Supetar Hotel Cavtat

... and basketball don't mix well and I wouldn't have been able to justify sacrificing either.
The first port of call was Dubrovnik. Getting off the ship was quite a process and once on dry land again we made our way to the old walled city. We could have paid to walk all the way around on top of the walls but being on a cruise ship had made us lethargic. Instead we strolled around the town and took some photos before heading back.

... by the ocean, and then paddled along the beautiful Dalmatian coast until we were back to our starting point (about a 6 hour kayaking tour). What a day to go out! The water and weather was absolutely beautiful, the crowd was a great time (I went with the usual crew of Meredith, Anna, Alissa, Pat, etc), and we were back in time to still have some fun afterwards. With three hours to go, Pat and I decided to ditch the crowd and grab a cheap ...

... along the walls outside of the city. St. Blaize is the patron Saint of Dubrovnik and you see his image everywhere. We entered the city through Pila Gate. At this point the walls are 19 feet thick. One of the first things we saw as we entered was Onofrio's Fountain. The fountain was built by the Romans to supply water to the walled city. It is still ...

... of days earlier. Called Lokanda Peskarija, I have to admit that I was very suspicious, mainly because it has a pristine location, right on the harbour with great views. Normally this would spell tourist trap, but what we found was a charming restaurant with a very small selection of seafood dishes. We tried four of them and all of them were absolutely superb, really superb. Probably the best calamari I have ever ...

... are the first places I've visited where a war has occurred in my lifetime, and my experiences encountering bits and pieces of that war and reconciling them with my childhood memories have hit home more than any visit to a World War II memorial. The final attraction I visit in Dubrovnik is the city wall. With a ten dollar admission fee, I nearly give them a pass, bu Lonely Planet said the visit would be a highlight, and the more I saw of the walls, the more I suspected ...

... all the way instead of the new motorway that runs almost all the way down. We found a great place to stay six km's outside of Dubrovnik. Villa Paradis is perched on the side of a hill, where several tiers of accommodation sit up the hill. Our room was on the top level with three other rooms and a massive shared balcony. The upside being spectacular views of the coastline and the offshore islands, the downside being the 234 stairs we ...

The sun was shining on Monday morning as we left for Croatia so we were cautiously optomistic that we would finally find good weather. The drive through Hungary was uneventful, but we did find a lovely place for lunch that had cool mist spritzers on the patio. Our first stop in Croatia was a town that was hit hard by the war. Several damaged buildings still stand as a ...

Jeannie here. We spent a morning in the Budapest airport, relishing the fact that the toilets were clean and provided with toilet paper and soap. How our standards have been lowered! We were also in awe of the sandwiches with cheese and the coffee. It's Europe! We continued our love affair with the west when we landed in Dubrovnik and enjoyed the best airport experience of our entire trip. There were no visas ...

... a computer to see how the game went, but the three swedish girls in the apartment above me talked me into going to a beach on another island instead. I discovered in the taxi boat on the way to the island, that we were headed to the clothing NOT optional beach. Yada-yada-yada so I didn't end up finding out about the Texas loss until the next day. Really sucks that they lost, huh. After another day in Hvar (nursing an unsightly sunburn) I took a ferry down the coast to the walled city of ...

... at the end of the Middle Ages and measure more than 2km in length and stand between 5m and 25m in height, depending on which part you are looking at. There are 16 defensive towers in total, plus two corner fortifications and a large fortress and if you want the best views of the city and Lokrum Island just over the way, it ...