Croatia for two weeks..

After a very calm overnight ferry across the Adriatic Sea from Italy – we arrived in Dubrovnik at around 7am. Our accommodation was located close to the port which was ideal as we only had a 5 minute walk to get there with our packs on. Our airbnb host Alen was very friendly and let us leave our bags and hang out on the balcony while we waited to get into our room. We could see straight away that Dubrovnik was a beautiful looking city. The terracotta roofs of the old style brick buildings have a nice contrast against the clear blue water here.

It is crazy to think that this place was the centre of a nasty civil war less than 20 years ago. The war was sparked by Croatia (and Slovenia) declaring independence in 1991. Because of this Croatia didn’t really have a proper army right from the get go. Amazingly they managed to rustle together a makeshift army, got a few weapons on the black-market and were able to defend themselves. Dubrovnik was one of the areas hardest hit by the war & was heavily bombed by the Serbs during this time. The massive walls of the city withstood the bombings – and it was quite surreal learning about this when we were there as you can hardly tell this all went on. There are still a few reminders floating about Dubrovnik today. We passed a large run-down old tank on our way to explore the city, and found out a bit more when we arrived to the old town – with a graphic map showing all of the bomb sites in the city. This was quite an eye opener!

Stunning city of Dubrovnik - unreal to think there was a bad war here 20 years ago..

Dubrovniks wall from the water

It was very hot and crowded while we explored the town so we were happy to find a hole in the city wall leading to the sea where we were able to swim and chill out. It was a great experience walking around the city walls where we got a much better view than down in the streets. On our second full day we went out on a boat cruise to explore 3 islands close to the city, these were Kolocep, Sipan & Lopud. We stumbled across a nude beach while on one of the islands and I still have haunting images in my head of old fat men posing with their kits out. But looking at the positives we saw some really nice beaches with some clear, clear blue water!

Haylee having a swim on Kolocep Island

On a side note I had been looking for somewhere to get a haircut for a while so decided to go to a cheap barber close to our place in Dubrovnik while we were here. I was a bit worried when the guy didn’t speak any English but managed to tell him what I wanted with hand signals. 5 minutes later (and to Haylees amusement) I had the Djokovic haircut, which seems pretty standard around here.

We headed north to Split after 3 days and I remember thinking (during the bus ride) that Croatia has a really barren landscape along the coast. I think the rocky shoreline & fact that there aren’t any tides here helps to keep the water so clear. We had one night in Split before we headed out to the island of Vis the following day. Favourite part was sitting down in the main square after dinner and listening to some live music (which apparently happens every night here).

Out for a walk on our first day in Vis

Vis is the furthrest island from the mainland and was only opened to tourism in 1989 (due to it being used for military purposes before this). On our ferry over we got to know another kiwi couple (Trent & Amanda) from Whangarei of all places. We soon figured out we had similar interests so organised to catch up while we were there. We explored the town of Vis & surrounding area by foot when we got there and found a nice spot for a swim – which had the clearest water yet! It was nice to chill on our balcony for a couple of beers with our new kiwi mates afterwards.

We hired a scooter the following day and decided to circumnavigate the island. We headed for the small fishing town of Komiza first where we decided to catch a boat out to see the famous Blue Grotto. This cave has light (which reflects off the seabed) coming up into it and lighting up the inside. It was quite spectacular – with fluorescent blue/purple colours lighting up the water. The only let-down was that we could only stay in there for barely 5 minutes.

The fluorescent Blue Grotto

After lunch in Komiza we carried on around the south-western coast where there quite a few vineyards up on the hills. We decided to stop in at one to try the local produce and after following some handwritten signs down a driveway we came to a dead end of houses. Just as we were about to leave we were greeted by a nice old Croatian lady (with no teeth) who didn’t speak English. She ushered us into her garage/wine making room and sat us down at the table, putting some red wine, white wine, and another bottle in front of us to try. We all agreed that the red wine was one of the best we had tried! The other bottle was a bit of a mystery (especially because the woman couldn’t explain what it was to us). It ended up being the famous Croatian Grappa. Grappa is a grape based brandy made from the leftovers of winemaking (seeds, pulp, stalks, skins etc) and is quite a potent spirit – reminded me of single malt whiskey. You are meant to have it after dinner to cleanse the pallet after a typically heavy Croatian meal. The lady was so nice and didn’t want any money for our tasting session but we left some with her anyway.

Beach riders!

Winery we stopped in at for a few brews

From here we were keen to hit the beach, so headed for Strebna which had been recommended to us. It was very picturesque here with white pebbles on the beach and turquoise blue water which was so clear! I went snorkelling for the first time here and reckon you could see a good 30m down! We carried on after this to the famous Stiniva Bay before heading back. This bay is quite spectacular as it is surrounded by cliffs on each side which are about 10m apart before opening up to an awesome little bay. Pictures tell the best story for these places..

Strebna

The postcard bay of Stiniva

That night we headed out for some traditional Croatian Peka for dinner. The dish is either lamb or octopus & potatoes and is slow cooked in an iron dish under coals for 3 hours. This was a great experience and the food was real tasty! We enjoyed this along with another bottle of tasty red and was the perfect way to say ‘see you later’ to Trent & Amanda who were leaving the next day.

Traditional Croatian dish of Peka being prepared

The finished product

A pretty good dinner!

The following day was a bit of a rough one. After getting back to our accommodation after a day of exploring on the scooter we found we had bed bugs in our bed. Haylee had been getting bites for a couple of days that we assumed were from mosquitos. When we found blood smears on our sheets and saw a couple of dead bugs, a quick Google search confirmed our suspicions – one of the traveller’s worst nightmares! Needless to say we didn’t get much sleep that night! Apart from the bed bug issue, the island of Vis has been our favourite spot so far (sorry Italy) and we could have stayed for a lot longer.

Beach that we found down a goat track

Typical clear blue water found at Vis

We caught up on some sleep during the ferry back to Split the next day and then made a last minute decision to head up the coast to Zadar for our last few nights in Croatia – where we met back up with Matt & Hannah. Zadar is a charming seaside city which is not as big (and not as touristy) as most other cities in the country. After having a nice dinner of takeaway pizza by the sea we checked out the unique Sea Organ (designed so that the incoming waves make music) and watched a pretty cool Adriatic sunset. The following day we had a day trip to Croatias favourite gem – the Plitvice Lakes. This is the largest National Park in the country & is renowned for its clear blue terraced waterfalls. During our walk I couldn’t get over how clear the water was! The place is very well looked after with the tracks up on boardwalks and people not allowed to swim in the lakes. We easily completed the suggested 4-6 hour route in just over 3 hours so had time for a couple of beers before our bus back to Zadar. We spent our last day in Zadar down by the beach and went to a water-park (complete with beach volleyball, salt water pool & a dodgy 10m diving board) which was free to visit. I decided to go for a dive off the 10m platform which is the highest I have dived off I reckon. It was a bit dodgy getting up the slippery ladder but was worth it.

The famous Adriatic sunset in Zadar

It was sad to say goodbye to Croatia the next day, this place has been awesome! It has been our cheapest destination so far, with a 2L of beer costing around NZ$4 & a large pizza bread NZ$3. We have seen some pretty spectacular places like Dubrovnik, Vis & the Plitvice lakes. Probably one of the things that helped us enjoy our stay here the most was the kindness of the Croatian people themselves.

Next we are catching a train to Slovenia (north of Croatia)..

Italy - north to south..

CINQUE TERRE

For the next part of our journey we made our way by train to Cinque Terre on the north coast of Italy. This area has 5 unique villages (Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola & Riomaggiore)  which are all built in amongst the cliffs right on the coast, and the best way to see the towns is by walking between them. We purchased a Cinque Terre Pass each for €10 in La Spezia which allowed us to access all of the hiking tracks and trains for a full day. Unfortunately when we arrived rain had closed some of the track between Corniglia & Rioggamorie but we still were keen to make the most of it.

Monterosso was our first stop and the starting point for our hike. Straight away we got a good idea of why this part of the world was so special. The houses were built right into the cliffs either side of the bay and really stood out being bold colours – reds, oranges, yellows, light greens (it is like they are all colour coordinated!). This was the flattest of the 5 bays so we all couldn’t wait to see what was to come next when we started our hike to Vernazza. This walk was supposed to take 2 hours but we managed to knock it off in 1.5, even with a few downpours on the way. The walk itself was awesome and involved quite a bit of rock hopping. Some parts of the track were really narrow and close to the cliff so you really had to watch your step. We could see how easily the track could get closed as it was steep terrain all of the way. We had some great views coming down into Vernazza, a small peaceful bay surrounded by more colourful houses built into a near vertical cliff. This was only the second town and we were already blown away!

After lunch we headed off again, this time towards Corniglia. Soon after we started it decided to pour down which didn’t stop it from being an enjoyable walk. We had a well deserved drinks break at Corniglia and it was nice to get a bit of shelter from the rain. As the track was closed and it was getting on, we decided to see one more town (via the train) before heading home. We skipped Manarola and went to the first town of Riomaggiore for a look around and a bite to eat. This place is known as the jewel of Cinque Terre and definitely has some charm! Colourful houses are chiselled into the triangle shaped cliffs surrounding this pretty special bay. We explored around a bit and I managed to find a good vantage point for taking photos which I was happy about!

First town - Monterosso

Vernazza

Riomaggiore

Out for some good pasta after a hard day of walking

We visited Manarola the following day and this proved to be the perfect spot to chill out for the afternoon. Once again this town was different from the rest and the bay was more rugged than the rest, being less sheltered from the incoming swell. We went for a swim and I found a good rock to dive off which would have been about 8m. After spending a second day amongst these very cool coastal villages we were sad to leave, and could easily have spent another two days here.

Manarola

FLORENCE

Next stop in Italy was Florence which to be honest, wasn’t that interesting for us. Florence itself was a nice looking city but as we are not really into art museums or architecture, there was not a lot to do. Florence is the home of Italian leather so we spent a fair bit of time browsing through San Lorenzo leather markets where Haylee managed to haggle down the price of a good Italian leather handbag. One full day here was enough for us before we moved onto Rome. 

Sunset in Florence

ROME

It was very hot and humid and I reckon we officially hit summer when we got to Rome. It was hard work walking around in the heat of the day with our backpacks on! We had booked our place to stay through airbnb, and it proved to be a winner. The place was a reasonable price, close to the centre of town and had an amazing host! Amel picked us up from the train station in the centre of Rome, cooked us breakfast every day, washed our clothes for us and told us a few useful things about the city.

I had previously thought of Rome as a very touristy place, overcrowded with people and having some old run down ruins that we had to visit to tick it off our list like every other traveller. I couldn’t have been more wrong! On our first day we visited the Vatican City, officially the smallest country in the world. We spent a couple of hours weaving our way through an impressive array of art and exhibits at the museum which leads to the Sistine Chapel. It was interesting to note that it wasn’t just a museum of Christianity but went back to Egyptian & Roman times (there was even a real mummy dating back to 4000BC!). The Sistine Chapel was good to see and it just showed how much of a genius Michelangelo was. Not only did he paint very realistic paintings on the ceilings of the chapel, but he was also a very intelligent person as his paintings tell various stories of the bible. It was definitely a good call getting an audio-guide as without it we wouldn’t have had much idea about what the paintings meant. St Peters Basilica was another highlight of the day, and it is hard to comprehend that Peter (one of the 12 apostles) is actually buried here! We were able to go under the church to see the tombs of all of the past popes which was also an experience.

Real mummy in the Vatican

Haylee sending Nana Neal a postcard from the Vatican

The next day was a big one! We planned to see all of the other major attractions in the old town of Rome. We paid €12 each for a ticket to see the Coloseum, the Palatine Hill & the Roman Forum which proved to be the best €12 I have spent so far! The Coloseum & Forum were well worth visiting and it just showed how far ahead of their time the Romans were with architecture. The marble remains are in such awesome nick after 2000 plus years (I think my dream home will be built of marble one day!). One thing that impressed me was the amount of information there was to read up on as we made our way around. It was a bit of a pity that some of the ruins haven’t been preserved to well. This is probably a money issue as there are so many ruins in Rome that it would cost a fortune to look after every single one. 

Inside the Colosseum

The Pantheon in pretty good condition after 2000 years

Haylee at one of the many fountains in Rome - drinkable water even!

Nice sit down at the Spanish Steps after a long day

This whole ‘Rome’ experience really opened my eyes and left me with a heap of questions still left to be answered. This city really is something special and well & truly exceeded my expectations. We would have loved to spend some more time here if we had known how good it was.

AMALFI COAST
Our last stop in Italy (for now) was the Amalfi Coast – a rugged coastline with a few bays, beaches & towns spread in amongst some near vertical cliffs. We stayed in a town called Salerno (south of the coast) as it wasn’t quite as pricey as other places & was easily accessible by train. It proved to be an interesting bus ride to get from Salerno to the main towns of Amalfi & Postiano during our stay. At one point our bus had a line of traffic behind it and met two buses coming towards it at a very narrow 90 degree bend. It took about half an hour to get going again. What made us laugh was all of the scooters weaving their way through gaps to get past – not helping the situation at all. Hats off to the driver who had to negotiate some tight gaps – even with the scooters trying to get through!

Traffic jam in the Amalfi - every man for himself!

Greek ruins at Paestrum - 30mins by train from Salerno.

 We managed to get in a couple of decent walks during our stay, our favourite being the walk down from Ravello (way up in the mountains) down to Amalfi on the coast. Up in Ravello I saw the biggest lemons I had ever seen in my life. Lemons grow very well in the region and because of this they specialise in making limoncello – a lemon liqueur that is quite strong by itself but would probably be tasty with some added soda water or lemonade. We walked down some very steep hills past lines of lemon groves that have been terraced into the hillside – they say that Italians don’t waste any space and this was a prime example!

Up at Ravello before the big walk down.

Lemons on roids

Lemons growing everywhere on the hills - no space wasted!

How did this place get a building permit??

Awesome view of Postiano

 

On our last day on the coast we found the most perfect little beach to relax at for the day. It was very hot & humid and after another walk in the morning we needed some cooling down when we stumbled upon Arienzo beach hidden away down some steps from the road. It was so hot that we had to make a makeshift shelter from the heat using sticks and Haylee’s sarong. The water was so clear and nice to swim in I could have stayed in all day! There was even a good sized cliff to do some diving from. Even though it involved a bit of rock climbing to get up to it was still good fun.

Sheltering from the sun & keeping off the hot rocks..

A little piece of paradise we stumbled across

Italy has been awesome and is my new favourite from our trip (so far). We are off to Croatia next so stay tuned...