The Pearl of the Adriatic Sea, or the King's Landing of The Game of Thrones: Dubrovnik I.

Andy and I haven't been on a holiday for two years now, and we both thought how much needed it would be to do so this summer. As I could not have a holiday all summer teaching in a school, our only option was to wait for the holiday season to end. Not that I complain; I really hate the scorcing sun and packed beaches where people are trodding on each other. So we looked around a little, and in January we booked a trip to the island of Mljet in Croatia. End of the world - just what we wanted. Along the way we noticed that the famous town of Dubrovnik is near, so we decided not to leave it out, being so close.

As the day of travel approached, I thought I will organise everything in good time. Well, as you know, that is a lovely thought, but this is just never the case. At least with me. Unavoidably, you end up packing in slight panic the night before...The good thing about it though was that we were determined to travel light as we did not know we will be "carrying" a baby too when we booked the holiday. But I would not love my other half this much if he was not the steadiest rock in all of this. Andy carefully checked, planned, printed and organised everything, so our arrival to Dubrovnik went as smoothly as it could. Also, he always picks a most exquisite place to stay. I was over the moon when I saw he found a lovely little flat in the heart of Old Town. So beautiful...

On our first walk, we went to the port as it was very close to where we were staying. You cannot decide whether the town is more mesmerizing at day, or night.

The weather was perfect - warm sun and a gentle sea breeze. My growing tummy was very comfortable in this nautical dress. I was worried most clothes won't fit me, but the baby and I are doing fashionably just fine. This, of course prompted for a pose by the red lighthouse in the bay.

The main streets were swarming with tourists. This is an early morning shot of only a few people around. A few hours later it was impossible to walk properly. We heard the locals saying that there are always many tourists in Dubrovnik, but that this year it was simply too much - they've had enough.

In the photo above you can see the street where our hotel was. When we turned around the corner and saw the stairs leading up, well, let's say we lost all our courage. There are small landings every now and then, but it was still a challenge to climb. We quickly had to get in shape, then every night before going to bed, we opened the windows to listen to the tourists passing. It was a lot of fun; they were panting and swearing in all the different languages, young and old alike.

One of my favourite childhood treats. I cannot buy it in my country anymore, unfortunately. Wars are an undescribable thing. I bought a pack for the good old times.

If you are a Game of Thrones fan (as I am), you may recognize the sihouette of the cliffs of King's Landing. There is absolute madness about the show in Dubrovnik; there isn't a single shop where you wouldn't find a GoT souvenir. As you can see, that night I even had a date with Jon Snow. He was not as impressed as I was.

Andy loves this photo of me. He probably feels a little more sentimental about it than I do; I call it: "Caught Lurking in the Dark Around the Jewellery Shop"

- End of Part I -