No to COVID

Yes to Croatia

A fairytale unfolds as you traverse the stunning locations within this European destination. Croatia will simply take your breath away

Text: Namrata Jaykrishna Parikh

It was August 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our country was still under total lockdown, with even fruit and vegetable stores functioning at staggered timings and large buildings being containment zones. Barely any flights were flying in and out of the country, and most of the ones that were flying were evacuation flights. That is when my husband and I decided to take a two-week long holiday to Croatia.
To be fair, this trip was long overdue.  We had initially planned to go to Croatia for our first wedding anniversary in May 2020, but for obvious (pandemic related) reasons, this did not happen. Much to our dismay, we ended up spending our first anniversary cooped up in Bombay. I think that the first few months of the pandemic were the first time ever that both of us had not left the country for that long.
We planned the Croatia trip on a whim. In the second last week of August, we decided that since both of our birthdays and our anniversary had gone by, we needed a vacation to celebrate.
In the last week of August, we took our first flight in four months and embarked on our journey. British Airways did a great job of following COVID protocols and keeping us safe. Unfortunately, the flying experience was a bit disappointing due to the fact that food now came in a square box instead of being served a la carte. Still, I should not complain. I was after all, on a plane, going for a holiday! Taking a connecting flight to Dubrovnik was also surprisingly easy and it didn’t seem much different from flying in pre-COVID times, sans the masks and constant sanitising.
Once we landed in Dubrovnik, however, it was like COVID didn’t exist. After leaving the airport, masks were an anomaly and people would look at you almost strangely if you wore a mask. After months of hiding behind a mask, this was a welcome change and it felt so free to be able to walk around in the open without having to worry about the pandemic, even if it was short-lived.
We rented a car from the airport and took off to enjoy our first spot – sunny Dubrovnik. Refreshed from the flight, we didn’t need to rest and were excited to explore the city. We checked into our hotel, Villa Dubrovnik, and ordered room service. Just an hour after arriving, we were ready and drove to our first stop, the walls of Dubrovnik. The walls were unique and beautiful. They surrounded the Old City and gave us spectacular views of it. We enjoyed freshly churned ice-cream at one of the topmost points on the walls. As we came towards the end of the walls, we came across a beautiful bar facing the ocean – Buza Bar. We sat down, took a breath and enjoyed our first drink in a bar since March. At the end of our excursion, we went to a restaurant situated within the walls – Restoran Dubrovnik. We enjoyed amazing Dalmatian fare and topped off the evening by watching a live outdoor orchestra performance in Old City. Jet lag caught up with us then, so we chose to retire for the night.
The next morning was when we truly got to enjoy our hotel. A magnificent breakfast fare was presented to us as we sat on a table with a 360° view of the ocean and Lokrum Island. We were so fascinated by the island and even though neither of us are fans of Game of Thrones, we set off to explore the island. A comfortable 10-minute ferry from Old City, and there we were on the once quiet island of Lokrum. Of course, before doing anything, we took the customary picture on the Game of Thrones throne. We also found time to explore the beach surrounding Lokrum, but it was quite disappointing because the water was freezing cold, and we couldn’t enter the water without being stabbed in the feet by tiny rocks (and there were crabs!).
After returning to shore, we got dressed for a date night at Restaurant 360. It definitely deserves its title as the best restaurant in the city as well as its Michelin star because each course was more appetising than the last and it was nearly impossible to find fault with anything. Even my husband, who is vegetarian, found a bevy of food options and enjoyed every course! The experience was enhanced (for us, tainted for some others) by the sounds of loud music playing from a famous nightclub situated within the walls!
We started off our next morning by a run along the steps to feel better about all the food and drink we had consumed the night before. Then, we decided to truly explore Old City. Old City had tourists but was missing the crowd that it is famous for thanks to COVID. We relished this experience of being able to see Dubrovnik without too many people around. It was a once- in-a-lifetime experience to be relatively secluded in the Old City of Dubrovnik.
In the evening, we decided to take our trip to new heights – literally and figuratively. We went to a restaurant called Panorama, from where we could take in the views of all of Dubrovnik while enjoying extensive European food and drink. We made the trip up and down from here via cable car which made it feel a little touristy, but the breathtaking views and Lasagne Bolognaise were definitely worth it!
The next morning, we continued our roadtrip. After enjoying a quick breakfast in the hotel cabana, we started our drive to Hvar. This was one of the most interesting travel experiences of the trip, because in order to get to Hvar in the quickest manner, we had to drive our car onto a ferry and park it there for the ride. We also drove through Bosnia and Herzegovina on the way to Hvar and stopped at a gas station there to feel like we visited another country! Another one off the bucket list!
Hvar was a slight change of pace from Dubrovnik, with us instantly recognising the chill party vibe. We stayed in Palace Elisabeth, a luxury heritage hotel. Our room had a view of the main lake in Hvar, and we could see all the yachts and boats and restaurants from our balcony. The room had an old-time princess vibe to it, something that I very much enjoyed. We didn’t waste much time in the room, however, as we took a walk on the boardwalk and enjoyed some pizza and lemonade. Again, to work off the calories, we put on our gym outfits and decided to run across Hvar. This helped us kill two birds with one stone – we saw Hvar while feeling fit! Since we were tired, we had dinner in our hotel restaurant and took in the nightlife views.
The next morning, we enjoyed a large breakfast while discussing our plans for the day. We decided to spend our day at a beach club. We played cards and board games, enjoyed a few light cocktails and worked on our tans! We kept alternating between jumping in and out of the water and gorging on truffle fries. The day passed by quicker than we would have liked, and we moved to another beach bar in the evening to enjoy the sunset and eat a quick dinner. This was probably the most relaxing day of the entire trip!
After starting the next morning with a gym workout (first time I had gone to the gym since the pandemic!), we rented a boat for the day. The weather was just right and we were happy to feel the salty wind on our face. Our first stop was the Blue Grotto, a waterlogged sea cave. The entrance was narrow, and it was a beautiful sight to see a cave filled with bright, glistening blue water.
We spent the rest of the afternoon jumping in and out of the boat at random locations in the ocean, and I even had a half- hour nap on the boat thanks to the soothing rocking motion of the waves! We docked our boat when we found a lively restaurant and bar on an island in Vis. We sat on bean bags and enjoyed our first meal of the day under an umbrella made of straw. We sipped on cocktails in mason jars and enjoyed some wonderful tuna tartare.
Our next stop was the Zlatan Otok vineyard, situated on a steep island. It was an incredible experience. A large part of the humongous winery is under water, especially the storage of barrels. From the windows in the cellar, you can see fish swimming around. Post our tour, we did a short wine-tasting experience before departing for Hvar. We were so tired when we got back to the island that we were in no mood for a long, fancy dinner. We ate a quick meal at Black Pepper, a trendy restaurant near our hotel, which turned out to be delicious.
The next morning was our last breakfast in Hvar before we started our roadtrip once again. We picked up some snacks for the road before leaving for Plitvice! On the way to Split, we stopped at a small town called Zadar. We had lunch at a quaint café called Restaurant Bruschetta and took a walk along the Zadar promenade. Zadar is known for its ‘sea organ’, an amazing architectural wonder. So, we sat by the organ and had ice-cream to enjoy the experimental sound instrument! We reached Plitvice in the early evening. There isn’t much to do in the evening, so we spent it in our Nordic style cabins at Plitvice Holiday Resort and had a warm meal. The temperature here was way colder than Hvar, which made us sleepy a lot earlier.
We woke up bright and early (5.00 am!) the next day to begin our trek. We chose the longest trek, which was eight hours. We wanted to take in all the views and Plitvice did not disappoint! The lake water was a crystal-clear blue and the trees were lush green. There were natural waterfalls falling from the mountains, which were incredible to watch! The weather was pleasant throughout the day, and this helped us complete the trek with ease. Even though it was long, only few parts of the trek were physically gruelling.
The following day, we left for Split. We quickly grabbed lunch on the way because we didn’t want to waste time as we had only two days there. Old City was buzzing with with lots of history and nightlife. After checking in, we immediately left and went to grab gelato at Gelataria Emiliana, a locally owned gelato bar.  We started our sightseeing by visiting the Palace of Diocletian, the ancient palace built for the namesake emperor. Due to COVID, we didn’t want to take a tour and so we explored the palace and its surroundings by ourselves. It took us an hour and a half to see all the important sites. What a wonderful sight!
We had a romantic date night in Zinfandel Food and Wine Bar in Split, where we had wine of the same name paired with an array of risottos and pastas. My favourite part of the night, however, came after. We sat by the sea and had fried donuts with caramel and Oreos from one of the local vendors. Despite all the fine dining, that was the most satisfying food I had on the whole trip!
The next day started off glum because we had to take our COVID RT-PCR tests in Split in order to be able to go back to India. We spent around one hour in the queue to get tested in order to be considered fit to travel. Post this, we decided to explore Split one more time. We walked around the palace again, climbing up the steps of the tower to get the view from the top. We also took a walk around the rest of Old City. At night, we ended up sitting at the pier once again, this time eating fresh fruit and Nutella crêpes! Unfortunately, that was our last night in Croatia.
In the morning, we decided to have one last hurrah before leaving for the then semi locked-down India. We booked a table at Dvor, a beautiful restaurant on a hilltop, looking down at the beaches of Split. It definitely deserves the spot it has in the Michelin guide! We had to keep it quick, because we went to the airport straight from lunch. This was the first time we had put on a mask in a week!
We took a quick one-day stop in London and then returned home. And the rest is history, that keeps repeating itself… it’s yesterday once more, lockdown once again…

Zlatan Otok Winery	Michelin Starred restaurant 360	Trendy eatery Black Pepper
A feast at Zinfandel	Octopus and corn at Restoran Dubrovnik	Dining with a view at Panorama