Sailing the Adriatic - Part Two

Are you ready for Part 2 of Croatia...well here goes:

Mljet Island to Dubrovnik

This was E's favourite day of sailing by far. The scenery was superb and the air was so fresh.  Coming in to Dubrovnik was breath taking.  Historically, Dubrovnik was a very powerful port town and arriving by boat was definitely the best way to experience its gravity. 

Dubrovnik is surrounded by a massive wall which was intended to protect the town (it's rival was the great Venetian empire).  Apparently its positioning made it quite vulnerable to attacks.

S and I were a little under the weather so instead of walking the wall in 30 something degree heat, we opted for the Buza Bar.  Buza Bar was located on the cliffs of Dubrovnik, just under the town walls and the view was incredible.  The cliffs had landings off which people were jumping off.  One of them was apparently 27 meters high (E had to hold her breath a few times and was urging S not to participate).

After relaxing in the sun we decided to have a walk around the Old Town (which is classified as a UNESCO world heritage site).  The architecture was stunning and is mainly renaissance in style.  The town has a definite Italian influence with shiny marble roads and alley ways.  It was by far one of the most attractive towns on the coast.   S drank out of the Great Fountain of Onofrio which according to legend brings luck to anyone who drinks from it (it has brought fresh water to the town since 1444).

Before dinner, we all jumped in a little boat and had a sunset cruise around Dubrovnik.  We are certain that the little boat was overcrowded and about to tip but the sunset was amazing.  We had Pizza yet again then went to a bar which served cocktails in a sand bucket!!

Dubrovnik to Korcula

After our obligatory swim stop, we arrived at Korcula Town.  A very gorgeous settlement that juts out from a mountain and which has (surprise surprise) medieval walls surrounding it.  The town operated on a tight grid system with little alleyways and its claim to fame is that Marco Polo (the famous explorer) was born in this town. 

We enjoyed an afternoon of aimlessly wandering the streets and eating ice cream, followed by sitting on the town walls chatting in the sun.

For dinner and drinks we went to an open air bar (with gorgeous fairy lights) and an amazing view of the sunset.  The atmosphere was lovely and the live music was great.  However, there was a lot to be desired for the service.  How can we ever forget the time when Erin waited 3.5 hours for a bowl of spaghetti hehe.

Up next, the finale.  Lots of photos below.  E couldnt help herself.

E&S
xoxo



Stradun - The artery of Dubrovnik (in other words the main street)



The view from Buza Bar.



The Walls of Dubrovnik above Buza Bar.



The narrow alleys of Dubrovnik.

Sunset Cruise

The Sexy Six!

The Walls of Dubrovnik

Sailing in to Korcula

Swimming in a cove near Korcula

Korcula Markets

Our Boat - Ciresco

Erin and Liz on the walls at Korcula

The open air bar at Korcula

Sailing the Adriatic - Part One

S and I just returned from an amazing holiday in Croatia with our good friends from Australia - Erin, Chris, Liz and Megan.  We were so lucky to be able to meet up with our friends who arrived from both Australia and Saudi Arabia and that we hadn't seen for months.

This was a long awaited holiday.  We had been talking about it since mid way through last year.  It finally happened...we sailed the Dalmatian Coast and the Adriatic Sea in Croatia!!!

Our journey began very early a few Fridays ago when we arrived in the very tropical port town of Split.  Split is the second largest city in Croatia and the people of Split think of themselves as very trend conscious and glam.  E had been incredibly sick the week before so we took it easy on Friday strolling around the Old Town.  Believe it or not, Split was founded by the Roman emperor Diocletian in AD295.  It had a very Italian and roman feel.  The most impressive site was Diocletian's Palace which is now made up of cafes and shops.  We also found the giant statute of Gregory of Nin (a 10th century bishop).  Tradition claims that if you rub the statues toe, a wish will be granted. 

On Saturday, we boarded our boat for our week long sailing trip down the Dalmatian Coast.  We were lucky enough to only have 20 people on a boat with a capacity of 40.  We were also delighted to find that we had a double bed, private shower and toilet, a huge sun deck on which to laze and a bar with staff that made yummy cocktails (Sex on the Beach and Pina Colada were the best). 
Every day we would wake to find that we had left our last port and were sailing to our next unknown destination.  It was such a great feeling being in the middle of the sea not knowing exactly where you are or where you are going next.  It was also so peaceful - often we would not see another boat for hours.

We would sun bake on the top deck for hours, watching the amazing scenery go by, reading and chatting.  Captain would drop anchor in an isolated cove and we would swim and float in the most crystal clear water we have ever seen.  Then the crew would ring the bell to signal lunch.  Lunch comprised of three courses and the food was absolutely delicious.

After lunch we would arrive into a new port and spend the afternoons exploring the towns.  Each one was different but each had the same common calm and relaxed feel.

We would then have cocktails and delicious dinners followed by some serious partying and dancing.  The beach towns of Croatia are known to be heaven for the party animal. 

This was our typical day for seven days - what bliss.

There are a number of things which stood out for us about this country.  We didn't have too many expectations about Croatia itself but we were blown away.  Here are some things that we loved about Croatia:

1. The food.  The Croatians are serious about their food.  We ate so much fresh seafood.  Usually a whole grilled fish or fresh grilled calamari.  The food also had a rather Italian influence and the pastas and risottos were also great.  We also loved a Croatian desert which consisted of rolled crepes with marmalade in the middle - yum.
2. The crystal clear blue water.  The Dalmatian Coast has some of the clearest blue sea in the Mediterranean.  By clear we mean that you could see the bottom of the ocean.
3. The attractive towns and rich culture.  Croatia has an amazing history and a very turbulent one at that.  In fact, Croatia has only been a free state three times in its history. 

So what else did we do....

Split to Makarska

Our first stop was to go white water rafting in-land from the beach town of Makarska.  What an experience this was.  The river was fairly calm but we did experience some great white water runs (and some pretty narrow ones too).  Safety was definitely not a concern.  Teddy (our instructor) sat at the back of the raft directing us, telling us to row faster, while sipping on a tin of beer!  S failed to follow instruction down one particularly tight run and we ended up getting stuck on a rock - Teddy was not happy.  At one stage, we floated down the icy river looking at the cliffs on either side (outside of the raft).

That evening we had a beautiful dinner (grilled whole fish) and Teddy told us a little bit about the Yugoslav War.  Only 15 years ago, it is still very clear in the minds of the Croats.

After dinner we went to two bars.  One was inside a cave on the water front.

Makarska to Mljet

Day 2 saw us sailing past some beautiful scenery to Mljet.  At Mljet we visited the Mljet National Park which had two large lakes with aqua blue water.  The National Park was beautiful and relaxing.  It was clearly a place that the Croatians came to visit on the weekends.
That evening we had a party on deck as we watched the first of the amazing sunsets we would see that week.

As the sun was setting the boys decided that they would jump off the front of the boat we were moored next to (it was roughly 8 metres high).  S, not wanting to miss out, jumped but ended up standing on a sea urchin as he got out. At the time of writing this post, he still has 3 barbs stuck in his foot.  Apparently they make their own way out of your system...here's hoping!

Up next....Part 2 of Sailing the Adriatic.

Some photos of our first few days sailing Croatia below.

E&S
xoxo

Split - Old Town - Walls of Diocletians Palace

Setting sail from Split

First beers

  

Jumping off the boat

Mljet National Park

Mljet Port

Shaney jumping off the Liberty boat

Sunsets in Mljet

Cruising the Adriatic

Relaxing with a book - what a life!

La Dolce Vita....our adventures in Cinque Terre!

In August, S and I took a hard earned break and went to Cinque Terre (on the Italian Riveria) with good friends Bridge and Mark and Evan and Pip.  Evan and Pip are travelling around the world for 6 months and met us in Italy.  It was so wonderful catching up.
This had to be one of our favourite holiday locations ever.  I would rate it in my top 5!

Cinque Terre is absolutely amazing!  It is made up of five seaside villages which you can walk/hike between.  Those being - Montorosso, Venezza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore.  We stayed in the largest village - Montorosso.

Cinque Terre is where the Italian's spend their summer vacations.  It was bliss being surrounded by the sound of Italian (and not that of an English/Australian/American tourists!).

We arrived into Montorosso on Sunday afternoon to a balmy 40 degrees.  It was damn hot.  Usually we would be able to handle the heat but having spent almost six months in London, it was a rude shock.

We found our apartment and immediately located a restaurant where we had beers and fresh bruchetta while we waited for Pip and Evan to arrive on their train. Once the guys had arrived, we decided that the crystal clear blue water was too inviting so we headed for the beach.  Italian beaches are much the same as French beaches - they hardly have sand. Their equivalent is pebbles or even sharp rocks.  But the water was amazing and so relaxing.

The villages in Cinque Terre are made up of colourful worn buildings down alley ways designed to escape the heat.  The colours were amazing especially against a stark blue sky.

For dinner on Sunday we ventured into the Old Town of Montorroso and feasted on traditional Italian pastas and pizzas and carafes of red wine. On our stroll back to the hotel we found everyone letting lanterns drift into the water. We also stumbled across some samba/tango dancers which were amazing to watch.  Couples of all ages were dancing passionately in the cool summer breeze.  We will never forget that night.

We rose early the next day, had a quick espresso and headed for the first hike.  We have since learnt that this walk is the one that shouldn't be done in the order in which we did it.  It was steep, narrow, consisted of about 600 stairs and it was stinking hot with no breeze.  Not to mention the fact that it took 2.5 hours.  But the views were incredible especially when we entered Vernazza - the next village.  We treated ourselves with another swim and another awesome lunch.  This time we tried a traditional Cinque Terre pasta made with Pesto.  Cinque Terre is actually the home of pesto and it was amazing!!!

We then feasted on gorgeous gelati (apple, hazelnut, pistachio - our favourites) and decided to catch the train to the next town (Manorola) to have a look around and you guessed it another drink. After that we walked to Riomaggiore which was a very flat, easy 30 minute walk.  The walk is actually called the Lovers Walk and all the way along are messages to lovers and locked padlocks.  Riomaggiore was just stunning and we found another secluded "beach" to have a swim.  We stayed in Riomaggiore for dinner and it was incredible! I had a Lobster Pasta and S had a seafood risotto and we shared the most amazing tiramasu.  This was our standout dinner for sure - we laughed because we were so hot and sweaty in our hiking clothes sitting in a fancy restaurant having the most amazing meal.

On Tuesday we decided to have a relaxing day and stayed in Montorosso for a swim (it had the best beach), daiquiris and another delicious lunch.  S and I decided to check out the Old Town some more while the others had siestas.  We then met everyone in Manarola for a swim.  Manorala had to be the best place to swim as you looked up at the village high on the cliff and swam around large rocks and sapphire blue water.

We had a very interesting evening on Tuesday night. We thought it would be good to have dinner at Corniglia.  Little did we know that Corniglia was one of the only villages that sat high on top of a cliff.  A massive 365 stair climb high (one for each day of the year). We arrived at about 9pm and realised that the hike up in the dark was only going to leave us an hour before we had to catch the last train.  So we trudged back to the station where we had to wait for our train that got delayed and then delayed again. The station was deserted except for a crazy drunk man that kept bashing the walls until the alarms went off.  This really wasn't necessary considering the train stations let out an annoying bell without provocation everytime a train arrives or is on its way.  We played games in the cool air and ended up eating at a beach side restaurant in Montorroso.

On our last day, we decided to have a relaxing breakfast and then give Corniglia (our last town) another chance.  It did not disappoint.  It was the quaintest by far and the least touristy.  The views over the coast were unbelievable.  We could see miles of mountainous vineyards and crystal clear blue water.  After walking the narrow, cool streets we retired for our last lunch together - I had yet another local pesto.

Bridge, Mark, S and I decided to visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa before we boarded our flight back home.  Pisa was a massive town but had a very dodgy strange feeling about it.  It seemed like a ghost town until you got to the tourist area around the tower.  Seeing the Tower itself was amazing and surreal.  It really is on a large angle.

Something that always strikes me about Italy is how much it lives up to its Italian stereotypes - the accents, the culture, the food, the people. What an amazing treasure of a place it is and what an absolutely amazing sun and food filled holiday we had.  

A few pictures, which do not give it justice, below.

E&S
xoxo