Croatia - May 22-25

In our last planned travel weekend before the wedding, we decided to go to Dubrovnik, Croatia. This city on the water was supposed to be beautiful and very relaxing - not a million sights to see and beautiful weather. In addition, Anthony's cousin Deirdre was going to be in Dubrovnik as well that weekend. She lives in Sarajevo which is close to Croatia and her mom, Carole, was flying over from NY to spend a week with Deirdre - half of it in Croatia and half of it Sarajevo. So, we boarded the plan on Friday morning and who was sitting there - Carole. Small world. We drove into the city together and dropped Carole off at her hotel - we were going to meet up for dinner later that night. Dubronik was stunning. Very hilly, perfect temperature, clear blue water, and amazing sights everywhere.





We checked into the hotel and then decided to walk around the Old Town which is a fortified part of the city right on the water. It reminded us of venice a bit with the narrow streets on the water. There were great big old walls surrounding the downtown area of the city which were interesting to look at (especially at night when it was uplit).



We walked around the ports which were also very nice.





We then headed to "the best restauarnt in Dubrovnik" - Nautica - to meet up with Carole and Deirdre for a great dinner and a lot of laughs (thanks for treating Carole!). It was good to catch up with them.



On Saturday, we decided to jump on a boat tour of 3 nearby islands, Sipan, Kolocep and Lopud. It was a 20 person boat mostly with Americas. Before setting sail, the bride to be needed to make sure she was properly protected from the sun (and unfortunate tan lines that would be easily visible in her wedding dress).



We sailed to the first island, walked around for an hour, then sailed to the next where we also had an hour (rather than walking around we stopped for some beers).



We got off the island just in time before the pirates raided it....



We had some great fish on the boat for lunch that was cooked right off the back by our captain and first mate.



We then sailed to the next island where we relaxed on the beach for 3 hours before heading back. Amy felt like pretending she was in a sports illustrated swimsuit photo suit. Anthony had no complaints!



That night, we met up with Carole and Deirdre again for dinner within the old town walls at Proto which was supposed to have the best fish in Dubrovnik. We had some great local wine and a fun night and traded stories on our days.

On Sunday, we rented a private boat that was going to take us from Dubrovnik to two islands each about an hour away - Mljet and Korcula. Carole and Deirdre joined the fun.





A little video while Amy and Anthony sat on the front of the boat drinking local croatian white wine.



We stopped on Mljet first which had a national park that was a great place to rent bikes and ride around. There was supposedly two very nice lakes in the center of the park that were great to hike around. Our boat captain nick suggested we rented bikes but warned that there was very hilly terrain. So, Deirdre, Amy and Anthony set out up the steep hill on the bikes and Carole took in the port sites. Anthony and Deirdre lasted back 1 minute on the upslope until they had to walk the bikes; Amy lasted 2-3 minutes. What a trooper.

The pain was worth it, though, because as we drew closer to the lakes, the views became spectacular.



The only problem with the trip was that the girl's bikes were apparently cursed. Amy and Deirdre had not come prepared for a bike ride - one had flip flops on, another had dress and flip flops on. So, we were headed down this short cut to the lake. It was a rocky dirt path down a hill. Amy was out front leading the charge, then Deirdre, followed by Anthony. As we were rounding a turn, Deirdre seemed to lose control of her bike. She was slowly heading for the wall and her bake tire went up in the air. She finally got control and the bike came to a stop. Crisis averted (we think her camera got stuck in the wheel spokes). Deirdre put her bike down quickly and ran ahead to Amy asking whether she was ok. Anthony meandered down to Amy who was sprawled on the ground beside her bike brushing herself off. She had taken a fall on her hand. Her first words were "Dont worry - the ring is OK". Phew. The ring made it unscathed. Amy recounts the story that she was motoring down the hill, remembering back to her childhood when she was riding the bike in her back yard. She was very impressed that she hadnt lost her touch in all these years. Just at the height of her daydreaming confidence, boom, down she goes.

Luckily, she was OK other then a few cuts on her hands. We got down to the lake and deirdre and amy got themselves together.



Nice work Amy!



It was all worth it, though, for these pictures.



After navigating around the lake and back to town successfully and safely, we got back on the boat and headed to korcula.



We had a nice lunch before grabbing some great ice cream and heading home.



We relaxed on Sunday night and all day monday before heading back to London. Croatia was a great way to end our travels before the wedding because it was relaxing, by the water, in the sun and very stunning. It is now less than 3 weeks until the wedding weekend! We're both very excited. We're heading back to the US on Thursday so we're in the same time zone to finish up the final details for the wedding. We look forward to seeing all of you in Newport in June to celebrate this special day. Get your dancing shoes ready! The next time we'll be writing on the blog, we'll be Mr. and Mrs. Civale (if all goes well)!!