view and next thing we know it was time to get our first passport check. We had to go thru 3 borders, Bosnia-Croatia-Bosnia and nobody was allowed to take pictures while at the border. Our first stop was at Medugorje, a town located in Herzegovina where an apparition took place. In 1981, The Virgin Mary appeared to 6 kids and received apparitions and still receiving them up until these days.
After walking around we had some gelatos to quench our thirst while waiting for our driver and tour guide. In front of the church were stores full of Catholic souvenirs and the back was an open auditorium where they held masses. There was also a statue of Jesus Christ and people were lining up to wipe handkerchiefs, there were also group of people singing in another statue, it was something I don't see all the time as I'm not a Catholic.
Then we were headed to Mostar, the highlight of our trip. The Mostar bridge erected today was the replica of the original as it was destroyed during the war back in the 90's. Mostar was known for it's old Turkish houses and Old bridge, Stari Most after which it was named. For 20 euro a diver can jump on the bridge and there was also old stories according to our local tour guide that if a foreigner wanted to marry a local girl, he must prove his love by jumping on the bridge as well. Tsk! After taking pictures, we ate lunch and enjoyed the rest of the trip walking around looking for souvenirs. Ivan our driver and our tour guides will be missed as it was the end of our trips outside Dubrovnik.
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| Mostar bridge |
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| Cevapi, traditional Bosnian food |
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| Yet another grilled squid :)) |
Tried squeezing a cable car ride with our itinerary, unfortunately they stopped the rides due to strong winds so with our tired feet from walking all day, we hung out at Buza Bar and had some drinks.
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| Buza Bar looking down from the wall |
We ended our amazing day and last night in Dubrovnik with a dinner at Restaurant Posat just outside the Pile gate. As usual, I had my seafood pasta and hubby had filet mignon. Their food was really good and cheaper than Porto.
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| A little something from the chef :) |
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| My delicious pasta in golden sauce |
Day 6 - Our last day and I was feeling sad. We went to Panorama restaurant on top via cable car. The view will blow you away! I was doing good with my 'seafood diet' on this vacation but I don't know why I decided at the last minute I wanted cheese burger and fries knowing I hardly eat burgers. I should've had sandwich with anchovies which I wanted in the first place. Couldn't even finish half of the half of my burger :(
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| View from the top |
We headed back to the hotel while we waited for our driver to drop us off at the airport. I will surely miss the crashing waves that brought tranquility at the end of a long day, nice and friendly people at the hotel, housekeeping lady that knocks our door everyday to give us chocolate, our tour guides and Ivan but one thing I won't miss are the cats littering everywhere. This was my favorite vacation so far and I'm glad hubby enjoyed it just the same.
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