Croatian Paradise

Well what can I say about Croatia? It is in many ways my favorite place so far and somewhere I felt totally at home for so many reasons. Stunning views, hot weather, friendly people and great memories. After leaving the villa and dropping Joy and Sherry off in Rome, Amy and I took the train from Rome to Ancona, and then took the overnight ferry from Ancona to Split. We decided that we would forego the cabin and just take regular seats for the overnight trip - thought we could save a little money and we could sleep on the beach in Hvar. Well it was in that moment we both realized that despite our slightly warped sense of our age, we are NOT 22 year old backpackers. We saw the seats and within minutes we were at reception begging for the cabin with shower and window. Ok so there it is...not into roughing it like that anymore...
We arrived in Split at 7am and then took one more ferry to Hvar Island and a bus to Hvar Town. All I can say is wow. The sea is so blue, the skies to clear and the town charming as can be. And I think its Europe's best kept secret because despite it's supreme beauty, it wasnt overly crowded. I'd arranged for a great little apartment a short walk from town , so we got settled there and then headed into the perfect beach town to start our week of fun.
We stayed in Hvar for five nights and Mona, our friend from Rome came to join us for three of those nights. The next five days were spent laying on the beach, hanging out with the locals (specifically one very cute guy) and indulging in fish and wine sitting right on the water with some of the best views I've ever seen. In addition to fantastic vistas, I can't go without saying how gorgeous the people are. Both men and women, although I had more fun observing the former. They love practicing speaking english and are very taken by Americans. The other thing that was great for me, is that the Croatian language is more or less a derivative of Russian, so once I started paying attention, I could understand some of what they were saying and could learn the crucial phrases really quickly. Dorba vecher (good evening), Gde toilette (i'll let you figure that out), dobar dan (good day)...and so on.
Anyway, needless to say it was very bittersweet leaving Hvar and all the fun friends we met there, and I even found myself conjuring up ways to change my itinerary so I could go back to Hvar one more time before going home...that's still up in the air. Nonetheless, after our gorgeous 5 days, Amy and I headed down to Dubrovnik.
Dubrovnik is an old walled city - that yet again - is stunning. I mean literally breathtaking. I can't even decribe the feeling you get when you see it. We had a great little apartment there as well and set out to explore the town the evening we arrived. The one thing that almost ruins Dubrovnik is the crowds. It is one of the most inappropriately crowded places I've ever seen...inappropriate because it's not a busy city, it's a charming seaside town. But talk about tourists galore...and not the understated ones, but the ones that get off cruise ships and tour buses and follow the red umbrella through the city. Totally annoying.
Amy and I circumvented the crowds by getting out of the city walls during our days there. On our first day, we hired a guide to take us to Montenegro on the suggestion of Sherry who had just been there in April. Our guide's name was Mio and he was a Montenegrian that lived in Dubrovnik. So he had sooo much information on the history of Montenegro as well as all of the republics that made up the former Yugoslavia. He is about 47 now, but was an Olympic hopeful in Judo. Very interesting life and great guide for the tour. We hit several places in Montenegro including Sveti Stephan whre they recently filmed the movie Casino Royale, Kotor, and one other town I simply can't remember the name of. The observation that Amy and had about Montenegro was that is was like an adolescent...trying to be a country that caters to western europeans, but wasn't quite there. Still, the vistas were superb, the fiords and seaview panoramas...another best kept secret in Eastern Europe....I give it 5 years..we'll all be taking our holidays in Montenegro...
The rest of our 3 days in Dubrovnik were spent at the beach just relaxing and soaking up the sun. Sadly, Amy left after our time in Dubrovnik, back to figure out what's next for her...and I will continue on to Southern Italy and meet up with my friend Allison. I'm looking forward to all that I have left in my travels, but I can't even imgaine it getting any better. Amy was such a great travel partner...and I'm so happy that I had the opportunity to spend all this time with her! Amy - I'd do it again in a heartbeat...you're the best! Now back to Italy...I'm sure more adventures await!