Before heading to Montenegro we took a bus from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik, Croatia. In addition to the 1000+ islands Croatia’s main land is divided into two parts bisected by a sliver of Bosnia’s coastal connection. Dubrovnik is in the much smaller southern section of Croatia and was our first stop in this amazingly beautiful country. The history of Dubrovnik is very long with it being an important coastal city during the Middle Ages. With this history comes unique architecture that is dominated by a gigantic wall surrounding the old city. This being the first walled city of our travels it amazed and transported us back in time.

Seafood!

Multi-language menu

In this relatively small city there were more than 15 churches/monasteries in addition to a secured port.  At the port we indulged in local mussels and calamari (each came in individual huge pots) and washed it down with some local white wine. The menu at this place was translated into 11 languages! Don’t forget the ice cream to top it off!
We stayed in an apartment on a peninsula about 3k from old town but less that 1k from Copacabana Beach. Obviously not as good as the famous beach in Brazil, but a nice place to workout, swim, and catch some rays nonetheless. The view from our apartment was watching the enormous cruise ships come and go each day near the iconic bridge of the area. Fortunately, we were blessed with some bright sunset evenings streaked with jet streams.

View from balcony

Sunsets and wine

After spending our week in Montenegro we headed back to this area to pick up our rental car then headed to Ston, Croatia. Ston is known for three things – award winning oysters, self-proclaimed ‘world’s best salt’, and a huge wall that connects the two towns of Mali Ston and Ston while providing an ancient defense for the peninsula it resides on. The oysters were too strong for Katie while Zane wanted to eat them everyday. The salt tasted like good sea salt, and the impressive wall reminded us of sections of the Great Wall.

Ston Wall

Ston Wall

The peninsula is also in wine country. Driving from one end to the other to we passed winery after winery, vineyards, and fields of olive trees. At the end of it we reached the ferry to the island of Korcula, the birthplace of Marco Polo. Here we wondered the old town, eating local cake, watching young kids fish and convincing ourselves not to buy overpriced but really cool navigation tools/maps in the endless Marco Polo tourist shops. Topped the day off with a quick tasting at a small wine shop and a sunset on our balcony overlooking the wall, hillside and farms.

More Pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/105315223482012434599/Dubrovnik_Ston

Drive along coast and wine country

Ferry to Korcula