Dubrovnik, Croatia

So Dubrovnik is located on a little sliver of land that is separated from the mainland of Croatia by Bosnia.  It is a very naturally beautiful place as you can see.  The ship docks and shuttles us to the old town which is a large fortress turned tourist center.  The beauty of that structure can actually get you to look past the tourism slightly.  I prefer to be a bit more outdoorsy myself.

They should really put up some walls here I can't stand the view...

So my first adventure in port  my friend Drew and I rented a kayak.  We got a good deal on the rental and could keep the kayak for the day.  This included free beverages, espresso and a dry sack.  So we set out for several hours and stopped off at some rocks where we could hoist the kayak up and climb around a bit.  We toured around and found some cool caves to get into.  Found some jellyfish in the water and opted out of swimming in the caves.  Smart decision I think but it was still really cool to paddle in them for a bit.

The second trip out here a few of us just went to one of the local docks and dove on in.  The water was absolutely glorious!!!  Here's a pic of the kayakers going by and the island of Lokrum in the background.  Nothing better than a good swimming day and some gelato after to get the taste of salt water out of your mouth.

This is where you can find Santa in the off season.

On the third trip out I had planned on making it to the island (Lokrum) pictured above with the kayakers.  And by a planned trip I mean I was fully intent on making it to the island but had no idea what the logistics were of getting there.  A Capella refers to this as "glassblower planning".  I was told there was a botanical garden on the island.  That is enough to draw me in.  So we found the ferry to get over there which ran every 30 minutes- not bad.  There are actually a lot of walking trails on the island as well as 3 restaurants, a fort, a dead sea to float in, an outdoor fitness center, various monuments and of course free range peacocks everywhere.  I found out they like mushroom pizza so I shared mine.  I went with a group of about 6 and we made it over to some rocks that border the entire island to go in for a dip.  There are little ladders all around the side that help you back up.  We had some lunch, ventured the trails and botanical garden a bit and then returned to the port.  A successful trip indeed.