D7 : Mom & Dad Arrive in Croatia

Oooooyah! I've been writing my blogs/journals lately before typing them and I just cracked open a fresh journal to write this in that my parents brought with them from the States, which is the most exciting update -- my parents arrived in Croatia to travel with me! I'm giddy. And on top of that, it is my 28th birthday!

View from Airbnb.

This morning I took advantage of the free breakfast at the hostel, which was a simple meal of cornflakes and milk. The next few hours I caught up typing out my blogs and doing last minute trip planning prep before my parents arrived at 11 am. We'd be staying at an Airbnb while in Dubrovnik, and the host let us know that we'd be able to check in a few hours early once my parents arrived. This saved us the trouble of where to store our luggage while exploring the city. The Airbnb featured an incredible view of the Adriatic Sea and the old city walls of the city (more to come on this). My parents' journey from Indiana took a whopping 16 hours of travel, so Dad took a nap at the place while Mom and I booked a boat excursion for the next day. We luckily time our travel to Croatia just outside the busy season during which the city streets are so full of people that you are walking shoulder to shoulder all day. For us, the city was open and free giving us ample freedom to explore without worrying too much about booking things in advance.

After waking Dad up, we toured a place directly out of my dreams -- the historic City Walls surrounding the old part of the city. The towering walls completely encompassed the city and helped the citizens of Dubrovnik defend their town to stay independent until the late 19th century (fact check me on this). My favorite books, like Eragon, Ranger's Apprentice, etc, involved medieval cities featuring protective city walls and gates. It felt surreal to experience in real life, and my imagination ran wild for the two and a half hours it took to walk the entirety of the walls.

 Next we did a wine tasting featuring wines from across Croatia. In a coastal, Mediterranean town like Dubrovnik, it only feels right to drink crisp, refreshing white wines but for our tasting, we did a mix of reds and whites and shared them all family style. We walked to Buza Bar, the bar set into the cliff face where I'd watch sunset the night before and I was eager to share this experience with my parents. It was equally stunning the second time around and I jumped from the cliffs a few more times tonight.

Cheap beer and beautiful sunsets. The dream rly.

This is a door to one of the hidden beach bars. No signs, just a literal hole in the wall

This isn’t me, but I thought it was a dope photo of someone jumping off the cliff

Dinner was at a seafood restaurant created in 1856 where we sat on the terrace on the second floor. The food was good but the highlight of the dinner was when the jet lag really set in for my parents and Mom began damn near fall asleep at the table. At one point, I swear she fell asleep mid sentence.

We almost couldn't find the door to the Airbnb since the street now featured a restaurant with outdoor seating that disguised our front door behind umbrellas. Thankfully Mom wanted a picture in front of door earlier in the day so we used that as a guide; otherwise, we would've been lost.

So thankful we took this photo… otherwise we would have been at a loss to find out Airbnb