Croatia: Days 4-6

Wednesday, Sydney and I went kayaking in a town about an hour from Dubrovnik called Cavtat. It was small, but beautiful. Sydney and I were the only people on the tour (besides our guide and his friend). We spent four hours kayaking to different islands and learning about the history of Croatia. It was a perfect day—there was not a single cloud in the sky, the sun was shining, and the sea was calm. We saw some cool cave-like indents into the islands where the water was such an intense green/blue color, and spent some time laying out on the islands and swimming in the sea. Wednesday was May Day, which is a big holiday in Croatia and the start of the tourist season, so we stopped at an island to see some of our guide's friends, who were having a barbecue. By then, our 4 hours of kayaking were up, and we headed back to our staring point. However, the coolest, most unexpected thing happened...we saw dolphins!! At first they were pretty far away, and we could only see their fins, but eventually they came really close to us! It was so awesome. I wasn't able to get any good pictures, but we were so excited. They were so close at one point, we got a little nervous they were going to tip us. It was the perfect ending to a fun day on the ocean. After kayaking, we went into the Old City of Dubrovnik and took the cable car to a high point where we had a great view of the city. The Old City is really cool. It's very small and completely surrounded by either the ocean or a stone wall. The roofs of the buildings are red, which contrast nicely with the green/blue water. We had beautiful view at sunset. We spent the rest of the night working out and relaxing at the hotel. 

Thursday, we went into the Old City of Dubrovnik and spent the day exploring. It is one of the coolest towns I have ever been to. There is really only one main road made of stone, and it's lined with small shops and restaurants. There are several narrow streets off this main road that are also full of boutiques and tourists. We explored a market with lots of herbs and homemade soaps and lotions, jewelry, and glass products. We continued to wander through the small streets going into stores and getting a feel for the city. Dubrovnik thrives off tourism, so there are a lot of specialty shops in which artists sell their paintings, glasswork, jewelry, limestone carvings, etc. We also walked around the stone wall and got some great views. At one point, we stopped for smoothies in a little restaurant carved into the stone wall. After a few hours, we got some refreshing ice cream and headed back to our hotel. I really enjoyed the city; it's probably one of my favorites I've visited since coming to Paris. After our tour through the town, I worked out and had a facial at the spa in the hotel...it was so relaxing.