Of course, the more I learned about Croatia the more it became a destination in its own right. The whole time, I couldn’t believe that our “visa” trip had taken us to this incredible, gorgeous country right on the sparkly Mediterranean. Oh Europe, how I miss thee!

The first stop on our Croatian itinerary was a small village about an hour away from Dubrovnik, and about fifteen minutes away from the airport. We originally planned to head straight into Dubrovnik but it was either booked or too expensive for how late we were planning (as usual) so we looked a bit outside.

After a very stressful few weeks packing up our life in Prague–and an initial rough start to Cavtat–I absolutely fell in love with the little town. We stayed right in the old town, up a steep, skinny alley lined with flowers, and every day we’d hike about five minutes down to the main promenade. The promenade of Cavtat is what Mediterranean dreams are made of: palm trees, seafood restaurants, ice cream galore, mega-yachts, casual beach bars and a few places to swim.

The word mega-yacht should warn you that Cavtat is not a cheap stopover, however! Of course, nothing felt cheap after living in Prague for a year–especially the food prices, yikes!–but we still had some delicious, reasonably priced meals there. And the ice cream was always cheap and always a win!

The only downside of Cavtat–and our time in the region, in general–was that it was ridiculously hot the whole time we were there. I always rolled my eyes when people complained of how hot somewhere was, but after traveling through Croatia, I can say that the heat really can be unbearable and makes it difficult to get out and do my favorite thing: explore.

Luckily, we had a plethora of Radlers, Croatian wine (!!), cocktails, swim breaks and an air-conditioned room to help us cope.

I can feel you not feeling sorry for me through the computer screen, I mean, look at this view.

Despite that, Cavtat was the ultimate place to begin our Croatian/Montenegrin tour. We purposefully planned a few quieter days, and with the heat and stress of the former weeks (not to mention the beginning stages of our farewell to Prague which was devastating), I’m so glad we did. We took a boat up to Dubrovnik for a half-day or so, we explored a few different coves and went swimming, we tried new foods and so much Croatian wine, we found a delightful bakery where I could get my daily iced coffee fix, we wandered the promenade almost every night with an ice cream cone in hand, and we made sure to watch every sunset. Not a bad introduction to Croatia, at all!

So what would you do? Stay closer to Dubrovnik, or “settle for” this adorable suburb?! 

Linking up with Travel Tuesday. 

The post Cavtat, Croatia appeared first on Amy and the Great World.

We arrived in Croatia last night after a long, stressful day that included saying farewell to our flat in Prague and getting delayed AND re-routed on our plane here. Of course, we immediately got lost upon arrival and ended up hiking up a steep, gravelly road that involved one frightening incident where my backpack (that probably weighs more than me) almost won the gravity game.

It only took a few minutes for me to be smitten with Croatia once we dropped our packs off, though.

Can you blame me?

I admit that this blog has been lower on my priority list the past few months. The schedule of my life has certainly been off the charts–in between finishing school, juggling three sets of visitors, all within a few days of each other (or even overlapping, in the case of my cousin and my parents), saying goodbye to my private clients, moving out of our flat, and planning a wedding that is less than three months away (!!). Primarily, though, I have wanted to live in the moment, and soak up the time showing our family and friends around my beloved Prague and the surrounding area.

Now E and I are on the road, on the way to making our nomadic lifestyle dreams come true. We’ll be going back to Prague after a few weeks in the Balkans (thankfully, I haven’t had to say farewell to Prague just yet!) then doing one last summer camp in the Czech mountains. Before flying home to finish preparing for our wedding, we’ll have a few days in the UK.

I was devastated to move out of our flat in Prague. I remember feeling so triumphant when we found the lovely, airy, bright flat on its perfect little park, right near the river and a tram stop. One with a bathtub and a balcony, no less! It was hard to let go of that part of my identity–the “I’m living in Europe part” that I’ve treasured so much this year. Now, I kind of live…nowhere. Or everywhere? (I like everywhere better).

Luckily, Croatia is truly incredible, so it’s not such a hard pill to swallow at the moment.

I’m looking forward to having more free time to devote to this blog–I have so many travels yet to share with you! From Paris to Ireland to Budapest to Germany! Not to mention, I have so many comments yet to respond to…working on it…

But for now, I’ll leave you with a few shots of the little seaside village we’re staying in for the next few days: Cavtat, Croatia.

(And make sure to follow along on Instagram for more updates!)

Linking up with Travel Tuesday. 

The post Hello from Croatia! appeared first on Amy and the Great World.