Beyond the Sea

We recently completed a long awaited visit to Dubrovnik. We had hear good things about the city for a long time and we've been trying for the past year to find the right time to go. This weekend was the right time.

We arrived Thursday night and checked in to the Rixos Libertas. We had a balcony, but since we arrived late at night, it was too dark to see any of the jaw dropping beauty we'd heard about. In the morning, we took in the dramatic coastline, which was spectacular. Unfortunately, we both had to work on Friday, so we couldn't really enjoy it.

After what ended up being a very long day of work, we had a late dinner at the much hyped Nautika. The consistent opinion from almost every guide book and website was that this was the best restaurant in town, and also the most expensive. Neither of us mind paying high prices for good food, but as I've discussed before on this blog, it's very hard to find value in a meal like this as the food very rarely ends up seeming like it's worth the money. Unfortunately, Nautkia was no exception. It was really expensive and while the food was good (we had the lobster medallions, scallops, and the sea bass), it didn't warrant the outrageous prices they are charging. Nevertheless, we had a nice dinner sitting outside looking out over the Adriatic.

We both have been working a lot, so we tried to balance activity and sight-seeing with relaxation time. On the first day, we walked the walls of the old city, which was crowded, but cool. It was a neat way to see the city. We also lucked out with incredible weather. We met our friends, the Yeagers for lunch. They happened to plan a trip to Dubrovnik for the same weekend. The meal at Arsenal was fine, but not overly impressive. The view was nice looking at the inlet where all the boats were docked. We then rode the gondola to a lookout point over the city where we got some excellent pictures.

Every single restaurant had the same menu in town, so it was hard to determine where we should eat for dinner. We ended up at Poklisar, which was touristy, but the food wasn't bad. The restaurant offerings in town actually reminded us a lot of Venice as they all seemed to be catered to tourists. We had dessert at the Kavana Dubravka, which looks like an old style cafe you'd see in many of the Central European cities. It looked like the nightlife was just picking up, but we were both tired, so we walked back to the hotel to get some rest.

We spent the entire day Sunday hanging out in the sun on the big deck at the hotel. We did a little bit of swimming in the sea. The water was crystal clear and a remarkable shade of blue that looks too good to be true. It was also freezing. We hung out all day reading, playing scrabble and relaxing. It felt like vacation, which we both desperately needed. From reading this blog, one may assume that our whole life is vacation, but that is because I try to avoid talking about work. It has been an exhausting three months, particularly for me, but for Jenn as well. In addition to her workload, she had to put up with me. We needed this break.

Dinner that evening was at Orhan with the Yeagers. It was in the same little cove as Nautika. It was tucked away in a quaint, quiet spot overlooking the sea. The food was pretty good and the setting was perfect. I'd probably recommend it over any other restaurant we ate at during the trip.

We had an afternoon flight out, so we had time Monday morning for a little more sun time and one last dip in the water. We'd seen people jumping off this ledge that was about a 15 or 20 foot drop to the water. Until now, we'd been hesitant to do it, but it was now or never. We both took the exhilarating leap into the ice cold water. I still had a lot of work things on my mind, but for at least for 2 or 3 seconds, I felt the stress release from my brain, shoulders, and remainder of my body. I felt...relaxed.

After lunch at the Bellevue, the hotel next to ours (where we wanted to stay, but couldn't get a reasonably priced room), we headed back to Bratislava, the demands of work, and reality.

I'm always going to work hard and stress myself out at times (or most of the time), but I need to take a break. I need to leave it all at the office and take time to relax and enjoy life. 

To view our pictures, click here.