Friday, september 2

Dubrovnik's old town is pretty small and we saw the vast majority of it yesterday, so we spent today relaxing on the beach.  Besides, the turquoise Adriatic Sea had been beckoning us since we first laid eyes on it.  Banje Beach is a private beach just outside the walls of the old town where you can rent an umbrella and two lounge chairs for the entire day for 200 kuna (or about $30).  We got there early enough to claim chairs in a prime location right at the water's edge, as we do.  We thought the price was steep, but it's the cost of doing business in a tourist hot spot.  It was worth every penny.

We stayed out there until nearly dusk, when we quickly showered at the pay showers at Banje Beach's facility.  Actually, instead of paying for our shower, we jumped into other people's water that they abandoned early and were able to shower for free.  Hey, save where you can so you can spend where you want, and we wanted to spend on beer.

The next stop on our Dubrovnik tour had been at the top of Sarah's list since spotting it on Pinterest.  Buza Bar is built into the stone cliff and hangs precariously over the sea.  It is undoubtedly the best place in town to watch the sunset.  In-the-know tourists are aware of this, so you have to arrive at least an hour before sunset to get a seat.  Finding the place is half the fun and an adventure in itself, as it's not clearly marked on any map or by any sign.  We wandered the interior of the city wall where we approximated the location to be until we guessed at the correct unmarked entrance.

Here's a photo from above where we caught a glimpse of the bar while walking the walls yesterday.

As we've mentioned before, one of our favorite things about traveling is meeting new people who share our love of seeing and experiencing the world.  On this evening, we sat beside a cute young couple from Washington D.C. who used to be in the military but now travel the world as professional wedding photographers.  They are on the road six months out of the year and have been to all kinds of amazing places.  Talk about living the dream!  They showed us some photos from their portfolio and they are clearly very talented.  We only wish we'd met them 3.5 years ago before our own weddings!  We had a great time talking to them and they even generously offered to take a few photos of us with their professional camera in the old town.  Those are forthcoming, but for now we'll settle for a questionable picture of the four of us with the selfie stick.

We said our goodbyes with a promise to stay in touch and then rushed to make our 8:00 dinner reservation at a restaurant called Taj Mahal.  Surprisingly, it's not Indian food, but rather traditional Bosnian food.  We had tried to get in yesterday night, but the place was packed, so we were excited to see what all the fuss was about.  We shared beef and noodle soup, cevapi (minced beef sausages in pita), and a fancy apple dessert.

And then we took one more leisurely, admiring look at the old town before calling it a night.