Liberty Is Not Well Sold For All The Gold

Onwards to our first day in Dubrovnik...

After an excruiatingly slow bus journey in heat that strengthened by the hour, I arrived in Dubrovnik looking rather bedraggled.  We traipsed through the winding streets of the Old Town and up narrow cobbled stairs to our apartment where I was finally able to refresh myself!

I probably should pretend to be a wonderfully sophisticated traveller and not admit to this but, I have to say, my feet were so swollen on this holiday and they hurt the worst that day.  It had only happened to me badly once before but I felt like my ankle bones disappeared in hideous doughy flesh for the week.  I felt grotesque and there was little I could do about it so if you suffer, I am with you.  Early 20s going on 90...

Basically, this cut off vintage/second hand/customised/upcycled/whatever the correct buzz word is for it now dungaree dress with wet from the shower plaits and minimal makeup felt perfect to feel cool and comfortable for a stroll around Dubrovnik.   I've really liked the print on this t-shirt all Summer too.  It's from the Uniqlo Laura Ashley collaboration and I knew it'd be good quality having got 2 from the Cath Kidston collection last Summer.

Dress - American Eagle from UO Renewal            T-Shirt -  Laura Ashley for Uniqlo         Sandals & Sunglasses - Oasis

Nailpolish -  Chanel Orange Fizz, chipped :)  and Nail Girls Bronze

We ended our stroll at the popular Buza beach bar for sunset, enjoying the view of the uninterrupted expanse of the Adriatic and of Lokrum island. Water you can swim in this time, see the little specks of people who dived in?

We saw the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra that evening in the beautiful atrium of the Rector's Palace and I tried a local honey liquer to round off a lovely evening (felt warming and vaguely medicinal).  I know these photos aren't great but I love this DeSigual dress I got on sale before the holiday.  It's simple but a flattering, elegant shape and has beautiful embroidery along the hem.  When I stood for a photo after the concert, the double bass player got me to pose with his bow.  Well, why not?

The old motto of the Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik's earlier name) translates from the Latin as 'liberty is not well sold for all the gold'...non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro.  I found it printed on notebooks in a modern design collective shop and they assured me it is still an important sentiment for the residents today.

All in all, a perfect introduction to Dubrovnik.

xox

Souls That Cry For Water

I cynically believed the photos of Plitvička Jezera I saw online must have been photoshopped.  No lake is that crystal clear and turquoise I convinced myself, trying to make my expectations as low as possible.  Well, I am here to verify that yes, I am a cynic as the lakes did not disappoint and no, these photos have not been 'turquoised' up.

Especially when the sun broke through the clouds and shone, these waters looked nothing short of magical.  Thank you Croatia!

I look a bit exhausted from travelling the day before but dressing for summer sun is so wonderfully simple after months of rain and 4 seasons in a day.  This Emily and Fin dress I wore in a post last summer and hadn't had the chance to wear since.  I thought a blue themed outfit might match the surroundings when I woke up that morning!  The demi wedge tan sandals were a pre holiday sale purchase from Oasis and very comfy for trekking around in.

I was completley enamored by these blue dragonflies.  You don't get dragonflies in Ireland (at all, I think!) and there were ducks and butterflys and like everywhere in Croatia, the water was so clear you could see all the fish.  As tempting as these waters looked for diving in, swimming is not allowed as it's drinking water!  These lakes were just over a 2 hour drive from Split and well worth the journey.  We ate sour cherry strudels and had pretty inland Croatian countryside to entertain us.  We only saw a small section of this huge national park, you could literally trek around it for days and possibly find bears though this part was not so appealing to me!

Dress - Emily and Fin         Shoes - Oasis       Earrings - Accessorize      Bag - Longchamp

Dragonflys and butterflys, waterfalls and walkways..a little piece of heaven on earth.  Your eyes get so filled up with shades of blue and green from the sky, the trees, the water that it's hard not to feel down when you return to the grey of home.  Looking at these pictures are good for my soul, to remind me that this blue still exists out there!

P.s. Kudos to those who noticed i chopped off about 7 inches of my hair and have shorter bits around my face.  Possibly the shortest bits of hair I have had in about 7 years...brave move!

xox

Home from Croatia!

Dobar dan, I have returned from the sun!

As fellow Irishman George Bernard Shaw once said: "Those who seek paradise on Earth, should come to Dubronvik". He also coined it the 'pearl of the Adriatic'. While this was in 1929 and it is now much more touristy, it truly was as beautiful as promised. Looking at such beautiful blue green, crystal clear waters every day just seems to be good for the soul.

We were away for a week and went to Split, Dubrovnik, the island of Lokrum and into Bosnia to Mostar, Kravice Waterfalls and Medjugorje. So nice to get away before getting stuck back into work and I'm already desperate to return.

I'm going to do my next few outfit posts based on the photographs I took when I was away. So it will be a little glimpse into my week away :)

Here is just a few snaps from Split and our second evening, as our first was nothing to write home about it after a day of travelling!
This was a quaint little restaurant with beautiful homecooking. I tried 'pašticada' with gnocchi and it was maybe my best meal the whole week. I don't eat a lot of roast meat like this but I cannot describe how beautiful the taste was. Homemade creme caramel, a Croatian speciality, for dessert was perfect.

Startling everyone with my paleness on the beach in Split and above that, cowering halfway up a belltower.  No, I did not make it to the top and yes, I did buy some of the lavender the women were selling on the steps of Dicoletian's palace

More concise posts to follow but I just wanted to ask - do you see a difference in quality in these photographs?  I have tried viewing this post on 2 different browsers and I see the images as slightly grainier than normal.  I haven't changed camera or setting and checked image size, removed any photoshop textures. I'm not sure if this is a camera gone awol, a laptop gone faulty, or blogger confounding me.  If anyone has any ideas or if they are showing as crystal clear as my last post, please let me know!  

xox