Escape to the Balkans

When Pete asked me if I wanted to rendez-vous in the Balkans (after his business trip to Amsterdam and before mine to London) I knew I was dating the right guy :)  Driving the Dalmatian Coast, hiking the mountains of Montenegro and chilling out in Dubrovnik?!?! Um, YES PLEASE!  Sign me up.  

It actually wasn't our first trip together.  We met back in 2009 when we both traveled abroad to Israel and stayed good friends throughout the years.  Here's a throwback pic of our first hike together:

Hiking Masada at sunrise. Israel: Jan 2009

Obvious first step in planning the trip was planning my wardrobe (these pics are for you Michelle, since I know you've been missing them):

City Break

Nights on the Town

Hiking / Adventuring

We planned out the trip together, focusing most of our time on roadtripping the Croatian coast and exploring the hills of Montenegro, hiking in the national parks and being outdoors.  Pete got a new toy for the trip, a Nikon D7900 SLR.  We took over a thousand photos (you can see our full album here), but I put some of my favorites below.

Pete, totally pumped, on the tarmac in Dubrovnik

on the ferry boat

Montenegro literally means "black mountains" - it was so beautiful!  We drove down the coast from the airport in Dubrovnik and to a town called Kotor - situated along a beautiful lake, with towering mountains all around.  The roads throughout are crazy, with hairpin turns and steep cliffs - all which provided amazing views.  We took a ferry across the lake and through this adorable little lake town of cottages on the way.  Once in Kotor, we explored the old walled city, had some lunch and hiked up to the lookout above the town.

Pete, just looking cute 

Lookout over Kotor

Our sweet ride on the winding roads

We got to Zabljak around nightfall and checked into our adorably rustic-chic, mountain lodge, Hotel Soa. It was located a short walk from the entrance of Dormitor National Park where were hiking the next day.

View out our window in the morning

I knew that we were planning on doing a "real hike" (ie. not just a stroll through the woods), but I don't think I realized at the time that it would be a 9 hour hike, 3000 meter elevation climb, through some rain...and back.  It was a really tough hike, but probably the most beautiful one I've been on.  And the company was pretty awesome (thankfully Pete didn't "Loneliest Planet" along the way :)

Our first stop was Black Lake.  The water was so green and the forest around was so dense with black pines.  It was stunning.

From there, we climbed.  Up, up and further up.

that tiny tan line on the left was our path up!

Made it to the top!

the view was breathtaking!

We were headed to the Ice Cave, but sadly, the rain hit right as we approached the cave entrance.  We were drenched by a freezing downpour that made the relaxing picnic lunch we had been dreaming about a no-go.  When at last we finally made it to the ice cave we found the entrance partially flooded and the ice mostly melted.  Oh well, it's all about the journey, not the destination, right?  So we headed back down the other side of the mountain, and thankfully the rain let up and the trail was mostly downhill.  We only passed a few other travelers on the trip: a phantom yellow lab that only I saw (I was sure it was Vincent from Lost) and a really intense Russian couple and their young kids (maybe 7 and 5 yrs old) who totally kicked our asses on the hike.  We were both beyond impressed at their speed with the kids (we were definitely huffing and puffing and taking some breaks).

Pete captured this special moment after my potty break

We got back to our lodge late that night, exhausted, but totally in awe of the beautiful day we had just had.  We enjoyed some (much needed) massages, a tasty, hot dinner by the fire and some awesome Montenegro wine.  

The next morning we slept in (a bit) and headed out to check out Tara River Canyon and Tara Bridge.  The former being the 2nd largest canyon in the world (1st being Grand Canyon) and the latter is featured in scenes in lots of movies.  It was a crazy big canyon and a really high up bridge.  I'm not typically afraid of heights, but I have to admit it was a little freaky!  There was a ziplining tour that went across the canyon, I was secretly glad it was closed the morning we were there, bc I know Peter would have wanted to go and I would've had to chicken out...

We decided instead of heading back down through Montenegro to Croatia the way we came, we would head through Bosnia and check out a 3rd country on our trip (and get another passport stamp).  Bosnia was just as beautiful - towering mountains and so much greenery.  The border check was a bit intense, but we made it.

Welcome to Bosnia (Republic of Srpska)

We're in BOSNIA!

sheep crossing!

Pete, still not a master of the art of selfies with his new camera

When we stopped for gas in Bosnia, Pete chatted up the gas station attendant when asking for some directions (we were using old fashioned paper maps a lot of the way).  I was hungry for lunch (basically, I'm always hungry) and pushed him to get a lunch recommendation.  We didn't just get a recommendation, we got a full escort to "the best spot in Trebinje" and we were warmly welcomed by the owners and their family.  We had some pretty great beef stew, grilled squid and tasty local Bosnian wine.

From there, it was just a hop, skip and a jump back to Croatia to drop our wheels at the airport and then transfer to our lovely, seaside hotel: Hotel Bellevue Dubrovnik.  The drive was right along the coast and we enjoyed the most beautiful sunset over the Adriatic. 

view of the moonrise from our terrace

That evening we walked into the old city for a late dinner at Rozario - a cute little bistro with seating out on the cobblestone streets under an old church.  The old walled city was pretty magical at night with the lights on and the bar and restaurant seating spilling out onto the alleyways.

Dubrovnik at night

We slept that night with our terrace doors open and the sounds of the waves crashing below and woke up to the loveliest view of the Adriatic Sea from our terrace:

Room with a view

After enjoying a tasty breakfast alfresco at the hotel, we headed back to the old town to explore:

Just before lunch, we stopped at Cafe Buza, for the wine and the views.

Afterwards we headed to lunch (and more local wine) at Azur.

After a nice, leisurely lunch (it WAS vacation after all) we explored more of the old town:

We joined a guided tour called "Walls & Wars" that provided a really interesting historical overview of the city, the building of the walls and the wars throughout the years that have impacted Dubrovnik.  We had a really fun tour guide (who I thought looked a lot like Brody from Homeland) - he kept it entertaining and even pointed out spots where Game of Thrones was filmed (much to the glee of our fellow tourists / GOT super fans).

 

Our tour ended and we had just enough time to take the Dubrovnik Cable Car up to the hilltop to catch the sunset.

check out Pete's awesome camera work!

That night was our last dinner together on the trip, so we went out to a special spot (our favorite of the whole week) at Pantarul.  It was an amazing tasting menu -- the veal that Pete got was maybe the best veal either of us has ever had!

The next morning was our last day of vacation.  We spent it lounging at the hotel's private beach, swimming in the Adriatic, and checking out the pool.  Such a wonderful way to end a truly amazing vacation.

Ahhhhhhhh!

Cheers!

My flight to London was that afternoon and Pete stayed overnight before heading back to the US early the next morning.  I got a beautiful last look at a Croatian sunset from the plane.  Such a magical trip, hopefully, the first of many together.