I’m a bit bleary-eyed while I write this, thanks to this past weekend’s adventure to Croatia.

I have to thank my friend Candice for inspiring this trip, as she mailed me a Dubrovnik guide book earlier this year. I’d never heard of the southern Croatian city, but I quickly learned that it is called the Pearl of the Adriatic.

I really must agree.

Dubrovnik’s Old Town is still completely surrounded by powerful walls as it juts into the Adriatic. The Old Town is completely traffic-free, and its streets are made of shining, slippery marble. The lanes wind incessantly, climbing up and down steps.

Dubrovnik was powerful in the 15th and 16th centuries, thanks to its salt trade, merchants, shipbuilding and strong navy.

During Croatia’s break from Yugoslavia in 1991, the tourism there stopped as the city was bombed, and now, things are beginning to pick up again.

My day in Dubrovnik will long be one of my favorites, ranking with Delft, the Keukenhof gardens and my flower fields bike ride, and climbing from the Agora to the Acropolis in Athens.

That I had a wonderful time in Dubrovnik is saying a lot. I had spent half a day and the whole night traveling to get there, so I was in a bit of a daze when I stepped off the bus at the Dubrovnik bus station. I managed to get a bus into town without any problems and find my hostel without any questions.

My bed wasn’t ready, considering it was 8:30 in the morning, so I left my bags and headed to the Fort of St. Lawrence (free for students). Considering I’ve tried to adopt a Salzburg state of mind, I wasn’t wearing shorts for fear of looking ridiculous, which can happen here.

No shorts was really the only mistake I made in Croatia (fortunately, I did bring a skirt with me). So I headed to the fort in dark blue jeans and was sweltering in about five minutes. There wasn’t anything I could do about this, so I continued trudging on and climbed the fort.

I was finished there around 10 a.m., and it was easily already 90 degrees. The staff at the fort recommended that I ascend the city walls next, even though it was already late and hot, because the guy willing to give a student discount there was working. So I went. The views were astounding. The buildings of the city are all a tan color with orange roofs. The water is a perfect contrast, with tealy-green shades close to the walls and shore, progressively turning into a midnight blue.

I never got tired of looking at the town or water, or of taking pictures.

When I headed back to my hostel (Fresh*Sheets, the only hostel inside the walls, expensive, but the best hostel experience I’ve had this year), I met my Norwegian roommates who invited me to go to the beach with them. I also made a date with a Canadian girl to cliff jump the next morning. Cliff jumping means jumping from the rocks on the side of the wall into the Adriatic, and this happens mostly from Buza, a bar hanging off the side of the wall that is reached by climbing through a hole in the wall-which is what the bar’s name translates to.

The beach east of the Old Town is pebbly and looks like sand from far away. The pebbles were small enough to not be uncomfortable and made a very nice alternative to sand. The sea was also more appealing than I expected. I thought it would be cold, but it was quite warm. It was excessively salty, and there are no showers at this beach, so becoming a bit crusty was unavoidable.

I had dinner that night at a Bosnian restaurant called Taj Mahal, which I would definitely recommend. I splurged on a 50 Kuna dinner, which really was only about $10. Everything but lodging and transportation is cheap.

That day was really everything that I could have asked for. I’m glad I fit Dubrovnik (and I also stopped in Split and Zagreb) into my schedule, and I would definitely return, but preferably by plane.