Dubrovnik

One of my favourite places so far. Yes its touristy, and yes its getting pricey, but theres something about the place which I think is above that.

The old town is set right on the water, and a highlight of the stay there was a walk around the city walls, which cost about 5 pounds, and was truly worth it. You not only get amazing views of the city, but of small Lokrum Island close by and the rest of the coastline. It took about an hour to walk around, and a sign of my complete lack of fitness, was when I suffered crippling cramps in my quads on the descent. Too many kebabs and not enough exercise on this trip.

The night life was interesting. We hit a Latin Club, Fuego, which didn't seem to have anything Latin in it, but was fun for a laugh all the same. Being served some weird liquor that was 80 percent alcohol is something I wont soon forget. The club was filled with Contiki people too, which on this occasion was not a good thing.

I copped probably the most cutting rejection of my life on approaching two Irish girls at the club..."You are not Owen Wilson!" apparently Owen Wilson had been in the club the night before, and these two didn't wanna know about anyone else. Ouch!

Lokrum Island was pretty cool. Theres an old tower that was bombed back in 91 that has been left as scrap, which gives you a good idea of how this town was hit during that war. Theres also a naturist beach....if you are into that kind of thing.

Met a good group of people at Dubrovnik which had a lot to do with the set up of the Hostel, as it had a good outdoor communal area, which also doubled as the breakfast dining area. Within ěé minutes of arriving I had found a fun group of people to drink with and talk to, which ensured for 4 good nights.

that'ss about the only good thing I will say about the hostel though, which does happen to be the only one in town. The 3am curfew is a pain the butt, but can be overcome with somelaterall thinking....The breakfast was also very ordinary, and Ill bedammedd if the breakkie ladywasn'tt the most miserable woman in the world!

There were someawesomee beaches in Dubrovnik, none with sand of course!

We happened to be there at the time of a film festival with the most perfect setting I have ever seen - the tower of the old town walls. It made up for the crappy movie (13 about a guy being forced into a Russian Roulette contest....).

One thing I noticed in Dubrovnik, was that there were a lot of Irish around, and a couple of half decent Irish Bars. On one night, we went along to one of these with some people from the hostel, including two Irish Lads. The place was a little quiet, so with a little coaxing, we got one of the lads to start singing some traditional Irish songs, something he does professionally. The rest of the Irish in the place started joining in, and then making requests, and despite the owners turning the lights off to try and get us to leave, the singing kept going. Gotta love that.

A funny thing that happened while in Dubrovnik, a couple, also Irish, put a notice on the board in the hostel trying to sell their 95 Volvo which they had driven from Ireland to Dubrovnik. The price.... 1 Euro - or nearest offer! Texas lad Steve took them up on this, and after buying them a round of drinks, he had himself a new car, which he drove back to his current residence of Germany.

My final thoughts on Dubrovnik though are that if anyone gets a chance, they should give it a try, as its simply a stunning place.