lapad by day - dubrovnik by night

Lapad Dubrovnik - Saturday 27th of April

At 6am I woke up to the sound of birdsong and went to the balcony to watch the sunrise and moonset. Needless to say, thereafter I went back to sleep.

After the second awakening, we went out for breakfast on the terrace. The breakfasts in our hotel are excellent, plenty of choice and just the fact that you can have breakfast outside in the sun... this is v a c a t i o n.

Today seriously beach weather for the first time and so we bought 2 small (marine themed) beach mattresses for the pebble beach in the small supermarket on the bay.

We almost had the beach to ourselves and even went for a swim, the sea water was 16 degrees, so it was totally doable.

Together we made another creative beach creature out of stones. After a wonderfully relaxing day at Sunset bay, we spend some time on a luxurious bed under the parasol by the pool. Before freshening up for dinner in Dubrovnik, we made a homemade starter on our balcony with bread, anchovies, ajvar and sardines. It looked like a pizza but tasted very different and was surprisingly tasty.

By bus to Dubrovnik (takes no more than fifteen minutes) and strolled around the atmospheric marble streets of the old town. In the evening this city is even more magical and during the magic hour the party is complete!

For dinner the choice fell on Restaurant Gradska Kavana Arsenal, and we were lucky because there was exactly one table for two available at the best place first rank. With live jazz-lounge music by trumpeter and pianist. Sometimes you have days when everything is just right. Bring on the prosecco!

We had oysters from Ston (where we visited yesterday), squid salad, black risotto, homemade focaccia, prosecco Astoria Cord and the super nice waitress treated us to chocolate cake on the house.

When we walked around after dinner the city was so quiet and peaceful. What a beautiful place this is! I understand why so many people visit Dubrovnik and we are also very pleased that we have arrived at a off-season period when there are less visitors.

pelješac - croatia

Roadtrip to Pelješac - Friday 26th of April - 365 km & 9830 steps

Early in the morning after breakfast we left with our rental car to destination Korčula Island.

Along the winding coastal road D8 the sky was starting to become more and more threatening.

First stop in Slano, exactly one restaurant open and nothing else to do yet. We continue our route across the peninsula where many vineyards dot the landscape.

We drove beyond the old town of Ston, in the blue water floating grids everywher. Local oysters, mussels and other shellfish are farmed and worldfamous as we discovered (and tasted) later in the week. A lonely mussel man was working on the quay, however no opened fish stall to be seen, although it was still a bit early for mussels and oysters in the morning. Let's move on.

When we arrive in Orebić to take the ferry to Korčula, it turns out we just missed it and today there are no smaller boats sailing across today because of the 'storm'. While enjoying a drink in the deserted harbor, we decide that this may not be the best day to make the crossing to Korčula and continue to poke around at Pelješac.

Is there a restaurant somewhere where we can have lunch?, we ask in our best 'Croatian'. Only the not too inviting pizzeria. We drove past a large supermarket (because of the many campsites in the area) earlier. Let's go there and find some typical Croatian tasty food and have a 'car trunk lunch'. We both choose a quite large Burek, a kind of twisted sausage roll made of puff pastry. Still warm, because it just came fresh out of the oven. It was really delicious, great choice!

Via hairpin bends we cross the mountains to Trpanj. A charming Mediterranean-style village with a truly beautiful beach and crystal clear water. Paradise found, unfortunately no beach weather yet. There is a lot of wind, but you can see that the sky is slowly clearing up. We have fun anyway, have a drink in the local cafe and return to Dubrovnik in the mid-afternoon.

Again the hairpin bends, winding roads and the beautiful landscape. Unforgettable day, which didn't go as planned, but hey that's the adventure!

When we get back to our hotel in Lapad, we are just in time to witness a beautiful sunset. On the way to the restaurant in Babin Kuk district, the sky has turned clear blue. From now on 4 days of sunshine!