Croatia is my heartsong

For my second stop on this European tour, I found myself once again in Croatia. After last summer’s brief trip to Zagreb, I knew I needed to come back and explore the Southern part of the country, especially Dubrovnik. 

As soon as I arrived, I had a feeling that whatever Heaven is, it must look like Dubrovnik. I had first caught wind of this city 10 years before during a “Where in the World is Matt Lauer?” segment on the Today Show. I knew from that moment that I had to one day go there myself.

It did not disappoint. I fell in love the moment I saw it. The city, from up above literally took my breath away. I arrived mid-day, checked into my adorable guest house that was just within the city walls and began to explore. I wanted to do it all, right away and thankfully Dubrovnik was an easy town to walk around in and small enough to get to know quite quickly. 

That first afternoon, I took the cable car to the top of the nearby mountain and saw the surrounding area. I think I took a million photos of the city from up above…and at all angles possible. It felt like being there was a dream. I couldn’t believe it. 

As I was walking around the town afterwards, I stumbled upon a local kayaking company that was promoting their evening sunset tours. I knew that I had to do that. It ended up being one of my favorite things I did my entire vacation. I loved being on the water, we did a bit of snorkeling and watched the sunset from the sea. 

Does life really get any better than this? 

I’m not sure. 

Every day that I spent in Dubrovnik, I fell more and more in love with it. The food was delicious and even if I just walked around the walls, I always found something new to see. During my first morning, I climbed the city walls and walked all around them. It’s not a bad walk and it was so cool to look down on the town.

Croatia has such an interesting history. It has been around for such a long time, but in the past 20 years has becoming its own country and is still rebuilding. Dubrovnik wasn’t hit too hard from the war, but the surround towns were. Locals told me stories of their experiences, many of them near my own age have vivid memories as they grew up surrounded by it. I couldn’t image what would happen if Dubrovnik had been bombed. It would have been such a shame to lose such a wonderful place.

Lucky for me, the week I was in town was also the beginning of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, a six week event that features a ton of musical/theater performances, orchestras, ballets and other artsy things. I was able to catch a glimpse of the opening night festival (the president of Croatia was there) and sat on the banks of the sea watching the fireworks. The city was alive till the early hours of the day with live classical music each night. I could slightly hear it from my room. What a way to fall asleep! 

One of the days, I took a ferry to Lokrum Island, just about a 15 minute ride from the mainland. It was a great hike, regardless of how hot it was and once again offered a different view of the city. The island is known for having a ton of peacocks roaming around---they were pretty, but they sure do make a horrible sound when their calling. One of the Kayak guides told us that the island is haunted and locals refuse to sleep there or be there after dark. 

I spent some time at the beach almost every day and wandered the small streets in old town.  Oddly enough, there are not a lot of sandy beaches in the area, only rocks, but I did find one just a short walk from old town that had the sand and thankfully, wasn't too crowded. 

My last night in town I ended up seeing a ballet based on “Dangerous Liaisons” It was outside, in front of an old church and just a beautiful way to end my trip! 

This country really has captured my heart. I've been lucky enough to see a lot (but really just a little) of this world and people always ask me where my favorite place is that I have been. 

I've never had an answer before. 

Hands down, it is now Croatia.