This weekly wrap-up covers our journey from June 23 to 29. We spent the week in Croatia traveling down the Dalmatian Coast from Zadar to Dubrovnik, with a day trip to Plitvice Lakes National Park.
Favorite thing we ate: While on the Dalmatian Coast, there were two dishes we knew we had to try: pasticada and black risotto. Pasticada is typically a meat dish stewed in wine and served with gnocchi; we had a delicious tuna pasticada with black gnocchi in Zadar. In Dubrovnik, we finally tried a black risotto dish (black because it’s made with squid or cuttlefish ink), and it ended up being one of our favorite meals of the week [pictured above].
Favorite thing we drank: Jonathan is continuing to enjoy all the shandy he can find, and Megan is still making her way through Somersby’s cider flavors; her favorite so far is elderflower and lime. The best place we enjoyed our drinks was definitely the Buza bar built into the cliffs outside Dubrovnik’s city walls [pictured above].
Favorite thing we did: The Buza bar was Jonathan’s favorite activity of the week. After our drinks, we jumped off the rocks for a nice swim in the Adriatic. Megan was pleased that neither Plitvice Lakes nor Dubrovnik were too crowded to enjoy, which she had feared considering it is already late June (the beginning of high season).
Biggest splurge: Our lodging in Dubrovnik is definitely the most expensive room we’ve booked on this trip thus far–twice as expensive, in fact. That’s one drawback to only planning a few days out as a time; when visiting a popular city like Dubrovnik, our options can be very limited. As we head into high season in Europe, we may start planning out further to get better deals and more choice. (That being said, this place is really nice, and it’s within walking distance of Old Town!)
Biggest oops: We lost a credit card … twice. OOPS! Luckily, we remembered the last place we had used it (a local grocery store both times), and both times they still had it when we went back the next day. Whew!
What we’re reading: We spent quite a bit of time on buses this week, so we both started listening to Black Edge by Sheelah Kolhatkar. (Audiobooks are great for travel, especially if you get motion sickness!) On our Kindles, Jonathan is reading The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang and Megan is reading The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib.
Total walking distance: 46.5 miles
Up next: Montenegro and Bosnia (details to be determined)
