Crocus Holiday in Croatia

 So for our first Crocus Holiday (American translation: February Break) Heidi and I decided to explore Dubrovnik, a walled city on the Dalmatian Coast.

Which makes me think of this:

But is actually more like this:

Heidi is my American partner in crime, and we were more than a little excited about our adventure:

Our apartment for the week:

Paid for with Croatian Kuna:

View from our window:

View from our rooftop terrace:

Dubrovnik is full of teeny, tiny sidestreets and alleys. (Most of them containing suspicious looking smoking men.)

The Franciscan Monastery:

Really old pharmacy stuff (and yes, that's a technical term):

In the chapel:

Artwork: 

The working pharmacy inside the monastery - the third oldest in Europe:

It was a dark and stormy night out by St. John Fortress...

And there was eating. Lots of eating. One of the nice things about traveling somewhere in the off season is that you can have a whole restaurant to yourself, which kind of makes you feel like a movie star!

Waterfront view at dinner:

Delicious seafood:

I will neither confirm nor deny that there were several visits to the creperie. 

(But I highly recommend the banana/nutella combo!)

A market (or 2 tables of vegetables) on one of the smaller squares one morning:

European parents seem to have a much more relaxed attitude towards parenting than Americans.
Sure kids, go play with those pigeons...

We spent a looong, sunny morning walking along the city's walls. The views were absolutely amazing (the stairs were less than amazing)!

Hello blue skies!

The Stradun (main street)

St. Lawrence Fortress outside the city gates:

The Adriatic was SO blue!

Minceta Tower:

A residential part of the city:

Heidi being Heidi :)

I kept spotting citrus trees growing in people's backyards: 

 Doggy napping in the sun under a lemon tree:

Laundry day!

Kids rollerblading down the steps. I think they were playing hooky!

Graffiti artists in the making:

The harbor:

There were a lot of stairs:

Tuesday = Laundry

Just hanging out in a centuries old European town on the Adriatic sea. The usual...

Sunset views from St. Lawrence Fortress:

Pile Gate with St. Blaise (patron saint of Dubrovnik) overlooking:

Part of what used to be the drawbridge:

Church of St. Blaise:

At night:

The Rector's Palace:

The Bronze Jacks, Maro and Baro, who ring the bell in the tower. Green army men, anyone?

Money chest!

At night:

There was a one room memorial to the bombing in 1991:

A piece of flag that was salvaged:

The Dominican Monastery:

The chapel:

The Serbian church:

The Gradskavana cafe where we spent our mornings drinking coffee and watching the main square. (And reading, there was lots of reading!)

Mural with St. Blaise in the middle (he was EVERYWHERE!):

The group of old men that were there everyday. Please note the use of hands while talking: 

(I kept thinking of Grumpa!)

A last rainy day visit to St. John Fortress and the harbor:

The Stradun looked the exactly the same on the night we arrived, and in the wee hours of the morning when we left: