Croatia Part I: Dubrovnik Old Town

I got back from Croatia just over a week ago.

Oh my god. You have to go. It's amazing. We went for seven nights but it felt like we were gone forever (in a good way!), because we moved around a few places. 

The first stop was Dubrovnik Old Town. 

You enter the Old Town through its medieval drawbridge, which basically feels like you're staying in a castle (pretty impressive). Once you're through, you've got the old port on one side (we arrived at night so were met with glittering water reflecting off the marina restaurants), and the sweeping boulevard with its rickety, cobbled old alleyways on the other. 

We raced down from our apartment in the morning to get breakfast before the first cruise ship dumped thousands of people in the port. The steep, stepped streets zig-zag their way down to the main boulevard, where an abundance of cafes, restaurants and ice-cream parlours spill out onto the pavement. 

Imagine our surprise as we were met with this...

Happy holidays! Ha. Still, not to be put off by a 'spot' of rain (we are British, after all), we ignored it and set off to enjoy a breakfast beer..

The Buza Bar is incredible - the entrance is a ruined gate halfway along the town wall. You could walk past it in a second and not know you'd missed it. It's chipped right into the cliff edge and offers amazing views out to sea.

The storm got worse:

Eventually it decided to leave, meaning we could enjoy our time exploring the Old Town!

The mix of decadent religious architecture with bustling street markets and turquoise water really make it special, I think.

We went to the Buza Bar every day and found a landmark to help us mark the spot:

We ate some amazing food but one place that really stands out for me is The Arsenal restaurant right on the water's edge in the marina. 

There are huge ship hulls indoors that serve as private dinner areas, but we chose to sit at the very front to take advantage of the view.

We ordered a bottle of local white wine, mussels, Parma ham & melon, sea bass and tuna steak and ohmygod it was all delicious - biggest food coma ever.

I can't find their website but the reviews on Tripadvisor say enough. 

It was sad to say goodbye but moving on to Lopud Island didn't seem too bad a trade...