I went to Yugoslavia in 1977 on the USS Kennedy, and I recall we were the first US Navy group to do a port call there since 1945.
It was scrupulously clean in Dubrovnik (little old ladies patrolled the streets with little brooms) and I remember those orange tiled roofs.
It was the one of the very few places I recall visiting on liberty where we had to wear our uniforms ashore.
I also recall Airman Benton and I, in our full uniforms, got into a basketball game with a bunch of Yugoslav men, and I ruined my coroframs when one of the guys stepped on my foot and irreparably scuffed it.
And the women...just beautiful as I recall. We heard a girl call out to us, and looked up at a stone bridge going over us, and she was looking down at us with a big, friendly smile, with her hair hanging down like Rapunzel even though she was more silhouette in the fading light. Funny how you remember those things.
Yes, there were times and places where doing liberty in uniform had its advantages. Australia and Israel come to mind.