Adriatic Relaxation

I am sitting on a third floor balcony watching the sun set over the Adriatic. Pink light bounces off the sea of red roofs that line Dubrovnik’s port.

A gentle coastal breeze soothes the heat of the day and chills my sunburnt skin. I have cider and cheese and am enjoying the perfect end to a relaxing day.

Rising to meet the dawn, I left my hostel in Dubrovnik’s Old City and ventured to Gruz, the portside suburb of Dubrovnik. With the weekend influx of tourists, I found booking a room for one night difficult and decided to splash out on one of the few available private rooms with a view. Again, I was faced with the interesting task of finding the property in a street where numbers jumped from 13 to 29 to 36 and finally, 14. In the end, I found the place (with the kind help of five Croatian ladies who knew the owner), left my bags and boarded the morning catamaran to Mljet Island.

After a rocky hour cruise, I hired a bike on the island (50Kn) and set out to explore the two salt lakes within Mljet National Park. The first 30 minutes was spent riding 100 metres and then stopping to breath as I climbed the steep mountain on the port side of the lakes.

It was worth the fire in my lungs though! On the other side was a picture of a dream: sparkling blue waters lined with quaint boats and old stone buildings. It was there that I spent the next few hours floating in the lake, reading, sun baking and finally slowing down to beach holiday mode.

After exploring the Old City wall and alleys yesterday with thousands of other tourists, Mljet was the perfect escape.

Tomorrow, I am off to Korcula Island for one night, where I am hoping there will be much of the same indulgent sea-side relaxation.