Ivy drove as fast as he could through the road towards the top of the hill, the sky was slowly painting in red, orange and pink tones after the strong rainfall that threatened to ruin that Dubrovnik afternoon. In the end, Ivy, our guide, was right. After the rain, the sunset would be perfect. A top one of the city’s hills you could see the archipelago in front of Croatia’s own paradise city, better known as King’s Landing thanks to Game of Thrones fans. Not even the best camera in the world is capable of showcasing those shocking colours in the sky. From orange to red, then turning pink as the sun waved goodbye to Earth.
That day started in the best hostel I’ve stayed at. It didn’t have fancy facilities or the most comfortable beds, they gave me a different room than the one I had booked. It did not matter at all. The staff was so kind and friendly that I’d never change it for the best matress and pillow. That morning my friends and I landed in Croatia at 7 am after a few hectic days in Rome, an hour and a half later we checked in at the hostel and it was when we met Milka, the owner.
As any caring grandma would, Milka made sure we were well fed before heading to the beach and to the old square. She cooked us french toast, pancakes, fried eggs, little fruit muffins, whatever we fancied. As we devoured our breakfast some other guests started to gather in the common room a few meters away from the kitchen. A Canadian staff member kindly gave us some pointers and alongside a group of American friends we just met, we decided to check out the beach Milka recommended.
It was a waveless and small beach. Rocks were more predominant than sand, the water was cold and the sky started to get cloudy, the rain was just a few blocks away. Beers and other drinks started flowing thanks to the hot and humid weather. We spent at least three hours at the beach, exchanging jumps into the Adriatic sea with cold beers at the beach club. That’s when we met Ivy, who turned to be one of Milka’s sons, and she wasn’t just a kind old lady. She was a war hero.
Once the sunset was over and the moon ruled the sky, Ivy drove us to the city’s Homeland War Museum, remembering the Serbian war. You could feel all the horror and dark times through Ivy’s expressions and his stories when he was just a kid. He paused, swallowed water and he kept going, there were moments when I taught he would break down in tears, if it wasn’t him, it would be me. He described when Serbian jets started bombing the city while he was en route to school. Ivy shared us his experience living between bullets and soldiers. Her mother Milka, cooked food for the Croatian rebels and is a well-respected person in the local community. Risking her life every day while walking up to ten kilometres through the city’s war hysteria to bring the rebels food. No wonder she treated every guest in her humble hostel as one of their own.
Our next destination was Split, the country’s second-biggest city. We only had two nights left at the Dalmatian coast before heading to Zagreb. Two very different nights, the first one ruled by chaos and party and a very calmed second night. Split is the host city of Ultra Europe, one of the most popular electronic dance music festivals in the world and has a reputation for tremendous nightlife. We had to make sure that was the case.
Without a particular destination, we went out in search of a chill place to zip some drinks, just like an oasis in the middle of the desert, neon lights emerged a few blocks away, and a nice outdoor bar with fantastic music appeared. We started dancing with some Swiss girls and then moved on with a bunch of Frenchmen who understood us less that we could understand them, no Spanish or English for them or French for us. We only raised our glasses and started chanting ZIZOU! ZIZOU! ZIZOU! (for those of you who don’t know, Zizou is the nickname of Zinedine Zidane, one of France’s best football players ever). Then we met a bunch of Aussies and Englishmen and the night went out of control. Those guys know how to party. Respect.
The day after we visited the Krka national park, the perfect place to reflect on our bad decisions from last night and to be in contact with nature. A truly breathtaking park to relax, swim in pristine waters and have a nice picnic with friends or family, I would totally recommend going, it’s an hour drive from the Split city centre. The next day we drove all the way to the capital to eventually catch a bus that would take us to Budapest… But that is a story for another day.
Croatia exceeded all my -high- expectations. The most friendly locals I have ever encountered, fun nights out, astonishing landscapes and delicious food. The only regret I had was only spending three days in this Balkanic paradise.