Saturday, June 26, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
The Bitter End
Well we have come through our last 3 countries and reached destination anywhere, east or west I dont care, thats right...Berlin. Last night we caught the Germany win over Ghana much to the delight of the local fans. On our way to Berlin since my last update we have visited Sarajevo, Bled (slovenia), Prague and we are about to explore Berlin!
Sarajevo was an awesome city with a really positive vibe that you could feel in the streets. The city is trying to reinvent itself after the war while remembering the tragedies that occured with dignity. While Bosnia was very friendly and safe to travel the tours we did and people we met exuded a feeling of underlying tension and scary sub surface realities.
Bled was unreal. The Julien Alps surround this postcard town with an island in the middle of the lake. The hiking is fantastic, the views unrivaled and the water was warm to swim in. We managed to get mostly sunshine in Bled while others we encountered had seen nothing but rain. that being said we were rained out on our last hike . Completely saturated we ran after a bus to get back to the hostel for warm showers and a pizza dinner.
Praha...unbelievable! This city has it all, history, architecture, pubs, nightlife, outdoor festing and the best part beer that is cheaper than water! Thats right, beer that is cheaper than water! In prague we did a dfantastic city tour, visited the jewish museum, crossed the Charles Bridge, strolled the grounds of prague castle and signed the Lennon wall. The Lennon wall was especially neat. It is the only wall in Prague where grafitti is allowed and it is a dedication to John Lennon and the ideals of peace and freedom which he espoused.
Well there is much more to tell, but I will save more writing for our return. For now, gere are some pics.
Sarajevo was an awesome city with a really positive vibe that you could feel in the streets. The city is trying to reinvent itself after the war while remembering the tragedies that occured with dignity. While Bosnia was very friendly and safe to travel the tours we did and people we met exuded a feeling of underlying tension and scary sub surface realities.
Bled was unreal. The Julien Alps surround this postcard town with an island in the middle of the lake. The hiking is fantastic, the views unrivaled and the water was warm to swim in. We managed to get mostly sunshine in Bled while others we encountered had seen nothing but rain. that being said we were rained out on our last hike . Completely saturated we ran after a bus to get back to the hostel for warm showers and a pizza dinner.
Praha...unbelievable! This city has it all, history, architecture, pubs, nightlife, outdoor festing and the best part beer that is cheaper than water! Thats right, beer that is cheaper than water! In prague we did a dfantastic city tour, visited the jewish museum, crossed the Charles Bridge, strolled the grounds of prague castle and signed the Lennon wall. The Lennon wall was especially neat. It is the only wall in Prague where grafitti is allowed and it is a dedication to John Lennon and the ideals of peace and freedom which he espoused.
Well there is much more to tell, but I will save more writing for our return. For now, gere are some pics.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Croatia Day 6
Day 6 started with some swimming and sun b4 lunch and then some jumping from the roof top into the water. After lunch we sailed to Dubrovnik. The Pearl of the Adriatic is right. Dubrovnik is amazing, marble streets, awesome city walls and a wonderful old town. Not much more to say than AMAZING!
Croatia Day 5
Day 5 we sailed to Sipan. Along the way we swam and lounged in the sun...imagine that. When we ported we went for a walk and then for dinner. We ordered pizza and Sass vegetarian pie arrived with broccoli, carrots and cauliflower...mmmmnnnnn good. It actually wasnt too bad when you pulled the frozen veg off.
After dinner we returned to the boat and played cards which turned into drinking games. Played these for a while, Jason and tim rode the bus for a while...good times!
Croatia Day 4
Croatia day 4 was much more successful than day 3. We arrived on the island of Mljet early and spent the whole day exploring the island and its national park. It had 2 inland saltwater lakes that were warm and beautiful. Catherine and Sas swam the length of the small one, while i hiked around to meet them and quickly jump in myself. After this first trek in the morning we went back to the boat for lunch. post lunch I tagged along with Dion (one of the Aussie clan) and we rented scooters and went exploring. we went to the cave o Ulysses. this hike off the side of the road was down a rock face in the heat of the day. It was a very neat sight but the wrong time of day to pay a visit. We quickly snapped photos and clamored back up the hillside in the painful heat. we arrived at our scooters drenched nad couldnt get them started fast enough. Once on the road again we let out some whoops of joy for the cool breeze on the bikes. We made our way back to port and returned the scooters and thre ourselves in the water.
Sas and Catherine spent the afternoon paddling a canoe on the big lake in the national park. They visited an island monastery and watched as uncle John and Natatsha haplessly paddled in circles...quite a scene I am told.
We all returned to the boat after dinner and a number of us started playing card games. We learned shithead from the Aussies and enjoyed ourselves that the boat next to us complained. Funnily they were an older grumpier group (actually just a couple of sour Krauts!) Anway the pary moved to the seaside bar and I tried sleeping top deck.
Sas and Catherine spent the afternoon paddling a canoe on the big lake in the national park. They visited an island monastery and watched as uncle John and Natatsha haplessly paddled in circles...quite a scene I am told.
We all returned to the boat after dinner and a number of us started playing card games. We learned shithead from the Aussies and enjoyed ourselves that the boat next to us complained. Funnily they were an older grumpier group (actually just a couple of sour Krauts!) Anway the pary moved to the seaside bar and I tried sleeping top deck.
Croatia Day 3
The combination of sun and big beers left me a ruin for day 3. I spent most of the day in bed, Sas enjoyed my pre-ordered English breakfast and I missed all of the sailing for that day. in any cas I think the sun had affected me more than anything. I eventually surfaced for a swim in port and a shower. We went for a portside pizza dinner and a walk into the vineyards in the surrounding hills. Not a bad conclusion to a bad day. Just a note, we all suffered that day, it was not an exclusive club maintained by me.
Side story to the day... after Sas went to bed we were chatting over a beer and Adam joined Tim (good time coordinator) Jason and Talia (new South African friends) and Catherine and I and proceeded to dole out shots of scotch. Alas his joie de vivre was not to be seen the next day!
Croatia Day 2
Our second day was just as sunny and hot! We baked ourselves, swam and ate the huge lunches that our cook provided. We sailed from Korcula to Hvar and stopped in another beautiful bay from swim time, also known as throw yourself from the top deck of the boat to get in the water as quickly as possible time! Once we arrived in Hvar we set out to see the town and castle above it. We were joined by Kim, the matriarch of the birthday clan and a solo Aussie named Adam who had a real joie de vivre about him. The five of us started the march up the stairs and ramp to the castle. At 5pm it was still scorching hot so we rested in the shade along the way. On our way up Kim found 100 Kune on the foot path. we asked all around us and no one had lost it. Well that was good luck because at the top their was a 20KN entry fee each. There were 5 of us, sweet free castle entry. The castle provided amazing views of the town and surrounding coastline. We enjoyed a pint at the top and then went for dinner at a dock side restaurant.
After dinner it was party time as we were on the party island of the trip. Most of our travel mates were into the beers and we partied to the wee hours. It was a great night of dancing and meeting people. The night ended with me releasing my sandals to the wild. Good times followed by one of the worst days of my life...
After dinner it was party time as we were on the party island of the trip. Most of our travel mates were into the beers and we partied to the wee hours. It was a great night of dancing and meeting people. The night ended with me releasing my sandals to the wild. Good times followed by one of the worst days of my life...
Croatia Day 1
After an awesome 2 days in Kotor we arrived in the evening to Dubrovnik, June 6th. We walked from the bus stop to the new port (down the street) and found our boat the Pape Prvi. We were led on board and showed our room. The boat and room were both spacious upgrades from the accomodation of the Turkish sailing trip. We had a full ensuite bathroom with anytime hot water, a toilet that accepted TP and nice beds and more than enough room for our gear. The boat had rooms below decks and 3 above deck levels. the first level was the dining room, lunch tables on the back with swimming platform and some rooms at the front. The second level was a sun a and table area at the back with rooms mid ship and the helm of the ship. The top level was a rooftop sundeck.
After a bit of exploring and relaxing we met our crew and started making introductions to our shipmates fro the week. The group makeup was us, 2 Irish girls, a Spanish couple, a newly engaged South African couple and a pile of Australians and Uncle John, the lone crazy yoga practicing, beer swilling, shot buying Scotsman. (Most of the Aussies were gathered to celebrate a 30th b-day, as was Uncle John)
The first night was spent in port in Dubrovnik where we acquainted mostly with the Aussie vacationers and the bar and bar man Zdenko (Z) who was the captains son.
The next morning was spent slightly hung over but we surfaced fro breakie and the beautiful scenery leaving Dubrovnik.
Our first stop was in a bay on our way to Korcula. This was it...35 degree weather, blue blazer, beer on tap and bright blue Adriatic sea...winning at life! We went swimming, we longed around, we went swimming some more!
After arriving in Korcula we set out to see the sights, pick up supplies and find the birth place of Marco Polo. The town was a beautiful walled peninsula containing narrow streets with cafes and some of the nicest shops we had yet run into. After a pizza dinner and supply getting we meandered the streets and found a bar, but a special place it was. Not just a bar, Massimos was built into one of the old walls fortification towers and had a rooftop patio looking over the surrounding hills and water. To get to the roof top was the best part, you had to climb a narrow ladder through trap door like entrance. The drinks arrived via coordinated effort of the servers using an outdoor wallside dumb waiter. This was the perfect place for Mojitos, Catherine had been craving a good one for some time. We werent disappointed and after a beer and some live music at another patio we concluded a great first day.
After a bit of exploring and relaxing we met our crew and started making introductions to our shipmates fro the week. The group makeup was us, 2 Irish girls, a Spanish couple, a newly engaged South African couple and a pile of Australians and Uncle John, the lone crazy yoga practicing, beer swilling, shot buying Scotsman. (Most of the Aussies were gathered to celebrate a 30th b-day, as was Uncle John)
The first night was spent in port in Dubrovnik where we acquainted mostly with the Aussie vacationers and the bar and bar man Zdenko (Z) who was the captains son.
The next morning was spent slightly hung over but we surfaced fro breakie and the beautiful scenery leaving Dubrovnik.
Our first stop was in a bay on our way to Korcula. This was it...35 degree weather, blue blazer, beer on tap and bright blue Adriatic sea...winning at life! We went swimming, we longed around, we went swimming some more!
After arriving in Korcula we set out to see the sights, pick up supplies and find the birth place of Marco Polo. The town was a beautiful walled peninsula containing narrow streets with cafes and some of the nicest shops we had yet run into. After a pizza dinner and supply getting we meandered the streets and found a bar, but a special place it was. Not just a bar, Massimos was built into one of the old walls fortification towers and had a rooftop patio looking over the surrounding hills and water. To get to the roof top was the best part, you had to climb a narrow ladder through trap door like entrance. The drinks arrived via coordinated effort of the servers using an outdoor wallside dumb waiter. This was the perfect place for Mojitos, Catherine had been craving a good one for some time. We werent disappointed and after a beer and some live music at another patio we concluded a great first day.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Tirana to Kotor
We travelled today from Tirana in Albania to Kotor in Montenegro. It is amazing what crossing a border means. The countryside in northern Albania is beautiful but getting through it is as slow as there are people along the highway boarding the bus. Our trip from Tirana to Schkoder was 3 hrs and both our arrival and departure points were random spots near the centre of town...there is no such thing as an Albanian bus station. When we arrived in Schkoder a guy greeted us asking if we were going to Montenegro, I didf a 360 spin to see if there was a sigh hanging from any of us. In any case we eventually decided to take his private car across the border and all the way to Kotor. (As we were unsure of the existence of an afternoon bus across, this was a good option, plus there would have been multiple transfers) It was a great ride in a clen Mercedes Benz, and we even stopped for photo opps.
Montenegro is unbelievably rugged and beautiful. The coast is soaring mountains that drop in to the crystal blue waters of the adriatic. When we arrived in Kotor we were spell bound. The old city is unreal and its walls stretch up into the mountainside. We checked into our hostel and got ready to hike the city walls. Before departing we got some supplies (food, beer, sunscreen) and bought our bus tickets to Dubrovnik. (They have a bus station in Kotor) with helpful if not grumpy staff.
We set off on our hike and it is a challenging 45 minute switchback route straight out of the Stari Grad (Old Town) up the old walls. The views were unbelievable and the exercise invigorating in the late evening sunshine. We all plan to come back to Kotor and visit more of Montenegro! Upon returning from th hike we went out to the lonely planet recommended La Pasteria and ate some of the best pasta ever. So no we are watching Srebia v. Cameroom looking out over the old town and playing some crazy 8s countdown.
Montenegro is unbelievably rugged and beautiful. The coast is soaring mountains that drop in to the crystal blue waters of the adriatic. When we arrived in Kotor we were spell bound. The old city is unreal and its walls stretch up into the mountainside. We checked into our hostel and got ready to hike the city walls. Before departing we got some supplies (food, beer, sunscreen) and bought our bus tickets to Dubrovnik. (They have a bus station in Kotor) with helpful if not grumpy staff.
We set off on our hike and it is a challenging 45 minute switchback route straight out of the Stari Grad (Old Town) up the old walls. The views were unbelievable and the exercise invigorating in the late evening sunshine. We all plan to come back to Kotor and visit more of Montenegro! Upon returning from th hike we went out to the lonely planet recommended La Pasteria and ate some of the best pasta ever. So no we are watching Srebia v. Cameroom looking out over the old town and playing some crazy 8s countdown.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Sarande to Tirana and some more pics
We left Sarande very early, a 4:30am start to catch the 5am bus to Tirana. The drive was spectacularly scenic and spectacularly slow. It was all switchbacks and narrow roads fro the first four hours and then all construction and narrow roads for the last 3 hours. The mountains of Albania are beautiful and green. The farmland is very picturesque in the valleys. The construction and development is weird at best. There are 80% of buildings that are incomplete everywhere. Rebar out of the roof and sides of homes and buildings, half finished walls and building skeletons. This is interspersed with nice new homes, old farm houses, nice new buildings and everywhere random stores. Ther really is no marketing strategy I think. There was a brand new Yamaha dealership with SeaDoo's out front next to a cess pool house with cars strewn about and the roof crumbling in and this was all in a field on the outskirts of Durres about 40km from Tirana. Tirana is more of the same, having no building or traffic logic, a severe lack of planning seems to hold the entire country in its grips. You can see everywhere the legacy of Hoxha, in the poorness of the landscape and the randomness of his bunkers, they are all over the countryside...weird again. We visited the National history museum in Tirana this afternoon and it was eye opening to see the long history of the Albanians and the clear fact they wish to move on from their recent communist past (Hoxha was nowhere to be found in the museum). Skandeberg is quite the guy, am impressive figure to be sure. We are off to Kotor tomorrow at a more reasonable time. Below is some more Turkey!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
A little sample of Turkey
Here is a little sample of Turkey's goodness. Oh and a note from Sas and Catherine...We actually didn't sleep in Athens as I previously mentioned. A little fatigued I guess.
Sarande and Butrint
We buzzed our hostel at 5:30 am local, not sure if anyone would respond. Rino replied groggily and buzzed us in and greeted us at the top of the stairs. He showed us in, gave us the tour, made tea and offered any help we could need about a million times over. The hostel has a nice view of the harbour area, is a stones throw from the water and is above a Kreperie and internet cafe...perfect. The people here have been very helpful, especially our host, even playing a rendition of Neil Young's Keep on rockin in the Free World. The food is cheap and delicious, the scenery spectacular and the history uncrowded and ready to be explored...no wonder the Greeks don't want you to come here.
After sleeping the morning away (and oh what a sleep!) we boarded a local bus, circa 1980 (never been upgraded, painted...swept...ever) and headed to Butrint about an hours journey along a narrow unpaved road that is currently being upgraded. It was bumpy and the driver gave everyone on the road crews who slowed us down an earful about our pressing schedule! We arrived in Butrint to a cheap admission 700 Lek each, about 6 bucks Canadian for the whole city and the museum. We explored the whole place on our own, including a private admission to the museum. The city founded by Ceasar and continued by Augustus was prominent from about the 1st to 5th century AD. It is an expansive set of ruins which are being excavated and restored. It was easy to read the history at each signed area (not available at the Acropolis). After exploring the ruins on our own we viewed the archeological finds in the museum. I asked about photos and the guard shrugged and gave the go ahea dude shrug. I snapped away only later to be shown by Sas the printed sign saying no photography, Albania is great!
Dinner was another round of Krepes and maybe a beer later. I'll say it again, We are Albania fans!
After sleeping the morning away (and oh what a sleep!) we boarded a local bus, circa 1980 (never been upgraded, painted...swept...ever) and headed to Butrint about an hours journey along a narrow unpaved road that is currently being upgraded. It was bumpy and the driver gave everyone on the road crews who slowed us down an earful about our pressing schedule! We arrived in Butrint to a cheap admission 700 Lek each, about 6 bucks Canadian for the whole city and the museum. We explored the whole place on our own, including a private admission to the museum. The city founded by Ceasar and continued by Augustus was prominent from about the 1st to 5th century AD. It is an expansive set of ruins which are being excavated and restored. It was easy to read the history at each signed area (not available at the Acropolis). After exploring the ruins on our own we viewed the archeological finds in the museum. I asked about photos and the guard shrugged and gave the go ahea dude shrug. I snapped away only later to be shown by Sas the printed sign saying no photography, Albania is great!
Dinner was another round of Krepes and maybe a beer later. I'll say it again, We are Albania fans!
Athens to Sarande
We arrived to Athens to Sunny skies and 30 degree heat which was awesome! Not so awesome was the overnight ferry from Chios...which we actually thought we missed. A ferry pulled in and left and we continued our game of crazy 8s countdown. I was worried and made Sas go ask the question at the ferry lines office. Thankfully the girl laughed and informed her our boat would be next...pheeewwww!
Th boat was ok, Catherine and I had a beer and a game of tag on the empty top deck while Sas immediately pulled up a piece of floor by our seats to try and get some zzz's. We soon joined her and poof 9hrs later we were exhausted, not very well rested and in Athens. Thankfully we were able to check in right away but not before our hotel manager grimaced at our plans to travel to Albania and why? and how hard it would be? This spurned a little miscommunication between the three best friends as to what the plan should be to get to Croatia. After a bit of sleep I did some research and asked the hotel guy to make some calls for us. We found we could go directly to Sarande (our first destination in Albania.) In any xase we spent the day touring the Acropolis and the ruins of Hadrian's Gate and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. After this we made our way to the metro station that was near the Albanian bus companies. We found out we would have to take a bus that night to effectively keep to our plan.
No worries, the bus was cheap, just 25 euro Athens to Sarande. We bought our tickets and set off to re-pack our things from the hotel we would not be staying at in Athens! Oh well, the shower and morning snooze were worth it.
We boarded our bus at 8pm and set off on what proved to be a bit of a hair raising bus ride in which no sleep happened. The bus was lacking in the shocks department, the roads were plentiful in the bumps department and the driver was gonna get us there on time come hell or high water! We moved to the back of the bus and faked sleep to avoid watching the road. Crossing the border was no problem but even the Greek border agent scoffed and made a comment about going to Albania and what was the point? We continued on despite the clear Greek love of their friendly neighbour to the north (more on that later). A road full of switchbacks and narrow turns and we arrived in Sarande exhausted. Alittle dazed we managed to find our hostel...
Th boat was ok, Catherine and I had a beer and a game of tag on the empty top deck while Sas immediately pulled up a piece of floor by our seats to try and get some zzz's. We soon joined her and poof 9hrs later we were exhausted, not very well rested and in Athens. Thankfully we were able to check in right away but not before our hotel manager grimaced at our plans to travel to Albania and why? and how hard it would be? This spurned a little miscommunication between the three best friends as to what the plan should be to get to Croatia. After a bit of sleep I did some research and asked the hotel guy to make some calls for us. We found we could go directly to Sarande (our first destination in Albania.) In any xase we spent the day touring the Acropolis and the ruins of Hadrian's Gate and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. After this we made our way to the metro station that was near the Albanian bus companies. We found out we would have to take a bus that night to effectively keep to our plan.
No worries, the bus was cheap, just 25 euro Athens to Sarande. We bought our tickets and set off to re-pack our things from the hotel we would not be staying at in Athens! Oh well, the shower and morning snooze were worth it.
We boarded our bus at 8pm and set off on what proved to be a bit of a hair raising bus ride in which no sleep happened. The bus was lacking in the shocks department, the roads were plentiful in the bumps department and the driver was gonna get us there on time come hell or high water! We moved to the back of the bus and faked sleep to avoid watching the road. Crossing the border was no problem but even the Greek border agent scoffed and made a comment about going to Albania and what was the point? We continued on despite the clear Greek love of their friendly neighbour to the north (more on that later). A road full of switchbacks and narrow turns and we arrived in Sarande exhausted. Alittle dazed we managed to find our hostel...
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Chios
Well we have left Turkey and arrived on the Greek island of Chios. Chios is beautiful and has a nice promenade of shops around the harbour all circled by soaring mountains. It is very beautiful. The bus rides from Selchuk to Cesme were relatively painless. I had a long conversation with a Kurdish Turk from Sweden who had just left jail for punching someone and who was glad to again have his freedom. He was living on a Swedish pension of some sort, carrying only one small bag' along with the clothes on his back his sole possessions. A former bodybuilder who had discovered a pagan outlook of god is nature and all around us. The vagabond took to me and we chatted the whole way dancing around the political, praising god and an awkward I hate Greeks moment. Despite some of the weirdness he offered to be our guide to the ferry terminal and even told me about the free mineral pools of the area, clearly a closely guarded secret for him.
After a lunch and a trip to the PTT (post, Telephone, Telegraph) office we boarded our ferry almost. Got to the boat (which was not much bigger than the yacht we sailed on from Olympos) and we were met with awkward conversation that made us feel that we had missed a step to secure our spots on board. The captain collected our passports and verified with the authorities and we were permitted on board. Safely on our way we enjoyed the 45 minute trip across to Chios in the setting sun. When we arrived in Chios we were unsure of where the ferry to Athens left from and whom we got our tickets from (unlike Turkey there were no guys with cellphones expecting us) We asked a taxi driver about the Athens ferry and he explained that the ferry and ticket office were Allll the way on the other side of the port. We thought great other side of the island, asked how much for a ride and readily hoped in at the 5 euro offer. From here the kind cabbie dropped us off on the other side of the port, literally far enough for me to throw a football away. We were stunned but then easily found our travel office got our tickets and then had a relatively cheap dinner.
I think we are going to hang out at the ferry terminal and offer to carry peoples bags over for 2 euro each!
After a lunch and a trip to the PTT (post, Telephone, Telegraph) office we boarded our ferry almost. Got to the boat (which was not much bigger than the yacht we sailed on from Olympos) and we were met with awkward conversation that made us feel that we had missed a step to secure our spots on board. The captain collected our passports and verified with the authorities and we were permitted on board. Safely on our way we enjoyed the 45 minute trip across to Chios in the setting sun. When we arrived in Chios we were unsure of where the ferry to Athens left from and whom we got our tickets from (unlike Turkey there were no guys with cellphones expecting us) We asked a taxi driver about the Athens ferry and he explained that the ferry and ticket office were Allll the way on the other side of the port. We thought great other side of the island, asked how much for a ride and readily hoped in at the 5 euro offer. From here the kind cabbie dropped us off on the other side of the port, literally far enough for me to throw a football away. We were stunned but then easily found our travel office got our tickets and then had a relatively cheap dinner.
I think we are going to hang out at the ferry terminal and offer to carry peoples bags over for 2 euro each!
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