The Dalmatian Coast

"What a beaut Clark."  Cousin Eddie said it best, and I could not find a more fitting expression to aptly summarise our trip to Croatia.  We had an amazing trip.  If you have never seen pictures or experienced it for yourself, it is one of the most dramatic and undeveloped coastlines that I have ever seen.  The Dalmatian Coast gets its name from the Dinaric alps that run North to South along the Adriatic Sea.  The contrast of light and colour between the striking grey mountain range and the ultra blue glow of the Adriatic Sea is astounding.  We rented a car and drove from Split in the North to Dubrovnik in the South, all along this mountainous coastal highway, and the panoramas were beyond description.  The Croatian people were super kind and almost everyone was proficient in English.  It is amazing to think that this country and people were consumed by a brutal civil war and just gained their independence in the mid 90's.  If you recall the Croatian War in which they fought for their independence from Serbia and the former Yugoslavia, and also the name Slobodan Milosevic, you have an idea of the atrocities that these people have endured.  They are super nationalistic and so proud to share their country and experiences with others.  Many people have also asked about the food.  It is predominantly seafood based of course, but there is also a significant Italian influence considering that the East Coast of Italy lies just about 200 miles across the Adriatic.  The Adriatic is not really known for its traditional fish, but the squid and octopus were fantastic.

Sadly, Ann had a wicked cold most of the trip, but she was a real trooper.  Even though we stayed in 4 different places over the course of 10 days, we felt like we discovered a ton and also had several days of just sun and relaxation.  Here are the highlights:

Day 1 - Split
- Hiked up to Marjan, a hill on the peninsula of the city with brilliant views back over Split, the surrounding islands, and the mountains.
- Stopped at Cafe Vidilica, sitting high above the city with a full panoramic view, and had our first Ozujsko, Croatian Lager
- Pub crawl through Old Town

Day 2 - Split
- Beach Day and discovering all of the different swimming coves along the coast.
- Drinks and dinner in Narodni Trg(People's Square) followed by an after dinner drink on the Riva(Sea Promenade) watching the sunset.

Day 3 - Split to Hvar Island
- Wow, this island was amazing.  We stayed at the Amfora Grand Hotel on Hvar(see pic below from our hotel lobby)
- Afternoon with cocktails by the pool
- Evening cocktails in Trg Stjepana (main square in Hvar) and a fantastic dinner at Dalmatino on their sidewalk cafe

Day 4 - Hvar
- Morning hike through Old Town Hvar and up to the Roman Fortress built in the early 1500's that sits high above the harbour
- Afternoon by the pool
- Dinner at this recommended Croatian Tapas style restaurant called Konoba Menego.  The atmosphere was awesome, but the food was terrible.  Don't get the drunken figs.  This was also about the height of Ann's illness, and she decided that a large amount of the homemade wine might do the trick.  It did something alright;)  Dinner was followed by a stop at a bar/club near the port where "Wedding Ann" made a brief appearance before the inevitable brick walls brought her to her Berenz halt!!

Day 5 - Hvar to Split to Makarska
- We ferried back to Split and rented a car to journey down the coast towards Dubrovnik with an overnight stop in a small village called Makarska.
- We stayed in a beautiful hotel right in the harbour and had a wonderful dinner about 3 feet from the water.
- Best sunset of the trip in Makarska

Day 6 - Makarska to Dubrovnik
- Hotel Kazbek was where it was at (see pool pic below).  Ann did an outstanding job of finding this place.  There were about 20 rooms and it was almost completely empty.  We basically had the hotel and often times, the pool to ourselves.
- Cocktails by the pool in the afternoon
- We stayed in for dinner that night in the hotel restaurant

Day 7 - Dubrovnik (BEST DAY OF THE TRIP)
- We had arranged a boat excursion through our hotel to visit 3 different islands off of the coast of Dubrovnik.  It turns out, it was just the 2 of us.  The hotel had its own boat and we had a Captain and a First Mate completely at our disposal.
(1) Kolocep - small Island filled with Pine and Karob trees.  We spent about 30-45 minutes walking around the island.
(2) Lopud - Sunj Beach, one of the only sandy beaches in all of the Adriatic.  We anchored in the cove and Ann and I swam in to the beach.  It was awesome.  There was a little beach cafe there as well that had been set up for the boaters and Island hoppers.
(3) Sipan - Island discovered in the middle ages where the Dubrovnik nobility kept their summer homes.  As part of our excursion, we were told there was lunch, but really had no clue what that entailed.  It was amazing.  We had an awesome lunch overlooking the bay at this quaint little hotel called Hotel Bozica (chocolate soufflé was ridiculous).
- Finally, we had them take us out to the bay in front of Old Town Dubrovnik to experience it from the sea.  It was breathtaking.
- We had dinner and drinks in Old Town.  We had one of our best meals of the trip that night at a little Restaurant called Konoba Dalmatino.  We had already fallen in love that week with a Dalmatian Chardonnay called Posip, so a bottle (maybe 2!!) of that paired with a Black Ink Risotto and a whole grilled Sea Bass.  WOW.

Day 8 - Dubrovnik
- Pool day and Kevin's introduction to Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele!!!
- Cave Bar and Hotel - our hotel had recommended searching out this bar that had been built inside a Cave and it was incredible.

Day 9 (last Day) - Dubrovnik
- Hotel Lapad - When we had booked Hotel Kazbek, we did not fully understand where it was located in relation to Old Town Dubrovnik.  Since we were leaving early on Sunday morning, we decided to book a hotel for the last night closer to the city and ultimately closer to the airport.  It was closer alright, by about 100 yards!!  It gave us a pretty good laugh, and it was nice to have a change of scenery for the last day.
- Wall Tour of Old Town - you can walk the entire perimeter of Old Town along its fortress walls, and it affords the best views of the city.

It was an unforgettable 10 days in Croatia.  It was great to fully disconnect from work and finally rid ourselves of our "English Rose" colouring.  I wish that Ann could have felt better, but she did not let it slow her down at all.  We had a ton of laughs, so many memories made, and thousands of images forever imprinted on our minds.  We hope to see you again Croatia.

That is about all that I have for today.  Ann has been in Frankfurt for work this week and we are off to Sweden tomorrow for the weekend.  Ann's cousin Derek, his wife Elisa, and their 2 little girls live in Gothenburg.  They have very kindly invited us up to stay at Elisa's family's summer cottage on the North Sea and take part in the big midsummer party in Sweden, which is centered around the summer solstice.  We are so excited.