Swimming in Dubrovnik's Blue Cave: Island Hopping, Part II

There are a few things you should keep in mind as you read about how this particular sequence of events unfolded.

First, Dubrovnik is generally on the sunnier side.

Second, we just so happened to hit rainy season on our visit, and the forecast looked bleak. Because boat excursions are canceled in the event of thunderstorms, I obsessively refreshed my weather app every few hours in the days leading up to the adventure. We would remind each other to pause and collectively send all of our positive energy to the weather gods (sounds ridiculous, but we were desperate).

Somehow that worked! For the most part, the weather icon remained firmly as an angry lightning bolt - up until the morning of, when it transformed into a slightly more forgiving gray cloud. Go time!

Because it started lightly drizzling when we headed out, our captain recommended against visiting the Blue Cave first. For the most spectacular conditions, you want the sun high up in the sky so that its light hits the cave straight on. If the sun isn't feelin' it, then we'd skip the Blue Cave.

The sun decided to make an appearance when we were admiring Sipan's rustic charm - and then it really showed off once we were laying out like beached whales on the hot, soft sands of Lopud's Sunj Beach. We falsely believed that once the sun came out, it wouldn't be going anywhere; and so when the sky subtly darkened, we reluctantly dragged ourselves away from paradise and made a break for our waiting vessel.

We raced over to the Blue Cave - music blasting, seawater drenching us as Loren expertly cut through the deep blue sea. Once there, we suddenly froze.

0

Island Hopping Around Dubrovnik's Elafiti Islands, Part I

As if tasting oysters plucked straight from the sea wasn't already the most blissful experience of all time, the very next day we had a boat come pick us up for a private island-hopping tour around the Elafiti Islands - an archipelago of thirteen islands northwest of Dubrovnik (aaand thank you Google!).

I don't think I've ever had two dreamier days in a row!

Of the thirteen islands, Koločep, Lopud and Šipan are the ones that are permanently inhabited and always ready for visitors. You can easily access these three islands via public ferry from Dubrovnik orrrrr you can splurge and hire a private boat, if you're feeling particularly bougie like we evidently did (but trust me, we were living beyond our means at this time).

Cassandra and I rose extra early and parked ourselves on the beach we lived by the year before, with a cappuccino and bijela kava respectively. We savored the familiar surroundings and milky coffees peacefully, and then headed back to rouse the girls for another day of adventuring.

Essentials in hand - a GoPro, an inflatable donut float that I insisted on purchasing back in California and that took up quite a bit of precious luggage space, and not much else - and after a very long trek to our meeting point, we came upon our captain Loren from Dubrovnik Explore. He dove into a proposed itinerary for the day - he'd steer us towards each of the three main islands. We can skip the ones that don't peak our interest, extend our time in the ones that do, or just swim in the middle of the Adriatic Sea if that's what we really wanted.

Whatever goes! That's the beauty of having a boat all to ourselves!

With that knowledge, we set off.

Giggling, we enjoyed the wind whipping our hair every which way, the sea spraying gently onto our arms. There was no sun yet in sight, but the water was beautiful albeit on the rocky side.

Not too long after we first boarded, our boat ventured to the outskirts of Koločep, the smallest of the three islands. But because we felt that we hadn't yet spent enough time on the boat quite yet, we decided to pass on this particular island for now.

"So be it," Loren nodded. "We can swing by later for you guys to swim in the Blue Cave if the sun comes out."

And so, Loren slowed us to a leisurely pace and allowed us to lounge happily.

Our first real stop was the Sudjuradj village of the second and largest of the three islands, Šipan. Loren dropped us off at the docks and then waved us towards the main village square, telling us to take our time and fetch him when we were ready to leave the island.

To start, we were behaving a bit like four lost turkeys... stepping around in circles, directionless and confused. But then we perked up, spotting some prime photo spots: 

So we preened... 

And we preened...

... and then, we called it a wrap.

I can't imagine why.

Next, we spotted a small sign for wine-tasting pointing down a narrow pathway. Sold! 

We didn't ever end up finding the wine, but instead - something a little stronger caught our eye:

Brandy!

Home-made brandy, that is. A local couple had quite the spread on the side of the pathway, right in front of their home: liquers made in-house, with their own fruits - it was like a lemonade stand for adults. For samples, the woman hands you generous pours, babbling on in very broken English and very insistent Croatian.

It was some strong stuff, let me tell you. Too strong for us, but not for this hilarious Polish couple we ran into. The husband was a huge charmer, the woman was no-nonsense and together they made the best comedy roadshow. They had us laughing until our stomachs hurt from the second we met them. The Polish woman was also throwing back shots of brandy like nobody's business, much to our amusement.

We purchased a bottle of olive oil from the Croatian family, and then hurried back to find Loren. 

At this point, we were ravenous - having had nothing all day except coffee for Cassandra and me.

There weren't many restaurants in the small village - perhaps two actual restaurants, a cafe, and a corner store. We didn't want to spend a lot of time cooped up inside and really wanted to get back on the water, so we popped our heads in to the cafe and asked if they had any sandwiches or food "to go." But the concept of takeaway food is a strange one in Croatia - where the lifestyle dictates that food and drink is meant to be relished slowly and fully appreciated - never to be rushed through.

But the owners of the cafe took pity on these flustered, hungry Americans and dug around in their kitchen, emerging with a baguette for us to squirrel away for the rest of the journey.

And by "squirrel away," I mean tear apart immediately and dunk into our newly purchased olive oil the second we were back on the boat. It was delectable, so much so that I recall a certain someone drank the leftover oil after we ran out of bread.

Our next island was my personal favorite: Lopud.

Do you see why?! This place is heaven. 

Boats dock at Lopud Bay, which is where the main strip of town is located as well.

But!

Waiting on the other end of the island? Which you can only access by a 10-minute buggy ride? (By buggy, I mean golf cart but doesn't buggy just sound so much more island-esque?)

Sunj Beach, quite possibly the most enchanting beach I've ever seen.

As the beach came within view when we were speeding down the rocky path on the buggy, it was like peeking into another world: ombre waters from the clearest of waters to the deepest of blues, green mountains rising from the periphery, sailboats swaying hypnotizingly off in the distance. The sand was devastatingly soft, though quite hot. We threw our things down, and scampered off to play in the water: 

Perfection.

After a luxurious dip in the sea, we retreated to the shore and did what we do best for the rest of the afternoon: 

Cake naps by the ocean, completely losing any concept of time. 

Enjoying paradise is quite hard work I'll have you know, but someone's gotta do it!

Once we felt the sun start to fade and the air turn cooler, we rose from our snooze with a jolt: we had to make it to the Blue Cave before the sun decides to peace out for real! With that, we found a buggy to shuttle us back to the other side of the island.

... did we make it to the Blue Cave in time?
... did I almost die?
... am I dead and talking to you from the beyond now?
Stay tuned for these answers and more in Part 2! --
If you're planning a trip to Dubrovnik, I highly recommend... getting out of Dubrovnik. Let me explain. I love that town with a passion, but the crowds and heat are no joke. My advice is to explore Old Town for a day or two at the most, and then book excursions for the rest of your stay. We used Dubrovnik Explore for this treat of a day - this is 100% not sponsored - and they were by far the most cost-friendly choice! Please reach out to me if you have any questions about this!

0

A Cozy Winter Weekend in North Lake Tahoe

This story begins with a pair of boots.

Well, a pair of boots and a long-standing tradition!

We'll start with the tradition. Each freshman dorm from my alma mater plans a trip to Lake Tahoe in the winter for a weekend of skiing during the days and drinking at high elevation during the nights. It's typically a grand affair, and many groups then turn it into an annual reunion event. 

Weekending in Tahoe, especially in the winter, is also very much a part of the Silicon Valley tech culture: leaving at 2pm on Fridays to beat traffic going up to Tahoe is very common, and sometimes entire teams or smaller startups will even head up there together.

That's kind of the backstory of how we found ourselves up there this weekend: Hanna's friends from her freshman dorm booked a cabin, and two days of hot cocoa and frolicking in the snow and quiet hikes by the lake just sounded too appealing. 

But I also had an ulterior motive.

These.

You see, in December, I kind of went crazy while Christmas shopping. As in, I think my bank account was physically shivering until it finally greeted the morning of December 25th with a sigh of relief thinking I'd give it a rest...

...until Camp Patton posted these darlings at 60% off and I gleefully clicked Purchase, completely ignoring the fact that I live in California in a city where it hovers around 60 degrees 340 days out of the year and 80 degrees the other 25. My bank account gave me a stern talking to and I rolled my eyes saying,

you'll see. They're going to come in handy. 

Immediately, I started planning a trip to Iceland and my bank account was like,

ARE YOU SERIOUS.

Aaaand, so Tahoe it was.

Please also disregard the fact that I just typed out a full conversation between me and my bank account, it's fine, I swear.

The joke was on me and my boots a little bit though because the forecast deemed it to be a warm and dry weekend. 

Undeterred, I shoved them on anyway and meandered over to wherever there was even a splotch of snow, barely sweating. See, the boots are HELPFUL.

When I wasn't being an idiot, we found ourselves savoring life up in the mountains.

All the fresh air,

and breakfasts at quaint restaurants called The Old Post Office Cafe where WiFi is non-existent and cell phones are not allowed. 

You guys, this place was so good.

Mimosas for $6.50, huge portions of hearty brunch food, and a host who I am still convinced is Luke from Gilmore Girls, 20 years after we last saw him.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the name of this restaurant was actually Hollow Stars," Cassandra agreed. 

After breakfast, we were determined to "go on a hike around the lake."

We dropped a pin, and everything.

But then somehow we ended up over in Nevada, at a brewery playing a kids' game. 

I never knew I'd be such a fan of hiking!

I highly recommend the Apple-Cranberry cider at Alibi Aleworks by the way; it's practically juice! 

After that detour, I promise we did try to find the lake.

But then some of us "really had to pee" and others were "really, really cold" aaaaand before we knew it, we were all cuddled up on twin-sized bunk beds taking a two-hour nap.

Solid. 

Other activities I participated in:

Ultra-competitive rounds of Taboo, coffee & Bailey's on the patio while wrapped in my snuggliest fleece jacket, eating all the junk food I could get my hands on, and hiding in a room with a paperback like a grandma while a heated game of Rage Cage was going on upstairs.  

In addition to dragging my friends out of bed early for a photo shoot in the snow, that is:

Which got real weird, real fast. 

All I wanted were some nice portraits I could frame... 

but instead, once Cassandra rigged up a tripod out of nature... 

It was middle school photos all the way.

Remember that? When you would set the timer on your digital camera for 10 seconds and then strike all sorts of weird poses and use all kinds of moody filters. 

 I'll save the more embarrassing ones for my speeches at their weddings.

All's well that ends wellith a bloodied knee, frozen hands, and jeans soaked through with snow.  

Another successful winter weekend in Tahoe in the books!

(Here's the one from last year.)

With that, we packed up the car, cranked up the aux, and made a beeline for the first Taco Bell drive-thru we could find on our way back home. 

How do you cozy it up in the winter?

0