lapad by day - dubrovnik by night

Lapad Dubrovnik - Saturday 27th of April

At 6am I woke up to the sound of birdsong and went to the balcony to watch the sunrise and moonset. Needless to say, thereafter I went back to sleep.

After the second awakening, we went out for breakfast on the terrace. The breakfasts in our hotel are excellent, plenty of choice and just the fact that you can have breakfast outside in the sun... this is v a c a t i o n.

Today seriously beach weather for the first time and so we bought 2 small (marine themed) beach mattresses for the pebble beach in the small supermarket on the bay.

We almost had the beach to ourselves and even went for a swim, the sea water was 16 degrees, so it was totally doable.

Together we made another creative beach creature out of stones. After a wonderfully relaxing day at Sunset bay, we spend some time on a luxurious bed under the parasol by the pool. Before freshening up for dinner in Dubrovnik, we made a homemade starter on our balcony with bread, anchovies, ajvar and sardines. It looked like a pizza but tasted very different and was surprisingly tasty.

By bus to Dubrovnik (takes no more than fifteen minutes) and strolled around the atmospheric marble streets of the old town. In the evening this city is even more magical and during the magic hour the party is complete!

For dinner the choice fell on Restaurant Gradska Kavana Arsenal, and we were lucky because there was exactly one table for two available at the best place first rank. With live jazz-lounge music by trumpeter and pianist. Sometimes you have days when everything is just right. Bring on the prosecco!

We had oysters from Ston (where we visited yesterday), squid salad, black risotto, homemade focaccia, prosecco Astoria Cord and the super nice waitress treated us to chocolate cake on the house.

When we walked around after dinner the city was so quiet and peaceful. What a beautiful place this is! I understand why so many people visit Dubrovnik and we are also very pleased that we have arrived at a off-season period when there are less visitors.

dubrovnik - croatia

Dubrovnik - Thursday 25th of April - 19732 steps

The day couldn't start better than walking barefoot in the sea even before breakfast. And moreover to discover someone played with our stone couple last night (or earlier this morning) and added another stone figure...

We had a very extensive breakfast in the shade of the pine trees on the terrace. While we occasionally walk to the buffet to fill our breakfast plates with something fresh and delicious, the friendly staff repeatedly comes to our table to top up our coffee cups. Henk draws in the holiday diary and I could keep this up for hours hahaha

We walk from Lapad to Dubrovnik along the coastal road, an hour's walk. Somewhat longer with a few stops en route; beautiful views of the Adriatic Sea and the iconic Hilton Imperial just before the old town, Dubrovnik Grad.

As soon as you enter the city walls you immediately understand why the city is called 'Pearl of the Adriatic'. The old, completely walled fortress city of Dubrovnik is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

We were pleasantly surprised, everything has remained in the original style, no signboards, neon signs, tourist stalls or street musicians. Besides a lot of people living in the old town and you see children playing in the courtyards, fortunately not just hotels and apartments for tourists. Even during the day it is much quieter than we expected, but that is also because it is still low season in April.

We walk over the marble alleys in the city and drinks on a terrace, taking photos of beautiful colorful laundry, the authentic atmosphere and enjoying the incredible beauty simply everywhere. We will definitely come back here a few more times this week.

At the entrance gate of the city, we had late lunch under the plane trees at the Dubravka restaurant. Prosecco & seafood! Cheers to us in Dubrovnik!

Actually we planned to walk back, but as the bus was just arriving, we decided to choose the easy option and within 10 minutes we were back in Lapad.

Perfect spot by the pool to have a siesta in the afternoon sun.

A quick appetizer on the balcony, before we take the walking trail to the tip of the peninsula for the sunset.