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Dubrovnik, Croatia

I got up early to catch the sunrise on deck and experience the feeling of waking up in a new country whilst gliding though the harbour. My dear unromantic hubby didn’t join me – but I still enjoyed it thoroughly.

The port in Dubrovnik is pretty and with clear deep water, surrounded by hills with tall trees and rectangular oatmeal coloured stone buildings which have white window frames and terracotta tiled roofs. It is called the pearl of the Adriatic Sea and I am not sure why, whether its a treasure? However it does look lovely.

There seems more space here than in Italy and despite being a city there is a lot more greenery and tended gardens, both public and private. Roads are true two lane and cars are bigger and more modern. There are English as well as Croatian signposts everywhere and once we had cleared port customs it was only a 3 minute walk to the bus stop to take us to our B&amp;B up on the small hill in old town 2.5 km away.

Old town is medieval looking and nestled inside a walled fortress with moats and drawbridge on two sides. It sits on the edge of a cliff on a small point or peninsular surrounded by the crystal clear emerald and turquoise waters of the Adriatic Sea which in turn is fringed with a scattering of islands. I see that I have mentioned ‘clear’ water twice – it is just surprising to see water like this surrounding a city which is so very beautiful and clean.

The information office at the wall entry pointed us in the right direction of our B&amp;B which was in a quaint older stone section just outside the walls separated by an small sheltered bay. As we approached a final steep 30 step ascent a round wrinkled and smiley face leaned out of a high window and asked “Apartments Mia? “Yes” we replied, “Ahhbee?” “Yes”, “come please” .

We were greeted on the small sunny deck by her son Dino (late 30,s) who manages the apartments, which is a home with 3 rooms converted for B&amp;B. He was very welcoming and gave us pointers on a map while mum served us strong coffee.

The B&amp;B has a lovely position sitting under an old fortress with trees and flowers amongst the rocky terrain. The lanes are narrow ( but wider than Italy or Spain) and windy as they weave up and around the hill, yet it feels a lot airier due to the colour of the stone and architectural style. It is noticeably cleaner here too which gives a brighter feel. Our bedroom has a shuttered window which frames a view of the little bay and walled city behind. It is nice to hear the sea against the rocks, not to mention enjoying the cooling fresh sea breeze.

The weather was very warm, high 20’s and we headed off to explore with the first stop being a re-fuel. Dino had given us his favourite places to eat and we hunted out a recommended Bosnian restaurant to try “excellent cevapis” which are a meaty sausage like a kofta. The restaurant was busy but we got a seat and ordered a special veal, chicken and okra soup, cevapi, and Bosnian antipasto with different cheeses; cow, sheep and one cured in sheepskin? Yep that’s what it had on the menu and lovely speck looking smoked beef on the platter.

Well, as you can see from the photos it looked great and tasted even better. It was simply some of the finest tasting and prepared food I have had of the “peasant style” (meaning not modern cuisine). The freshly baked Bosnian pita bread was crispy like a buttery pastry on the outside but no fat (perhaps brushed with olive oil) yet light and fluffy with the right amount of chewiness on the inside. The cevapis were juicy and subtly spiced to perfection that I could not pick any one flavour dominating. The same can be said for the soup which was presented in a lovely metal urn Turkish style bowl – creamy, gluttonous rich stock, and veges cooked just right with the cutest 5 mm long baby okra. The cheeses and meats were very nice, oh and the cevaps are served with lots of onion and a cross between sour cream and a ricotta that they call kevap – delicious.

The Bosnian coffee looked Turkish style (although I have never tried Turkish as I am not usually a black coffee drinker) and was really nice, especially with a sugar cube and Turkish delight! It was smooth, aromatic and soft, not what I expected at all. An added bonus was that this huge quality meal including two drinks, only cost 230 krun which is about 45 NZD.

Satisfied and agreeing to come back and eat our way through the menu we then explored the old city inside the walls. Narrow lanes were built to provide shade and airflow, and on a hot day this is welcomed when exploring. There are lots of shops in old town, almost more than residential or certainly the lower level anyhow. The prices are high, so I didn’t get too tempted to buy but I did like the traditional style jewellery in silver which is intricate work like middle eastern with lots of red coral and turquoise used.

Most of the restaurants are Italian style with pizza and pasta which we probably won’t dine at as we want to have a break from having been in Italy for two weeks – although due to Italian influences historically they view this style of food equally their own with a regional twist.

Our wander took us outside the gates to a small beach with some pockets of what resembled sand, but more a fine grainy dirt and lots of various sized pebbles and stones. Looking at the stones being smooth you would think that they would not hurt your feet but they are so hard they feel sharp and really hurt! You need aqua boots and at one point when I was paddling I fell over as it was too sore to walk and have your feet try and grip in the sinking gravel. Ouch! I did enjoy the water though as soon as I got acclimatised to the temperature, and resting in the sun with Vernon afterwards was a welcome rest we have not had the luxury of doing for a long time (too busy exploring when we go on holiday).

In the evening we went back to the Bosnian and had a salad each. One a turkey and horseradish, the other a greek style which had the usual plus hard boiled eggs, capers, and a creamy yoghurt dressing. Bread side order, freshly baked fat pide style – delicious. We managed dessert of baklava with an orange scented syrup and a chocolate and nut stuffed baked apple with a lemon scented syrup. The later was interesting but needed an anglaise or cream with it. Again very good price, including a drink each the bill totalled approx. 30 NZD.

Clearly I have found a new cuisine that is worth exploring more and Vernon and I actually found it tastier than Italian, notwithstanding enjoying that too of course.

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