For those who just started following along, I recently re-discovered my old travel blog from my first trip to Europe in the summer of 2014. I wanted to share these entries with you, because it is amazing to look back and reminisce on that trip. [Side note - this was all before I was vegan, so if there is any confusion about that food I was eating, that's why.] Here was my fifth blog post from that trip.
August 3, 2014;
"Rachel and I woke up around 8:30am and went to the pool deck’s breakfast buffet. We were surprised not to see our parents out there, because they normally wake up around 7:00am and sit by the pool deck for a few hours. When we finished eating, we decided to look around the ship to see where they were. Since we were near our room, we knocked on their door, just in case they were in there, and somehow they were still sleeping. The room doesn’t have any windows, and since it was so dark in there, they had no idea it was 9:30 already. They got ready and rushed out to breakfast before it closed at 10:00, and Rachel & I went to the room to get our bathing suits on.
The pool water was freezing, so we decided to go in the hot tub first. We were in the hot tub with a family from the U.K., who has a 12 year old daughter named Tia, and an 18 year old son named Connor. We talked to them for about half an hour, and they were all very nice. When they left the hot tub, my parents had changed into their bathing suits, so we all went in the adult pool, which was a lot warmer than the first one. My parents met a couple from Montreal, who they talked to for about an hour, while we hung out in the pool with our Spanish friend from yesterday. We thought his name was Frank, but it turns out that it’s Fran (short for Francisco, which he thinks is an ugly name). We stayed in the pool until about 1:00, and then we ate lunch at the buffet with Fran, and then we went back to our room to change and get ready to get off the boat in Dubrovnik.
We had booked a shore excursion yesterday, so at 2:15, we met up with our tour group in the theater. We got off the ship at 2:30, and went on a bus. The first place we went was Old Town Dubrovnik. The entire old town area is surrounded by extremely tall city walls. This is where they film Game of Thrones, because the walls look like castle walls. There even used to be a moat around the walls.
For our tour, we all got radios with headsets, and we walked around the old town with our tour guide for 45 minutes while she explained a lot of history and facts about the town. It is honestly one of the coolest towns I’ve been to in my entire life. When the walking tour was over, we had an hour of free time to walk around by ourselves and do whatever we wanted. We heard about a place called the “Hole in the Wall”, where the town residents made a hole in one part of the city walls and would sit on the rocks and jump into the sea and swim. We walked over there, and it was amazing. Since they don’t really have beaches in Dubrovnik, this is the closest thing they have. Everyone lays their towels on the rocks, and jumps off the rocks into the water, and then climbs back up onto the rocks. It was amazing that they would ever think to do that.
After an hour of walking around, buying souvenirs, and exploring, we met up with our tour group again and got on the bus. We drove along the coast for 45 minutes to a house in the countryside in the southern-most part of Croatia, which is very close to Montenegro. When we got to the house, we were greeted with two guys playing music, and samples of a dessert wine that the home owners make themselves. It was extremely sweet, and it was one of the best wines I’ve ever had. This home is 400 years old, and the same family has lived in the house from generation to generation since it was built. We walked through their back yard and saw all of the fruit trees and plants that they have. They grew their own kiwi, figs, olives, squash, tomatoes, grapes, pomegranates, and plenty more. They also had a chicken coop, and goats.
Next, we went inside their beautiful home. They had tables set up for us to sit and enjoy wine and snacks. The snack consisted of bread, cheese, prosciutto, olives, and tomatoes. All of the food was locally made, and it was all so fresh and delicious. The wine was great too. After those snacks, we got dessert, which looked a lot like fruit lasagna. It was basically a berry mixture, layered with flaky dough, with powdered sugar sprinkled on top. I’ve never had anything like it, and I wish I could have taken some home with me. While we were enjoying all of the food and beverages, the same guys who played music as we arrived played beautiful Croatian music for us. When we were done, we had a chance to visit their gift shop, and then we got on the bus and made our way back to the cruise ship.
The tour lasted about 4 hours total, and it was absolutely amazing. We all had such a great time in Dubrovnik, and it is definitely one of my new favorite cities. We got back on the cruise ship around 7:45, and our ship set sail at 8:30. We were all full, so we decided not to eat dinner. Rachel and I went back to the cabin and I took a shower, and we both changed our clothes because we had been very hot and sweaty all day. At 9:00, we went into the lounge and watched karaoke again. It lasted about half an hour, and as we were leaving we saw Connor, who we had met in the hot tub earlier in the day.
We went to the casino with him for about an hour, and then we ate at the only 24/7 restaurant on the ship. After that, we went back into the lounge, which had music and a lot of people were dancing. We had drinks, and sat there talking until about 2:00am. Rachel and I met another group of guys from Spain, walked around the ship and talked with them for awhile, and then went back to our cabin for the night. Tomorrow is our first full day at sea, so we’re excited to just relax and hang out on the ship all day."
