Steph and I were supposed to take a nice group trip down to Croatia, the prettiest place on earth last weekend. Unfortunately, euroadventures cancelled the trip and so we ended up the only two people still willing to foot the 12 hour bus ride, so we went alone. JUST THE TWO OF US.
The bus ride wasn’t as terrible as would have been expected, we overdosed on tylenol pm and slept the entire way there and arrived fresh faced and numb at 9am. (It was freezing and we also lost circulation from not moving for 12 hours). We arrived at the hostel, which was actually kind of awesome, ate breakfast, and headed out.
We first went to the highest point of the area, Marjan Hill (pronounced just like my mother’s favorite tiles game) and ordered lemonade/coffee and took in the view. Croatia is literally one of the most beautiful places I have ever been too. I am actually deciding between Croatia and the Galapagos for the most naturally beautiful places I’ve been. Split was so cute, with it’s little marble promenade with cafes and benches on the water. It was just breathtaking.
just a casual battle of the marching bands on the promenade
It was also the Croatia Boat Show! After attending the Antibes Yacht Show, I guess one could say I’m kind of a boat connoisseur now. There were also a lot of marching bands hanging around, which may or may not have been related to the boat show but was a weird sight to see.
they just had these steps leading from the promenades into the crystal clear water everywhere!
After hanging out at Marjan, we went to the beach where we rented these lounge chairs on the water, had a delicious meal, and then went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. On our way to dinner we went into the historic square and there was a musician playing while everyone sat on the stairs of this square and watched. There were these two adorable children who were around 3 or 4 playing together and it was the cutest thing we’ve ever seen. They didn’t know each other so the entire time they would play this game where they would dance together and then one would get shy and run to their parents and repeat. It was so cute.
The next day we woke up and went on a boat to go island hopping. They called it a Booze Cruise- but no alcohol was actually served people just brought their own. At first we sat on the top deck of the boat but we later realized what I should have known from the week I spent in the Galapagos- the lower deck is always the place to go. Everyone on the top deck was being loud and annoying and rowdy and Steph and I wanted to just relax and take in the rays. The bottom deck was much better.
island #1. Life is so rough.
We got to the first island which had a tiny town (if one could even call it that) where Steph and I got coffee and then walked along the shore. The water was crystalline clear and so blue and it was just incredible. We walked around for a bit and then got back onto the boat, where they served lunch. Lunch was lettuce with pepper and chicken with pepper. They certainly love black pepper. Steph and I clearly sat alone- although I do have to say that we made 4 friends on this trip! We’re so sociable.
The next island we went to was even less of a town and equally as adorable. We laid out on rocks and went into the water for a bit and just relaxed before getting back on the boat.
When we got back we literally ran back to shower and then met to go to this cute little medieval town on the water for dinner. It was an interesting experience, but the food was great and we got good ice cream. We also heard that this was the place they used to take their mistresses back in the day, so of course Steph and I joked that that’s why we were going.
The next morning we had breakfast and got on the bus for a 2 hour trip to a national park. This place was INCREDIBLE. Imagine Avatar. That’s what this was. (I never actually saw Avatar, but everyone else made this connection and I google imaged the movie and concur). We walked on this wooden pathway through crystalline water and waterfalls and it was breathtaking and we took a million pictures.
We then got back on the bus and drove for 10 hours. It was a pretty long ride, but we watched some good movies, got annoyed with the people behind us, and were just generally too contented with the weekend to care that it was a long ride.
We are obsessed with this place. The great thing about Croatia is that it is truly a hidden gem. It is by far one of the most gorgeous places on earth, but its also so pristine and pure. It didn’t feel like it was filled with tourists and we frequently felt like we were the only people there. It was unbelievable and I think everyone should go if they could. We didn’t really do much except relax, eat, and take in the natural beauty- but it was still one of our favorite trips.
On a less happy note, while we were in Croatia, Dayna started experiencing stomach pains and so Amy had to take her to the emergency room. She ended up needing to have her appendix taken out on Friday and then just went home today. WE MISS YOU. Luckily, she was released from the hospital Monday and improved significantly every day so we were able to see her a lot during the last week and she was able to eat gelato and Italian food before returning to New York.
BUT WE MISS YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just a warning, these pictures do NOT do Croatia justice. It was really hard to choose the ones to post, and none can really capture how pretty Croatia is.
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