The bridal party I was in this past weekend stayed at The Arrabelle in Vail, CO. The hotel was gorgeous, but my favorite part was definitely the rooftop pool area.
I could have sat on that roof all day with these views.
Did I mention there are also 2 hot tubs on the roof?
And the most amazing big cozy bathrobes in all of the closets. A necessity, really. 😇
Confession, I have a thing for the saxophone. You would think I may resent it after lugging it around my middle school for years (#bandgeek), but no, my love remains strong.
So, since sometimes I have trouble going right to sleep, my new way to hit the sheets - a little mellow (af) saxophone. Works like a charm.
Full disclosure, a number of these songs are pulled from an album entitled "Jazz For Babies" but hey, whatever works right?
sweet dreams!
Photo taken on our first trip to Mexico at the Alaya Tulum.
No? Just Me? Well I’ve been shooping since Sunday and plan to carry that into Memorial Day Weekend, so here is the playlist I’ve had on repeat. A little Chingy for good measure too - remember Chingy?!
Hvar is a must-see stop if you’re visiting Croatia. If possible, rent a boat for the day, you will not regret it.
It was so nice being able to cruise around wherever we wanted, getting all of the details about the area from our local captain.
Also, check out our Air Bnb below, I would recommend this place to anyone heading to Hvar. We had a great view of the harbor (which had a amazing sunset every night), more than enough room for 2 couples, and our host was chill yet helpful, the best kind of Air BnB host, in my opinion
You’ve got to check out Carpe Diem beach bar if you’re ever visiting Hvar.
Delicious drinks, bean bags galore, & gorgeous views - just a few reasons to love this place. We hung out here during the day and just soaked up some sun and drinks, but there is also a raging white party going on at the front of the bar. So you can have a little bit chill, a little bit unce-unce, best of both worlds, you know what I mean?.
The Bartul Cebalo Grk wine was amazing and getting to sip it with charcuterie & cheese plates while chatting with friends over these views was my kind of paradise.
I know exactly next to nothing about wine, so I’ll get an actual expert give you the recap:
“Grk has to be one of the most fascinating grape varieties I’ve ever encountered. You can only find it in the sandy soils of the vineyards surrounding the beach town of Lumbarda, on Korčula island in Croatia. All attempts to find the equivalent variety back in Greece have failed, and even Italy’s “Greco” is not an exact match”.
Well there you go, I was sipping a fascinating grape vareity and I didn't even know it. My boyfriend LOVED the Grk wine, he lugged some of it home, that’s how much he loved it. And by lugged I mean that literally, he lugged his bottles on foot down the long winding road to get out of the vineyard and then through the airport & home to the US.
♡ it is a pebble beach, so bring your water shoes, of course.
♡ there are chairs you can rent for a couple bucks (re: the pebbles) but I loved laying on the pebbles it’s much more comfortable than you would think. They are essentially like massage stones, all rounded and perfect. Some people were just laying on the rocks, no towel. I mean that’s a commitment, but just sayin’.
♡ if you’re just looking for a leisurely day I would definitely drive to plaza beach - uber, rental car, whatever you got. We saw some beachgoers trying to hike/fall down from the top of the hill (instead of driving) and it looked pretty miserable.
♡ right above the beach to the right is a beach bar, very convenient! To the left is another more setback beach bar that is where you have to go for lunch. The tables are all kind of built into the woods with a cool view out to ocean (see last photo above) and the food is unreal.
♡ I listened to this playlist all day on this beach and it made me very, very happy.
We stayed at Hotel Korsal, which we loved, I would definitely recommend it - mostly because the staff is so amazing and friendly. Everyone in our group commented on it, they were so helpful in giving you advice, directions around the island, wine reccomendations (we needed a lot those). They seemed to genuinely want you to have fun there. Just good people. YOU GET IT.
After touring around we had a delicious dinner, all the restaurants essentially had this same beautiful view. We lucked out and got to see a local water polo tournament that happened to be going on while we were there, and it was a BIG deal. It felt like we were there for the Olympics, guys. It was pretty awesome.
It seemed like a lot of the other visitors we were chatting with on the ferry were skipping Korcula! I say definitely try to spend at least a day there. Korcula is home to the most beautiful beach I have ever been too - hands down, it beats them all. Bold statement, I know, but hey, I have to make you understand why skipping Korcula is just a crime. I think the hands-down-most-beautiful-beach deserves it’s own post though, yeah? More to come!
Hopping into a cab when we reached Dubrovnik, we were immediately weaving our way around some of the most gorgeous views I’d ever seen.
^view from Hotel Kompas.
The water is just crystal clear. This view at the front desk window really had all of our jaws dropping the moment we walked into our hotel.
A few things we had a blast doing while there:
‘SECRET' SWIM SPOTS
The water is super striking to see and even better to swim in. Everything in Dubrovnik is right on the water or overlooking the water. If you walk around there are a so many cliffs, nooks, and crannies to find kinda ‘secret’ swim spots. A lot of people come prepared with a beach towel and umbrellas. There seems to be a seemingly endless amount of these, we could didn’t have any problem finding a private spot to ourselves. Awesome way to wake up and spend your morning.
OLD TOWN
The streets of Old Town are beautiful, every alley seems to have another restaurant full of delicious wine and wonderful smells. Like any typical tourist area, the streets DO get super crowded though, so don’t-enter-my-bubble style travelers beware.
CAVE BAR MORE
We had ourselves a time at Cave Bar More, sipping rose (literally all day), eating, and not waiting any where near 30 minutes jumping in and out of the water.
CABLE CAR & SUNSET DINNER
You have to hop on the Dubrovnik cable car to see the unbelievable view. Time your dinner with sunset!
Also don’t forget to visit Buza Bar in Dubrovnik, I already mentioned this being a must-see stop here.
If you’re anything like me and crave pizza on vacation then I would definitely recommend a stop at Mea Culpa. It’s pretty bomb. Trust me, I know my pizza.
And last but not least, you have to stop at Hotel Bellevue for their brunch, the food was delicious and the ocean view is absolutely unreal - see first photo.
Water shoes FTW. Seriously though, that would be my #1 packing tip for Croatia. You’re going to feel dumb at first, but you’ll look even dumber when you have a sea urchin sticking out of your foot, capeesh?
my water shoes are straight up bougie, $17.89 on amazon, baby.
One of our first stops in Dubrovnik was the cliffside cafe & bar, Buza. There is live entertainment, re: tipsy tourists thrill seekers diving from the cliffs every few minutes. The view here is no joke guys, so if you’re a sucker for a good sunset, then this is your spot. Grab a beer or glass of vino and enjoy.
And some John Splithoff for ya today because he was pretty damn near perfect for the plane.
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