We got into Dubrovnik around 10am and once we got through customs and took the 30 min bus to the city it was around 11:30. Luckily, the next bus to Split was around 12:30pm so we made a quick Pizza lunch pit-stop. The bus ride to Split is about 4-5 hours with a cross over into Bosnia. We weren't exactly sure what to expect but what we got was like the Highway 1 of Croatia -Winding beautiful roads that curved in and out of the rugged seaside landscape with water as clear as glass and as blue as sapphire. The entire 5 hour bus ride was like that. I was peeled to the window.
We get to Split and find that our hostel is actually someone's home. The lady who hosted the hostel was super sweet but knew very little English. We managed to communicate well though :) Split was having a music festival that weekend so we got to hear lots of live music which was amazing.
Jacklyn and I decided to go up an hour north to visit Krka National Park. It's known for it's waterfalls that are similar to the famous Pltivice Lakes in Croatia with the exception that you can actually get into the water. Jacklyn and I had a moment while swimming in this crystal clear water next to this waterfall where we looked at each other and were like "Can you believe where we are?!?!" surreal.
The next day we took a ferry boat to Hvar Town. We stayed in an amazing hostel were we ended up meeting some pretty cool Aussies to hang out with. They invited us on their boat that they rented and we spent the entire next day wakeboarding, swimming, cliff-jumping, and tubing in the Adriatic Sea. I was tubing when all of a sudden 6 dolphins swam right along side us!! It was AMAZING.
The routine was sort of like wake up, go take a swim, go eat breakfast, go take a swim, and then plan your day. The next day after the boat day Jacklyn, the aussies, and I rented scooters to get a better look at the island of Hvar. We went up to the lavender fields, up to the castle that overlooks the harbor, and then down to an awesome seaside beach bar. I definitely was not the best of drivers on the scooter--and my bruise from a crash proved it !! There were a couple accidents that day, luckily nobody got hurt :)
After three nights with the Aussies and hanging out in Hvar, we made our way back down to Dubrovnik. We spent our last day in Dubrovnik laying out on the beach and walking around taking what we called an 'icecream tour' because we stopped at so many ice cream stands! It was SO HOT in Dubrovnik that we were just exhausted by the end of the day. We spent our last night listening to some live music and went back to our hostel early for our flights back home.
Overall, Croatia is my favorite place that I've visited to date. I HIGHLY suggests going if you can--especially since the exchange rate is so good.
I come home next week!!
