When you talk about Croatia, you first think of Dubrovnik. And there are enough reasons for that. But for us our happiness, more than the stories, was about traveling back to the sea. We love water and the excitement was quite at it’s peak, after seeing the pics of this beautiful destination. And we loved the idea of traveling on to Dubrovnik.
The reception at ‘The Loop Hotel’ had arranged our car drop to Zagreb airport at a very reasonable price. A little less than what we had paid to reach here couple of days back. We entered, I talked around a bit and then immediately classified it as a category A+++ airport. The criteria? Just one. It had a smoking room in the departure lounge 💕. And when the lady at the Croatian Airline check-in counter waived off a kilo or two from our checked in luggage, I fell in love a second time. No no, not with her. With Croatia.
The flight landed almost half an hour later than the scheduled arrival, probably because the weather was not too good. But when we landed the sky was clear and blue. Dubrovnik Airport named Cilipi Airport is located at Cilipi, approximately fifteen and a half kilometers from Dubrovnik city center. The best and most economical way to reach town is to avail of the Airport shuttle bus which leaves for the main bus station at Gruz Port normally every half an hour and takes around thirty to forty minutes. The first stop is at Pile Gate in front of Old Town where you could get down depending on the location of your place of stay.
But for us the journey took more than an hour because of the sudden change in weather and heavy traffic just before reaching town. The sky had become dark again, the rains came down heavily and soon it cleared a bit too as we alighted and walked to our guest house amidst a slight drizzle, five minutes away from the nearest bus stand. It was past five in the evening when we reached.
Situated in Old Town district, Guest House Raguz apartment offers accommodation with a sunbathing terrace. It is about fifteen minutes relaxed walk from Old Town and just a ten minutes walk to the center of Dubrovnik. There are no food options within the guest house but few good eating options like Caffe-Pizzeria El Toro and Nevera Beach Restaurant are within five minutes walk. Also there are other restaurants, bars, cafes, bakery, 24 hour shops all within a few minutes walk and also next door a departmental stores, where you would find enough options for your breakfast. The owners Inka & Evan are a very nice and simple elderly couple, who are not too good when it comes to speaking English but we managed and they made it up with their hospitality.
We love nature and if you too, you would fall in love with the place. Let’s take you around.
As we sat on this terrace with it’s beautiful view sipping our cup of coffee, the calmness and peace of the place was mesmerizing. Our long awaited trip to Dubrovnik was now real.
Dubrovnik has a long history but in the last century with the fall of Austria-Hungary in 1918, the city was incorporated into the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes which later became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. When in 1929 Yugoslavia was divided among nine Banovina, the city became part of the Zeta Banovina. In 1939 Dubrovnik became part of the newly created Banovina of Croatia.
During World War II, Dubrovnik became part of the Nazi-puppet Independent State of Croatia, occupied by the Italian army first and by the German army after September 1943. In October 1944 Yugoslav Partisans occupied Dubrovnik, arresting more than 300 citizens and executing 53 without trial. This event came to be known, after the small island on which it occurred, as the Daksa Massacre. Communist leadership during the next several years continued political prosecutions, which culminated in April 1947 with the capture and imprisonment of more than 90 citizens of Dubrovnik. Under communism Dubrovnik became part of the Socialist Republic of Croatia and Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia till the fall of Yugoslav rule. In 1979, the city joined the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
In 1991 Croatia and Slovenia, which at that time were republics within Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, declared their independence. At that event, Socialist Republic of Croatia was renamed Republic of Croatia.
The rain had stopped. The blue sky was visible in bits and pieces. So it was time for us to do what we always love to. A relaxing walk to explore. Walking around through the neighborhood on to nearby Pera Cingrije street, we decided to venture to the closest beach just two hundred meters away, Bellevue Beach. Come take the walk with us and get lost in the beauty of Dubrovnik.
As we reached back to our hideout, it was time to sit back, relax and marvel at these beautiful cool views from our terrace sit out before moving out for dinner.
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Dubrovnik. The Old Town, the mountains, the sea, the beaches, the islands and much more fun to come your way as you travel with us. And then visit a few of the top Balkans destinations.
Come experience God’s magical creations.
Hope you enjoyed the journey.PIN it for later
Wow, Bellevue Beach looks incredible. My husband is dying to go to Croatia and I’d like to visit there (and everywhere) too. I didn’t realize it was so pretty.
Yes Rina. It’s a beautiful country with great people. You must visit once it is safe to travel.