Frankfurt to Dubrovnik - 28 June 2017
The luxury lounge in Terminal 1 of the Frankfurt Airport is outside of security which is unusual so I did not get to relax there before the flight. I said goodbye to my coworkers who were heading back to North Carolina and they were nice enough to check a small backpack for me that I wouldn't need in Croatia. For some reason, my Lufthansa flight was an "Eco ticket" meaning I had to pay an additional 30€ for one checked bag. I was lucky to have a window seat because Croatia is beautiful to fly over with rocky terrain, mountains dropping off into the sea, and very few small trees along the coast. What I messed up on, however, was my seat on the bus into town from the airport (you want to sit on the driver's side that faces the sea). Upon arrival into the old town of Dubrovnik, I checked into the hostel before taking the walk around the fortress walls for 150 Croatian Kuna (kn), or roughly $24. The weather during the afternoon was nearly perfect for me, but visibly too hot for most.
On top of the wall looking down Stradun
A view of Fort Lovrijenac from the walls
Beauty everywhere
Walls with Minčeta Tower, the highest point along the walls
Inside the old town are interesting narrow streets that are pedestrian only
View from Minčeta Tower over the old city and Lokrum Island in the background
A look down at the city walls
I saw this girl playing basketball in an awesome court. Turned out she was my roommate in the hostel!
St. Saviour Church
Artisan
Hilo's doppelganger
Statue on the facade of Fort Lovrijenac
Overlooking agave blooms from the fort to the old town and Lokrum Island
I wonder what these people's address is...
Old lady feeding a cat fresh fish
Sailboat passing Tvrđava Bokar, a tower along the walls of old town
The main entrance to old town is via Pile Gate
These kids were competing in a mini doubles tennis tournament that looked quite fun
I stayed at Hostel Villa Angelina and shared the room with twin American sisters who had just graduated from college and a Frenchman who struggled with English. The hostel offered a walk down to the coast to watch the sunset and about twenty of us joined. The views lived up to our expectations and it was a perfect way to enjoy beers for an evening.
About half of us went out to dinner together but no one went out for drinks after. This is a very tame group which is probably what I need prior to Yacht Week. Old town Dubrovnik might be one of those places that is as beautiful at night as it is during the day
Clocktower Zvonik and the Church of Saint Blaise
Not sure what type of rock they used to build the streets but they were always shiny and looked wet. The girls from Michigan apparently photobombed my picture (bottom right)
Dubrovnik - 29 June 2017
The hostel had air conditioning (unlike Germany) and sleeping in until 0900 felt amazing. I still got up fairly early (for hostel standards) and waited for the girls to go on a hike.
Statue of Lady Pi Pi outside a restaurant sharing the same name where we grabbed some breakfast
The hike was up 400m (1,362ft) to Srđ Mountain. The views were nice and the walk wasn't too bad--for me at least. Despite both being collegiate athletes in incredible shape, this was outside of their training regime. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the top, the restaurant was reserved for a private party and the cable car was closed due to "bad weather conditions." It was sunny, about 80°F, and no more than 15 knots of wind. Luckily, the tap water in these parts of Croatia is potable so we didn't die from dehydration. Ironically, when we reached the bottom after the hike down, we saw the cable car moving again. I suspect the young cable car operators had a long night and were sleeping off their hangovers...
After a quick break at the hostel, we headed to Banje Beach for a swim. It was packed an I didn't feel like sitting on hot rocks, so I splurged for a cabana at 300kn ($47). The water felt amazing, but the waves and current were a little rough for recreational swimming. A bunch of kids were diving head-first in knee deep water...I can't help but think what Mama G would say.
One of the twins not showing off the athleticism I'd come to expect
I forgot my Kindle at the cabana and had to go back and get it which is not an easy walk through the hills of old town and our hostel near the highest point. We had dinner together again and I ate some local dish that was delicious but escapes my memory beyond that #notafoodie.
Dubronik to Trogir - 30 June 2017
The sun peeked through our window at about 0500 so I awoke without the assistance of the alarm which I'm sure my roommates appreciated. Figuring out the bus (15kn) and ferry (200kn) were simple enough. Eli from Montreal talked me into taking the ferry instead of the bus and saved me a seat on the upper deck. Unfortunately, it was a high speed ferry and they didn't allow passengers outside to take pictures while underway. The trip took longer than the bus (about six hours) and was okay, but a much cheaper bus ride would've been fine. I saw about 40-50 of the Yacht Week boats out but the winds were light so many were motoring. The bus ride from Split to Trogir took longer than I expected, probably because I only expected one intermediate stop at the airport. However, it was a city bus that stopped every kilometer or so. Upon arrival in Trogir, I walked another 15 minutes to the marina and found the group enjoying some drinks by the pool.
We had a fun welcoming party at the apartments that included breaking a television and ruining a mattress with champagne.
Trogir to The Garden Resort- 01 July 2017
As one of the guys, I got tasked with helping our hostesses (Lene and Mariann) get the groceries needed to feed 13 people for a few days. We got an absurd amount of food and drinks and I was little help other than running around the store fetching what I was told.
We were supposed to get a catamaran, but it allegedly was stolen a few weeks before our trip. "Settling" for a Hanse 57.5 isn't too shabby.
After loading up the boat, we got a late start, but finally sailed out of Trogir
We stopped for some swimming along the way to Tisno. Anders had a sweet drone that he flew from time to time to get some incredible aerial shots.
HP has much better form than I do
Found my happy place
Showing Holden something on the horizon
Dancing with Steve-O
The girls on their "worst behavior"
Espen and our flags. The Americans failed to bring one...
We arrived at the Love International Festival at dusk. The bouncers wouldn't let us in (only the girls got in without issue), so some of us snuck around to the front and others swam to get inside the fence. It was a weird music festival but still a lot of fun.
Girls enjoying cocktails and music
We ended up heading to some other party along the roadside and the bartenders nearly got into it because one of them was a pyro
My introduction to the Norweigian Harry Potter
The Garden Resort to Tisno - 02 July 2017
Locals said a storm was going to hit that afternoon, so after playing around for a few hours, we moved the boat around the peninsula to the marina in Tisno for a safe harbor. Docking the boat was a bit of a challenge and many boats hit pretty hard, but Øyvind is a helluva helmsman and we docked without incident. I found a little rest by taking a nap on a bench while everyone else went to dinner and only woke up when heavy rain and hail came down on me.
The boys tight rope walking our shore line
As a new guy, I received the task of blowing up the inflatables with the foot pump. It took awhile...
Our hostesses enjoying the fruits of my labor!
After all that hard work, Steve-O wouldn't let me enjoy my majestic unicorn
But I finally managed to get her under control
I think it goes without saying how beautiful the Croatian coastline is
Hoisting the mainsail
Safely at harbor means it's time to relax and enjoy some drinks
This man was standing on the dock, arms crossed, and visibly judging us. So I offered to dance with him, but he was less than enthused.
Dinner time!
Boys enjoying the sunset in Tisno
Tisno to Hvar - 03 July 2017
The girls getting their bronze on
Bjørnar and his infamous "SDY" sunglasses which he insists are the originals, only to be copied by SPY Optics (my sunglasses)
Mariann ensuring we're heading in the right direction...or trying to get over her sea sickness
The winds weren't favorable, so we ended up motoring most of the trip
Steve-O thinking about upgrading
Hula Hula by night
We anchored in Hvar harbor since there was still a lot of chop outside of Hula Hula. We ended up going into town and having dinner and I was able to recruit some British girls to join us on the boat the next day. I also got some Arabic practice talking to some Saudi girls, but they (thankfully for them) didn't show up the next day.
Ferry into Hvar
After dinner we went VIP at the Carpe Diem nightclub. The rest of the gang later went to the beach club by the same name on another island, but I called it a night.
Hvar - 04 July 2017
We pulled out of the harbor blaring the National Anthem and theme song to Team America - World Police. It wasn't long before the harbormaster pulled alongside and begged us to turn it down (which we did). We spent the day at anchor among the Otok Marinkovac Island across from Hvar. Three dinghies full of young hostel-going British, Australian, and Americans came aboard and were hammered. The most annoying of which was an American girl who could not have been more rude. While this looks like fun, it was the beginning of the end as these folks weren't the best guests. They ended up breaking our salon table and nearly drowned while we attempted to get them off the boat.
Lene getting hit on by some poor bloke...I photobombed this picture with a sweet tank top but the american flag ranger panties didn't make an appearance until much later.
Hogan straight representin' Charlotte with the Coca-Cola 600 cut-off T
We decided to anchor right outside of the Hula Hula club and I got stuck dealing with the drunk visitors and ferrying everyone to land by dinghy. We ended up in the VIP next to the DJ and spent another inordinate amount of money (15k kn or over $2k).
There were no ferries to take us the 50m back to the boat so we had to walk into town and get a ferry around the peninsula.
Hvar to Otok Marinkovac Island - 05 July
We took a break in the morning at the marina in Vira Beach to get some breakfast and do laundry. We rented a 20' center console but I honestly don't know why other than to pick up people from Hvar without having to take the big boat. It wasn't long before we were out at sea continuing the shenanigans.
Øyvind looked so comfortable, I decided to join him in the hammock
Everything was fine until Bjørnar crashed the party
Almost everyone (Kim took the picture)
The boys giving the girls a tow to shore
The unicorn hung in there despite being rode hard and put away wet (literally)
We didn't bring a large American flag to fly from the topping lift, but we eventually found some little ones, just in time for the 4th of July!
The Carpe Diem Beach Club was a pretty good time and a neat venue.
Otok Marinkovac Island to Yacht Week Tie Up - 06 July 2017
I decided to take the helm...or at least pretend to
We stopped for some provisions in Maslinica and the marina staff took one look at our boat and crew and told us there was no room to dock (it was empty). A couple of us hopped in their dinghy and went ashore to get the essentials (vodka, champagne, energy drinks, and maybe some food). After the provision run, we motored over to Sesula Bay and picked up some girls we had met previously. We then joined up with the Yacht Week crowd at their massive tie up. The Croatian park rangers wouldn't let us get near them, but we left for awhile and came back without making too much of a scene.
Yacht Week Tie Up to Trogir - 07 July 2017
We, along with the Yacht Week boats, struggled to get going in the morning. They were supposed to hold a regatta back to Trogir, but we skipped it since the wind wasn't that great.
The other new guy, Evan, got to walk on water...or something like that
The gangplank gave way and I fell between the boat and dock fully clothed. Luckily my phone and camera weren't working so I had nothing valuable on me and only needed a quick shower to rinse off the grime of the stagnant marina waters. We joined the Yacht Week crowd for a final VIP night in Split before departing Trogir. We spent a lot of time making Vodka Red Bulls...
Trogir to Split - 08 July 2017
The Norweigians flew out that morning, Americans stayed near the airport for early flights, and the girls and I went to Split since our flights were later the next day. We were all exhausted and after a painful lunch in the heat waiting for our rooms to become available, we all took much needed naps in the afternoon. Around sunset, I took a walk around town while waiting for the girls to get ready for dinner.
Some weird fowl in the water
Cool fountain. Ultra Music Festival was in Split the following week...good thing I had to get back to work.
Gregory of Nin
The harbor at dusk
In typical Croatian fashion, there was a 5k at 2100 at night
There were less defined fortress walls and features throughout Split than you would find in Dubrovnik
What seems to be the main plaza where we all found rooms next to
Cool bowline knot light fixture
We went out to dinner outside of town and I'm sure it would have been beautiful if we got there before sunset instead of at 2300. The city's tourism still draws heavily on the Roman lineage and the girls wanted a picture with some "real" men.
Split to Frankfurt - 09 July 2017
The next morning I helped the girls get their things to the taxi stop before walking around the city some more. The dominating feature of old town Split is Diocletian's Palace built for the Roman emperor in the 4th century A.D. that served as both his retirement home and a military garrison. It's pretty neat how great of shape the palace is in and how many restaurants, shops, and residences are within the walls.
Columns of the Saint Domnius Bell Tower
The stairs were a little sketchy
View from the top
A rather odd depiction of the Crucifixion in the cathedral
One thing ever major church has plenty of is bling
The crypt had a "wishing well" type thing that looked strange with the green lighting
An old bell
Sphinx mini-doppelganger
Like most Roman emperors (or any ruler for that matter), Diocletian felt he was above the gods. Evidence of this is the Temple of Jupiter which is away from the main area and significantly smaller than most of the other structures within the palace grounds.
Tower and cathedral
I cancelled my hostel bed in lieu of a proper apartment since I needed to catch up on a week without sleeping and it was well worth it. Outside my apartment were a bunch of random objects flung over the wires.
All you need to know about Croatia is that everything is #1!
Instagram, Snapchat, etc have placed a greater value on immediately sharing rather than building quality digital memories to be enjoyed years. Nonetheless, the guys were able to come up with enough footage to make a short after movie.
