We spent two weeks in Croatia, and we would rate it as our favourite Eastern European destination!
Reading the lonely planet we were a bit worried about Zagreb - it said that may people don't like Zagreb immediately, and we had too little time there to let it grow on us. We really needn't have worried, we loved Zagreb, even with the drunk outside our window who kept us up all night with her delighful singing!
We loved the curiving crooked streets of the old town, and the well planned and organised grid pattern of the new town. We loved the fact that you could practically walk from one end to the other in 2 hours. We loved the hundreds of parks full of spring flowers and cool fountains. We loved the bustling fruit and flower markets where we bought the yummiest, juiciest strawberries that I have ever tasted. And we loved the excellent coffee served at the numerous outdoor cafes, all especially set up for people watching.
From Zagreb we caught the overnight bus to Dubrovnik. I had been dreading the whole overnight bus experience, but with a little chemical help and excellent reclining seats I managed to sleep most of the way. In fact we had to be woken up by a fellow passenger when we reached Dubrovnik.
Our room in Dubrovnik was great, we had an excellent view of the old town (even the 15 minutes of stairs that we had to climb were worth the view), we had a kitchen so we could cook and as a result we were reluctant to ever leave the apartment!
Dubrovnik is really pretty, and I really liked wandering around the old town, up and down narrow little streets with residents laundry hanging abouve our heads. I liked the patchworks roofs of the old town, an unfortuntate side effect of the militarily pointless shelling of Dubrovnik that took place in the early 90's and lasted about 10 months.
From Dubrovnik we caught the ferry to Korcula where we spent 4 nights. We loved Korcula especially as we hired push bikes and a scooter and so got to explore more of the island rather than just visiting the town. From there we made for Hvar where we spent 3 nights. Hvar, like Korcula is a picture perfect island - it really is as beautiful as all the postcards claim, complete with blue blue waters and fantastic old towns lining the coast. We like Hvar, but I can see how in summer it would fill up with yuppie yachtspeople which could have a negative impact. Ah the joy of travelling in the 'low' season.
From Hvar we made for Ljublijana, then to London and then to South Africa.
