We walked through the Old City of Dubrovnik on Saturday morning intending to get some breakfast. It happens the citizens of Dubrovnik were staging the Dubrovnik 1/2 Marathon and Marathon races this morning, as well as hosting FOUR cruise ships.  The place was a mob scene of tourists, runners and supporters. We decided it was a good day to take a three-island tour by boat of the Elaphite Islands. Gotta get out the city today!

Croatia has over 1700 islands up and down its coast, but only 49 are inhabited . They vary in sizes from just rocks jutting out of the sea to larger islands several miles long and wide. We hopped on a boat and went to visit the group of islands called the Elaphite Islands about a 45 minute ride north from Dubrovnik. The first island, Kolocep Otok, was a smallish resort island that boasted one of the nicer sandy beaches and a beautiful resort hotel. It looked to me like a great honeymoon location as it is very quiet, secluded, and peaceful. Not much to do but sun yourself and gaze into your beloved's eyes! We walked along the waterfront, poked into the souvenir shops, and drank a quick beer before getting back on the boat headed to the next island.

Our second stop was a fishing village, quaint and peaceful. We walked around the harbor and peeked into the little church that seated just 12 people! We started on the path to visit the old monastery, but realized about halfway there that we wouldn't have time to make the trek. So we turned around and spent our last 15 minutes drinking a beer in the beautiful plaza, shaded by blooming acacia trees . Good choice, in our opinion!

Back on the boat, the crew had prepared a grilled fish and vegetable lunch for us with a tossed salad and, of course, the still open bar. This trip was getting better and better. While we ate lunch, we sailed to Lopud, the last island stop. Lopud is the largest of the three islands, and boasts another sandy beach, about a half dozen very old churches, a botanical garden, and a very nice beachfront with cafes and restaurants. We walked through the church, the botanical garden and stopped for homemade berry pie and coffee and tea.

After a beautiful day, the clouds began to gather and we saw lightening and heard thunder as we boarded our boat. A squall made the first half of the trip home a bit cold and unpleasant, but we soon outran the storm, and the sun was shining again as we approached the walls of Dubrovnik. By the time we exited the boat, the cruisers were gone, back on their ships, the runners were gone, and Old Town was calm and quiet again.

Tomorrow, we are starting another exciting adventure. We are boarding a flight to northern Croatia and the town of Zadar where we will then take a bus to visit the National Park of Plitvice Lakes. We're both very excited to see this amazing natural wonderland of forests and waterfalls. I'll post pics after we get back to Dubrovnik on Friday.