Well the flight to Dubrovnik was an interesting one! Our 5 hour stop over in Belgrade went rather quickly but the flight from Belgrade was slightly frightening. It was a propeller plane and there was a bucket of turbulence. All I kept thinking was “mum would hate this”. However the views were beautiful and I felt very lucky to have a window seat! 

We got a transfer from the airport to Hotel Neptun and the drive itself was stunning. As we saw the old town and it’s walls for the first time as we drove around a corner, it was incredible – grand and quaint at the same time. Our sense of awe was only beginning as I’m pretty sure our jaws dropped when we walked into the hotel lobby. The huge wall-to-ceiling windows allowed us to see the spectacular views overlooking the sea and the Elaphite Islands. It was bright modern and luxurious, and this all continued as we went up to our room. We opened the door to find our very own sleeping beauty – Sinéad! We spent a large chunk of time catching up, chatting about each other’s trips over a cup of tea while we unwrapped our adorable wedding gift bags! We had just enough time to stroll down to Lapad for a quick bite to eat before Katie and Tim’s welcome drinks. 

The welcome drinks were held at Cave Bar More – a natural cave situated right on the water with a generous amount of outdoor space. The atmosphere was both relaxed and filled with excitement and the night went on till well in the morning as everyone started getting to know one another. 

The next day was a “free day” so we decided to head into town and explore the old part of Dubrovnik. We wandered around the town, up and down some of the little alleyways and the port. Despite the crowds, I don’t think I would ever get sick of the city’s marble streets, baroque buildings and the endless shimmer of the Adriatic. The views were stunning. Next we headed into “War Photo Limited”, a photographic exposition of war. The main exhibition was by Eddy van Wessel – The edge of civilization. The photographs, were excellent and emotive and ranged from the violent to the absurd. They include pictures of dozens of bodies, victims of the shelling of a Croatian city; artillery fire painting bright orange lines in the night sky; and a Serbian policeman offering water to an elderly Kosovar Albanian as his colleagues burn the old man’s village down. It was terrific. Next we devoured a pizza and headed back to our hotel for a relaxing evening. Before settling in we headed down to the waterfront of the hotel where there was multiple lounge beds, ladders into the water from the rocks and lots of rocks one could jump off (but not a drop of sand in sight – very different types of beaches). The water was pristine, blue and warm. We were in heaven. The only other time we ventured out was for dinner at Atlantic Kitchen. Despite the million steps we had to climb to get there, the food was delicious and the service was excellent! 

Wedding day had finally arrived! We spent the morning relaxing in our lush hotel room and getting dolled up (let’s face it, we were not sure when this level of luxury was going to happen again). When the time was right, we headed back into the old town (feeling somewhat overdressed on the bus) and made our way to the Sponza Palace where the reception was to be held. We were somewhat early, as were all the other guests, because the invitation apparently had the wrong time! Not sure if this was strategic or not, but everyone was on time and we all grabbed a drink while we waited to be allowed into the palace. The 16th century Gothic-Renaissance palace was stunning both inside and out, beginning with an exquisite portico resting on six Corinthian columns. The square inside was decorated with a white hall-runner, white chairs, white flowers and beautiful white tuile. The boys looked like the were sweating bullets up in front of everyone (I think mainly from the heat but Katie was running a touch late) and looked handsome in their navy suits. 

We all stood and turned as the bridesmaids floated down the aisle in their Tiffany-blue dresses, first trying to also coax the cute little flower-girl down the isle, but failing. When Katie walked in with her father, not going to lie, there was a tear in my eye (and I was, by far, not the only one). She simply looked stunning and glowing with happiness from ear to ear. The ceremony was short and sweet, with the celebrant pronouncing Tim’s surname wrong each and every time (to giggles in the end from the bride, groom and everyone else). We clapped and cheered as it became official – Mr and Mrs Sayer!! We stayed around in the palace for a little while to congratulate them and then mingling, chatting and enjoying champagne while Tim and Katie had some photos. They left in a tunnel of bubbles blown by their guests (see picture below) to take a few more snaps as we, and the rest of the guests, returned to Hotel Neptun on a charted bus for the reception (it was very well organized)! Back at the hotel, while we waited for the reception to start, we drank our complimentary mini bottle of wine on our balcony overlooking the sea. Then we headed down to the ****** and waiting for the guests of honor to arrive. 

The reception itself was amazing. No exaggeration required. The food was delicious – melon, cheese and Prosciutto for appetizer; truffle risotto for entrée; chicken of fish for main and the tastiest chocolate wedding cake I have ever had. The speeches where terrific and filled with love and the few games they played were very entertaining. Not to mention the flowing champagne and excellent conversations/company certainly made the night one to remember. We danced away till 3am. 

The next day, with some of us feeling like we might die (and being very jealous of the bride and groom who looked far too good for people who had been up dancing into the wee hours of the morning) we begrudgingly packed up our beautiful hotel room, ready to move closer to town. We left our bags at reception and headed down to the pool/beach area for a farewell gathering. They had an area of lounge chairs secured for us and we spent hours switching between lying on the chairs, jumping in the water, eating pizza, relaxing in the kid-sized pool and playing some sort of a variation of volleyball! It was a lovely and relaxing afternoon and a nice way to end the wedding celebrations. 
On our last full day in Dubrovnik we woke up to find Max at our front stoop! Yay we were back together again!! We decided to head back into the old town to explore the walls of the city! The Walls of Dubrovnik are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the citizens since the 7th century, but the bulk of the existing fortifications were constructed during the 14th and 15th centuries. They are considered to be amongst the greatest fortification systems of the Middle Ages. The walls are 1,940m long and reach a maximum height of 25m. I loved walking around the city walls and seeing Dubrovnik from a completely new and unique angel. 

After our stroll, glistening with sweat, we treated ourselves to an ice cream, Roisin went to see a Picasso exhibit and the rest of us headed back to our apartment for a nap. In the afternoon the girls went back into the old town to jump into the water to cool off, we packed up our things and prepared to leave Dubrovnik in the morning.