By our last day in Rome, we were pretty museum and ruined out, and a change of pace to the 'countryside' was exactly what the doctor ordered. Adrian had wanted to go to Cassino on our way up to Rome from Naples, but we ended up doing it as a day trip.
Cassino is a town half way between Rome and Naples and was the sight of a rather large battle during WWII. It is the home of the order of St Benedict and is home to a beautiful Abbey high up on the hill. Our timing was a bit unfortunate (there was a bus up the hill to the Abbey at 9.30 and 3.30 - we got there at 11am), but it meant a few hours of enforced relaxation in the local park. It's a hard life.
Once we were sick of that (well, once Adrian woke me up), we walked down the road to the Commonwealth WWII cemetery. The Battle of Monte Cassino incurred heavy losses for NZ and Polish troops and it was sobering to see all the graves and list of names. The fact that the vast majority of them hadn't even reached their 30s hit home too. The war museum was unfortunately shut, Saturdays being to Cassino what Monday seems to be to the rest of Italy.
The Abbey was a whole other world. I (Amelia) could totally see the charms of a monastic life while you were perched up there on the hill - it was so peaceful and serene. Having to walk around it in Adrian's shorts and jersey didn't add to the experience however, I must remember to always pack 'church appropriate clothing' just in case. (It was worth it just to see Adrian's hairy legs poking out the bottom of my short skirt).
Adrian checked out the Polish cemetery up on the hill. The ages were a bit different, mostly in their 30s.
All in all, a successful day trip and definitely worth a stop on the way up to/away from Rome if you're ever in the neighbourhood. Just don't go on a Saturday!
Next stop: Florence!
Thursday, 26 June 2008
Sunday, 22 June 2008
Rome, Italy
"A life time is not enough" is what they say about Rome; I (Adrian) would say about four and a bit days and you are not doing too bad. Rome was a great city and easily the best so far with so much to see and do, and boy did we see and do it.
Trevi Fountain, just pops put of nowhere, the Spanish Steps surrounded by bling shops, the Pantheon standing for 2000 odd years and looking strong, and that was just in the afternoon we arrived.
Our first full day was spent at the Papal audience, the Vatican Museum and St Peter's Basilica and Square. The heat was monsterous, but we hung in there to see Pope Benedict, and what a reception he received - it was like being at a rock concert as the Pope mobile did its circuit. He then proceeds to give his speech in no less than five languages. The pilgrim groups were all thanked, our favourite was the the Catholic Mothers' League from Wellington, New Zealand, and an hour and a half later you are all blessed and on your way again.
But just in case you missed them there, the crowds are all waiting for you at the entrance to St Peter's Basilica (including surprisingly sneaky Asian tour groups). What is amazing is that once you are in, you wonder where everyone has gone, the place is massive and just swallows everyone (capacity 60,000 people!). The Pieta by Michelangelo was just amazing, as was pretty much everything in here.
Day 3 (aka the 'day of ruins') was all about the Colosseum, the Forum, and the Palatine. An underwhelming audioguide later, we were left standing in the middle of a whole pile of (admittedly very well decorated) rocks. These ruins just suffered a bit in comparison to those we had seen in Turkey, Ephesus particularly. The Colosseum was another story though. The sheer size of it and the fact that it's still standing is pretty impressive. Amelia really liked the diagrams of the pulley systems that lifted the animals up to the main ground - the plastic lions and tigers just made it.
A bit of a change of plans late in the afternoon meant we visited Rome's cathedral and the 'Scala Santa' - the holy steps that Jesus walked up in Jerusalem. You are only allowed to walk up them on your knees.
Day 4 was a bit of a mishmash. We went to a church which has a big round wall relief sculpture of a face. If you put your hand in its mouth and it chomps down on you it means you are a liar. Luckily both of us escaped unscathed. On the way back from that we walked past the Circo Massimo. Most people think the Colosseum was Rome's biggest stadium, but it was actually this other place (literally translated, 'big circle'). Each competition consisted of seven laps, and at each end there was a structure that dropped a big wooden egg and wooden dolphin respectively after each half lap. Not quite the same as the flag system in Formula One!
Later that day we went to the Borghese Museum, a bit of a strict affair where you have to book the day in advance and are only allowed two hours visit. Amelia loved seeing some famous paintings she had studied at school and uni, and some of the other sculptures (such as this amazing one of Apollo and Daphne). While we were wandering around that night after dinner we saw a big modern art/dance/performance installation thing in town, complete with a boxer, swimmer, and guy rowing strung up and moved across the square above our heads (10m or so). There must have been at least a hundred people involved in creating it, with only another hundred or so watching.
All in all, Rome was great. Staying at a campsite out of town with a pool was a stroke of genius, and we haven't blown the budget too badly (a few expensive dinners out didn't help though). So, if the coin I threw in the Trevi Fountain means anything, I'll definitely be back.
Day 3 (aka the 'day of ruins') was all about the Colosseum, the Forum, and the Palatine. An underwhelming audioguide later, we were left standing in the middle of a whole pile of (admittedly very well decorated) rocks. These ruins just suffered a bit in comparison to those we had seen in Turkey, Ephesus particularly. The Colosseum was another story though. The sheer size of it and the fact that it's still standing is pretty impressive. Amelia really liked the diagrams of the pulley systems that lifted the animals up to the main ground - the plastic lions and tigers just made it.
A bit of a change of plans late in the afternoon meant we visited Rome's cathedral and the 'Scala Santa' - the holy steps that Jesus walked up in Jerusalem. You are only allowed to walk up them on your knees.
Day 4 was a bit of a mishmash. We went to a church which has a big round wall relief sculpture of a face. If you put your hand in its mouth and it chomps down on you it means you are a liar. Luckily both of us escaped unscathed. On the way back from that we walked past the Circo Massimo. Most people think the Colosseum was Rome's biggest stadium, but it was actually this other place (literally translated, 'big circle'). Each competition consisted of seven laps, and at each end there was a structure that dropped a big wooden egg and wooden dolphin respectively after each half lap. Not quite the same as the flag system in Formula One!
Later that day we went to the Borghese Museum, a bit of a strict affair where you have to book the day in advance and are only allowed two hours visit. Amelia loved seeing some famous paintings she had studied at school and uni, and some of the other sculptures (such as this amazing one of Apollo and Daphne). While we were wandering around that night after dinner we saw a big modern art/dance/performance installation thing in town, complete with a boxer, swimmer, and guy rowing strung up and moved across the square above our heads (10m or so). There must have been at least a hundred people involved in creating it, with only another hundred or so watching.
All in all, Rome was great. Staying at a campsite out of town with a pool was a stroke of genius, and we haven't blown the budget too badly (a few expensive dinners out didn't help though). So, if the coin I threw in the Trevi Fountain means anything, I'll definitely be back.
Italy: Napoli
Well, we're right in the heart of our Italian adventure now - two of our three big cities are behind us and it's onto the homeward stretch.
After the Amalfi Coast we headed up the road a bit to Napoli. Despite lots of good things going for it, such as being the birthplace of pizza, it was the dirtiest city we have ever seen. It's the ongoing aftermath of some pretty major tension over rubbish collection (see here for a bit of backstory), but it doesn't seem as if it's too different from the normal cleanliness situation to tell you the truth...
Napoli was our base to do a bit of day-tripping. First stop was Pompeii which was actually way bigger than expected and it was pretty mind blowing that so much of it survived the eruption. The plaster casts of bodies (they poured plaster into the caveties left by the decomposition of the bodies) were interesting to see, that being my (Amelia) main recollection of what I studied at school. It was also great to be there at the end of the day after the tour groups all left and we were free to wander around in comparative isolation.
The next day brought on Capri-dahling! It's an island off the coast of the bay of Naples and well worth a visit if you're ever in the neighbourhood. I felt underdressed just walking around outside some of the shops in the main town (think big fashion label central), but once we'd hoed into our panne cotta and watermelon gelato, all the cares of the world melted away... The absolute highlight of Capri though is the Grotta Azzura, or Blue Grotto. It's something to do with the refraction of light as it bounces off the bottom of the cave, but whatever it is, it made the water inside this sea grotto absolutely luminous blue - kind of like there were big neon bulbs underneath the water even! The water was so clear you could see right down to the bottom of the cave, and so clean there was even coral growing on the sides. It seemed as if it may have been kind of cheesy because there were so many tour groups selling you to go there, but it was one of those things that actually surpasses expectations. Our night finished with pizza at 'Da Michele', the most famous of all Napoli's pizzerias - who knew tomato sauce and bread could taste so good.
Next stop: Roma!
After the Amalfi Coast we headed up the road a bit to Napoli. Despite lots of good things going for it, such as being the birthplace of pizza, it was the dirtiest city we have ever seen. It's the ongoing aftermath of some pretty major tension over rubbish collection (see here for a bit of backstory), but it doesn't seem as if it's too different from the normal cleanliness situation to tell you the truth...
Napoli was our base to do a bit of day-tripping. First stop was Pompeii which was actually way bigger than expected and it was pretty mind blowing that so much of it survived the eruption. The plaster casts of bodies (they poured plaster into the caveties left by the decomposition of the bodies) were interesting to see, that being my (Amelia) main recollection of what I studied at school. It was also great to be there at the end of the day after the tour groups all left and we were free to wander around in comparative isolation.
The next day brought on Capri-dahling! It's an island off the coast of the bay of Naples and well worth a visit if you're ever in the neighbourhood. I felt underdressed just walking around outside some of the shops in the main town (think big fashion label central), but once we'd hoed into our panne cotta and watermelon gelato, all the cares of the world melted away... The absolute highlight of Capri though is the Grotta Azzura, or Blue Grotto. It's something to do with the refraction of light as it bounces off the bottom of the cave, but whatever it is, it made the water inside this sea grotto absolutely luminous blue - kind of like there were big neon bulbs underneath the water even! The water was so clear you could see right down to the bottom of the cave, and so clean there was even coral growing on the sides. It seemed as if it may have been kind of cheesy because there were so many tour groups selling you to go there, but it was one of those things that actually surpasses expectations. Our night finished with pizza at 'Da Michele', the most famous of all Napoli's pizzerias - who knew tomato sauce and bread could taste so good.
Next stop: Roma!
Saturday, 21 June 2008
Correction
Amelia here, just needed to correct one of the Turkey entries thanks to a little help from Wayne (and I quote):
There seems to be an error on your blog. On your section about the blue cruise it states "Wayne, the pomme, took a lot of convincing to enter the sea". Shouldn't it say: "Wayne, the dashing pomme, entered the sea with style, grace and flair. Indeed, he touched the water with such beauty that Adrian became momentarily homosexual and fell in love with this mysterious stranger".
Wayne, I couldn't have put it better myself if I tried.
There seems to be an error on your blog. On your section about the blue cruise it states "Wayne, the pomme, took a lot of convincing to enter the sea". Shouldn't it say: "Wayne, the dashing pomme, entered the sea with style, grace and flair. Indeed, he touched the water with such beauty that Adrian became momentarily homosexual and fell in love with this mysterious stranger".
Wayne, I couldn't have put it better myself if I tried.
Sunday, 15 June 2008
Italy, the beginning
La Bella Italia!
We've been here for a few days now and it is living up to nearly every expectation I have ever had about Italy! I love all the gesticulating, the fashion, the food, and of course, the absolutely, completely, unbelieveably insane driving (we nearly died today on our drive from Amalfi to Napoli...).
Arriving off the train in Bari, we had to do a bit of fence scaling to escape the port complex (they're not big on directions or signs here), but safely over we dragged our tired bodies through Bari to the train station in the surprising 28 degree heat. Saying ciao to Megan, we hopped on a train to Taranto. It was only five minutes after we got on that I (Amelia) realised that we could have got a cheaper train directly to our final destination, rather than the rather long winded and more expensive route I had accidentally picked. Ah well, at least we saw some more of Italy's countryside...
Our first stop was Matera. Yeah, I had never heard of it either. It's in the middle of Italy, about equi-distant from each coast. It's a jumble of old houses, churches, rock churches, and caves built into two valleys called 'sassi'. People were living in the caves until the 1950s, when the extreme poverty came to light and they were all forcibly removed into housing blocks. Not entirely sure it was a better move having talked to some of the locals! The landscape was stunning, although nothing compared to our hostel, Le Moncelle. It was a converted monastery, complete with chapel, bell tower and rooftop terrace - let's just say we're in a different hostel world now we've moved to Italy!
On the way to our next destination we briefly stopped in Salerno. Not expecting much, the Duomo (cathedral) there was absolutely incredible. Quite possibly the best church I have ever seen. Not only was it absolutely massive with exquisite mosaics and decorations, but the crypt which reputedly holds the relics of St Matthew (yes, the one and only) was unbelievable. The whole crypt was painted and the photos here don't quite do it justice (the ones of the crypt are at the end). Definitely one to beat (bring it on Rome).
After Matera we moved on to the Amalfi Coast, home to (and I quote), 'international jet setters seeking sun and romance' (or some such tourist nonsense). However, it was pretty amazing. The sea was startling blue, the narrow roads stomach churning, and the terraced farming on the hillsides something else. We were staying up in Agerola, up in the mountains, where apparently they used to send people with respiratory problems because the air was so beneficial and clean! Compared to the car fumes eminating from the houses near the road, I'm sure it was better up there...
We happened to luck in on Amalfi's saint's day which was cool, complete with marching band, paper mache figurine and fireworks. We also did the 'Walk of the Gods', a 3 hour walk from Bomerano in the mountains down to Postiano on the coast. The views were stunning, the 1700 (I swear I'm telling the truth) steps down at the end to the coast were not so much.
Photos soon we promise!
Next stop, Napoli.
We've been here for a few days now and it is living up to nearly every expectation I have ever had about Italy! I love all the gesticulating, the fashion, the food, and of course, the absolutely, completely, unbelieveably insane driving (we nearly died today on our drive from Amalfi to Napoli...).
Arriving off the train in Bari, we had to do a bit of fence scaling to escape the port complex (they're not big on directions or signs here), but safely over we dragged our tired bodies through Bari to the train station in the surprising 28 degree heat. Saying ciao to Megan, we hopped on a train to Taranto. It was only five minutes after we got on that I (Amelia) realised that we could have got a cheaper train directly to our final destination, rather than the rather long winded and more expensive route I had accidentally picked. Ah well, at least we saw some more of Italy's countryside...
Our first stop was Matera. Yeah, I had never heard of it either. It's in the middle of Italy, about equi-distant from each coast. It's a jumble of old houses, churches, rock churches, and caves built into two valleys called 'sassi'. People were living in the caves until the 1950s, when the extreme poverty came to light and they were all forcibly removed into housing blocks. Not entirely sure it was a better move having talked to some of the locals! The landscape was stunning, although nothing compared to our hostel, Le Moncelle. It was a converted monastery, complete with chapel, bell tower and rooftop terrace - let's just say we're in a different hostel world now we've moved to Italy!
On the way to our next destination we briefly stopped in Salerno. Not expecting much, the Duomo (cathedral) there was absolutely incredible. Quite possibly the best church I have ever seen. Not only was it absolutely massive with exquisite mosaics and decorations, but the crypt which reputedly holds the relics of St Matthew (yes, the one and only) was unbelievable. The whole crypt was painted and the photos here don't quite do it justice (the ones of the crypt are at the end). Definitely one to beat (bring it on Rome).
After Matera we moved on to the Amalfi Coast, home to (and I quote), 'international jet setters seeking sun and romance' (or some such tourist nonsense). However, it was pretty amazing. The sea was startling blue, the narrow roads stomach churning, and the terraced farming on the hillsides something else. We were staying up in Agerola, up in the mountains, where apparently they used to send people with respiratory problems because the air was so beneficial and clean! Compared to the car fumes eminating from the houses near the road, I'm sure it was better up there...
We happened to luck in on Amalfi's saint's day which was cool, complete with marching band, paper mache figurine and fireworks. We also did the 'Walk of the Gods', a 3 hour walk from Bomerano in the mountains down to Postiano on the coast. The views were stunning, the 1700 (I swear I'm telling the truth) steps down at the end to the coast were not so much.
Photos soon we promise!
Next stop, Napoli.
Friday, 13 June 2008
Croatia: part two
We arrived into a much hyped Dubrovnik fresh from our great experience in Bosnia i Herzegovina to find that whilst a very pretty city, there was perhaps not has much to do here as originally thought. We spent the first day looking around the old town complete with another successful walking tour from the information office's handouts. We then found a possie for the European cup fixture of Croatia vs Austria. As you can imagine the town was buzzing with everyone dressed up in the Croatian red and white flag. When Croatia scored in the first 10 minutes it was looking like it was going to be a good night, so a flare was lit and much beer drunk. Final score 1-0. Still didn't put the Croatians off their beer...
The following day we took a trip out to Mljet Island, which is where Odysseus was held up for seven years by some sweet sirens. The major feature of Mljet National Park is the two inland salt water lakes (Greater and Lesser Lake). The greater lake has an island with a church and monastary. We spent the day again walking and swimming. This was the warmest place we have swam yet.
The final day was spent doing administrative duties for the insurance claim before a final Croatian swim, beer and meal. It was great to meet up for dinner with Megan from Melbourne, who we had been constantly bumping into from Zagreb onwards. We were heading in the same direction so caught the ferry to Bari, Italy together.
Next stop: Italia!
(P.S. Amelia had a running count of how many nuns she could see in Croatia, after seeing nearly a dozen during our first six hours in Zagreb. Final count: 50 nuns, 5 brothers, and 1 priest. Not bad. Do you think the tally will be broken in Italy?)
The following day we took a trip out to Mljet Island, which is where Odysseus was held up for seven years by some sweet sirens. The major feature of Mljet National Park is the two inland salt water lakes (Greater and Lesser Lake). The greater lake has an island with a church and monastary. We spent the day again walking and swimming. This was the warmest place we have swam yet.
The final day was spent doing administrative duties for the insurance claim before a final Croatian swim, beer and meal. It was great to meet up for dinner with Megan from Melbourne, who we had been constantly bumping into from Zagreb onwards. We were heading in the same direction so caught the ferry to Bari, Italy together.
Next stop: Italia!
(P.S. Amelia had a running count of how many nuns she could see in Croatia, after seeing nearly a dozen during our first six hours in Zagreb. Final count: 50 nuns, 5 brothers, and 1 priest. Not bad. Do you think the tally will be broken in Italy?)
Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mostar is in the H part of B&H, and is situated on both sides of the Neretva River. They have an 'Old Bridge' spanning the two sides that was completely destroyed during the war and was painstakingly reconstructed. Men still jump off the bridge now as they did pre-1990s, with it being 24 metres high it's no easy feat! They had an interesting museum all about the bridge and how they rebuilt it that we whiled away some time at, as well as checking out the local burek (Balkan version of the pie) and one of the best dinners we have had yet - the 'Herzegovina plate' - that was so large (and meat-laden) we had to take the remains home in a doggy bag... (and for those who know Adrian, that's pretty incredible we couldn't finish it off between us!)
Our hostel in Mostar was the highlight though, Majda's Rooms, where Majda told us all the best places to go, made us feel right at home, and ferried us to and from the bus station. Another highly recommended place! Mostar was nearly completely obliterated during the war and there are empty, bombed out buildings everywhere with signs saying 'dangerous ruins, do not enter'. Most of the inhabitants had to evacuate during the war and seeing the pictures of the town during the war you can completely understand why.
Another interesting things we did in Mostar was climb a minaret in one of the local mosques. It was about 100 very narrow and windy steps up, and the ledge at the top didn't do much to help dampen my growing vertigo that started ever since we went to the Aiguille de Midi (I blame you for this Dad, I'm sure it's inherited!). Gave you a great view over the city though and was cool to think about the guys coming up and doing a call to prayer 'live' rather than through a microphone system.
Overall, B&H was a really interesting country that would be well worth returning to. The people were very friendly and open and seeing as it will be the last 'reasonably priced' country we see for a while, it was hard to leave!
Next stop: Dubrovnik, Croatia
Our hostel in Mostar was the highlight though, Majda's Rooms, where Majda told us all the best places to go, made us feel right at home, and ferried us to and from the bus station. Another highly recommended place! Mostar was nearly completely obliterated during the war and there are empty, bombed out buildings everywhere with signs saying 'dangerous ruins, do not enter'. Most of the inhabitants had to evacuate during the war and seeing the pictures of the town during the war you can completely understand why.
Another interesting things we did in Mostar was climb a minaret in one of the local mosques. It was about 100 very narrow and windy steps up, and the ledge at the top didn't do much to help dampen my growing vertigo that started ever since we went to the Aiguille de Midi (I blame you for this Dad, I'm sure it's inherited!). Gave you a great view over the city though and was cool to think about the guys coming up and doing a call to prayer 'live' rather than through a microphone system.
Overall, B&H was a really interesting country that would be well worth returning to. The people were very friendly and open and seeing as it will be the last 'reasonably priced' country we see for a while, it was hard to leave!
Next stop: Dubrovnik, Croatia
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
We were so close, it would have been rude not to visit... That was the justification for a couple of nights sidetrip into Bosnia and Hercegovina and it was well worth every BAM (convertible marks to the more technical amongst us).
We bused down from Split into Sarajevo (the B part of B&H) along some pretty majestic scenery, dominated by the Neretva River. We arrived into Sarajevo pretty late (about 11pm) armed with directions to our hostel which was apparently only 5 minutes walk from the bus station. Whatever! After walking around for about half an hour we finally capitulated and got a taxi - the guy told us a) it was 'very, very close' (yeah, thanks, we knew that already!) but that we should b) be 'very careful' and that wandering the streets at night was maybe not such a good idea. But not to fear (this is for all the parents out there), we never came to any harm the whole time we were there, and in fact, the B&H's were some of the nicest people we've met so far!
Arriving at the hostel at about midnight, we rang the bell, only for it to be answered by one of the guests who said that the lady had gone and wouldn't be back until 10am the next day! (So much for 24 hour reception...) They let us up anyway and we crashed in one of the rooms. Early the next morning, on wakening and discovering that the kitchen and bathroom were one (ew!) and the whole place was pretty grotty, we left some cash on the bed and left. If you're ever planning on going to Sarajevo, avoid 'Hostel Enjoy' like the plague!
But onwards and upwards. There was another hostel in town that was highly recommended, Hostel City Centre Sarajevo, and it was probably the flashest hostel we stayed in so far. We were lucky to get the last rooms in the house - two lilos in a yet to be completed dorm room! But they were actually really comfortable and getting your own room but paying the least amount possible was pretty sweet. Apparently they do great tours out into the surrounding areas to waterfalls etc. - everyone was raving about them but sadly we didn't have enough time.
Anyway, enough about the accommodation! Sarajevo itself was absolutely fascinating, the recent history of the 1991-1995 conflict is just in your face everywhere you look. It was strange, but you even got used to seeing bullet holes in everything. We did a tunnel tour of a tunnel that the city built under the airport from Sarajevo city itself (which was quasi-surrounded by the Serbians, apart from the airport which was in UN hands) out to the B&H free territory. The guides were two people in their late 20s who gave us a pretty frank description of life during the war - there's still so much hurt and anger about it all which is pretty easy to understand when you go there and see it for yourself. The corruption and confusion that still reigns in the city is also a source of huge frustration - they have two police forces, three presidents that each have power for a year each, and can never get agreement between anyone so can never move forward. It really made you appreciate an open and relatively simple political system!
We had initially planned to spend the night with some other people from the hostel, but Adrian found some really cheap tickets (NZ$7 each!) to Carmen at the National Theatre, performed with the Sarajevo Philharmonic. Well, that's not something you're going to turn down is it! It was Adrian's first time at an opera, so what better place to start than Sarajevo. It wasn't an opera in the sense that I'm used to (a big theatrical production), as the leads and the chorus just stood on stage and the leads were just in regular dresses etc., but it was definitely a lot of fun.
We'll post some pictures as soon as we get our disposable camera developed!
Next stop: Mostar.
We bused down from Split into Sarajevo (the B part of B&H) along some pretty majestic scenery, dominated by the Neretva River. We arrived into Sarajevo pretty late (about 11pm) armed with directions to our hostel which was apparently only 5 minutes walk from the bus station. Whatever! After walking around for about half an hour we finally capitulated and got a taxi - the guy told us a) it was 'very, very close' (yeah, thanks, we knew that already!) but that we should b) be 'very careful' and that wandering the streets at night was maybe not such a good idea. But not to fear (this is for all the parents out there), we never came to any harm the whole time we were there, and in fact, the B&H's were some of the nicest people we've met so far!
Arriving at the hostel at about midnight, we rang the bell, only for it to be answered by one of the guests who said that the lady had gone and wouldn't be back until 10am the next day! (So much for 24 hour reception...) They let us up anyway and we crashed in one of the rooms. Early the next morning, on wakening and discovering that the kitchen and bathroom were one (ew!) and the whole place was pretty grotty, we left some cash on the bed and left. If you're ever planning on going to Sarajevo, avoid 'Hostel Enjoy' like the plague!
But onwards and upwards. There was another hostel in town that was highly recommended, Hostel City Centre Sarajevo, and it was probably the flashest hostel we stayed in so far. We were lucky to get the last rooms in the house - two lilos in a yet to be completed dorm room! But they were actually really comfortable and getting your own room but paying the least amount possible was pretty sweet. Apparently they do great tours out into the surrounding areas to waterfalls etc. - everyone was raving about them but sadly we didn't have enough time.
Anyway, enough about the accommodation! Sarajevo itself was absolutely fascinating, the recent history of the 1991-1995 conflict is just in your face everywhere you look. It was strange, but you even got used to seeing bullet holes in everything. We did a tunnel tour of a tunnel that the city built under the airport from Sarajevo city itself (which was quasi-surrounded by the Serbians, apart from the airport which was in UN hands) out to the B&H free territory. The guides were two people in their late 20s who gave us a pretty frank description of life during the war - there's still so much hurt and anger about it all which is pretty easy to understand when you go there and see it for yourself. The corruption and confusion that still reigns in the city is also a source of huge frustration - they have two police forces, three presidents that each have power for a year each, and can never get agreement between anyone so can never move forward. It really made you appreciate an open and relatively simple political system!
We had initially planned to spend the night with some other people from the hostel, but Adrian found some really cheap tickets (NZ$7 each!) to Carmen at the National Theatre, performed with the Sarajevo Philharmonic. Well, that's not something you're going to turn down is it! It was Adrian's first time at an opera, so what better place to start than Sarajevo. It wasn't an opera in the sense that I'm used to (a big theatrical production), as the leads and the chorus just stood on stage and the leads were just in regular dresses etc., but it was definitely a lot of fun.
We'll post some pictures as soon as we get our disposable camera developed!
Next stop: Mostar.
Thursday, 12 June 2008
Croatia: part one
While most of Zagreb was spent sorting out administrative stuff and buying replacements for the things that were stolen, we did manage did get out and see a thing or two. The spendthrift in us (aka Amelia) was quite happy to be going to the shops with a purpose and be able to buy things.
Zagreb was a cool city with a nice tram system that worked well and tons of pedestrian areas and parks and scuptures all over the place. We went to the Information place and picked up the walking tour guide and made our way around for a couple of days. The night we were there they we held an public concert in support of minorities (EU are you watching?), in the main square, Ban Jan Jelacic. This had dance troops, little childern singing, and the ubiquitous drunk old lady down the front dancing by herself, generally with bum not showing, but not always. My favourite was the black, woman, lesbian in a wheelchair playing the accordian.
From here we caught the night train to Split to meet up with my family. Dominik and Nikki from London and Stefan, Lizzie and happy baby Juliet from Townsville. This time instead of being a couple of days late and in the wrong city, I had read the arrival time wrong in the other direction and we had 5 hour wait in the glorious, yet stifling 30 degree heat. Once everyone was together and unloading in the attic of our five story palace (no joke, it was called 'Deskovic's Palace') at the end of the promenade, we set out to explore the town. Another successful walking tour with only the smallest amount of time trying to find what we were looking for.
The rest of the weekend was spent looking for some beaches to laze about on. And a bit of a walk made that water feel even better than clear blue warm Adriatic Sea it already was. The first beach was right in Split and the other was a day trip to a town called Bol on the island of Brac. Both were just brilliant but the walking had depleted us of some energy so custard squares, beer and icecream was the remedy to cure all ills.
After the weekend we bade farewell to Domsa and Nikki who went back to work, while we carried on up north to Sibenik and Krka National Park with Stefan, Lizzie and a little grumpy Juliet. The national park was spectacular with tons of lakes filled with fish and clear, clear water. Which thankfully you could swim in. We spent the day walking and swimming with the occasional stop to see how the old mills worked to create flour from corn kernels. Sibenik town was a lovely town that hasn't been as 'touistised' as Split, probably because of the number of steps. The jewel in its crown is St James Cathedral, a Gothic - Renaissance church which is decorated with the faces of the town folk from when it was built.
Here we left Lizzie, Stefan, and an upset Julliet (this time due to our leaving) and made our way to Hvar Island. The first night here was marked by a huge electric storm that knocked communications with the main land. The next day instead of the beach we decided to go for a walk on Hvar. Mostly we followed trails but when these disappeared we made our own way through the prickle bush and skree slopes. It was a pleasent enough walk for about three hours, we saw the top of Motokit hill, and some old caves some people used to hang out in. Once we were finally back on to the safety of tarmac with about 6km to walk it all went wrong, Amelia twisted her ankle in a pothole, causing excruciating pain. With not too many options we pushed on slowly, only to see the onset of a storm. We attempted to hitchhike, with no luck, then the clouds opened. We found some shelter in the back of a workmens van while the clouds burst past, then continued on our not so merry way sore, tired and a little damp.
Here are Lizzie and Stefan's pictures of Croatia that we have appropriated while ours get developed.
Next stop: Sarajevo.
Zagreb was a cool city with a nice tram system that worked well and tons of pedestrian areas and parks and scuptures all over the place. We went to the Information place and picked up the walking tour guide and made our way around for a couple of days. The night we were there they we held an public concert in support of minorities (EU are you watching?), in the main square, Ban Jan Jelacic. This had dance troops, little childern singing, and the ubiquitous drunk old lady down the front dancing by herself, generally with bum not showing, but not always. My favourite was the black, woman, lesbian in a wheelchair playing the accordian.
From here we caught the night train to Split to meet up with my family. Dominik and Nikki from London and Stefan, Lizzie and happy baby Juliet from Townsville. This time instead of being a couple of days late and in the wrong city, I had read the arrival time wrong in the other direction and we had 5 hour wait in the glorious, yet stifling 30 degree heat. Once everyone was together and unloading in the attic of our five story palace (no joke, it was called 'Deskovic's Palace') at the end of the promenade, we set out to explore the town. Another successful walking tour with only the smallest amount of time trying to find what we were looking for.
The rest of the weekend was spent looking for some beaches to laze about on. And a bit of a walk made that water feel even better than clear blue warm Adriatic Sea it already was. The first beach was right in Split and the other was a day trip to a town called Bol on the island of Brac. Both were just brilliant but the walking had depleted us of some energy so custard squares, beer and icecream was the remedy to cure all ills.
After the weekend we bade farewell to Domsa and Nikki who went back to work, while we carried on up north to Sibenik and Krka National Park with Stefan, Lizzie and a little grumpy Juliet. The national park was spectacular with tons of lakes filled with fish and clear, clear water. Which thankfully you could swim in. We spent the day walking and swimming with the occasional stop to see how the old mills worked to create flour from corn kernels. Sibenik town was a lovely town that hasn't been as 'touistised' as Split, probably because of the number of steps. The jewel in its crown is St James Cathedral, a Gothic - Renaissance church which is decorated with the faces of the town folk from when it was built.
Here we left Lizzie, Stefan, and an upset Julliet (this time due to our leaving) and made our way to Hvar Island. The first night here was marked by a huge electric storm that knocked communications with the main land. The next day instead of the beach we decided to go for a walk on Hvar. Mostly we followed trails but when these disappeared we made our own way through the prickle bush and skree slopes. It was a pleasent enough walk for about three hours, we saw the top of Motokit hill, and some old caves some people used to hang out in. Once we were finally back on to the safety of tarmac with about 6km to walk it all went wrong, Amelia twisted her ankle in a pothole, causing excruciating pain. With not too many options we pushed on slowly, only to see the onset of a storm. We attempted to hitchhike, with no luck, then the clouds opened. We found some shelter in the back of a workmens van while the clouds burst past, then continued on our not so merry way sore, tired and a little damp.
Here are Lizzie and Stefan's pictures of Croatia that we have appropriated while ours get developed.
Next stop: Sarajevo.
Saturday, 7 June 2008
Disaster
I say it was unfortunate, Adrian says it was careless...whatever it was, we was done robbed.
Our day pack was stolen while we were on the night train from Belgrade to Zagreb - complete with camera, back-up CD of pictures, Lonely Planet, mp3 player, books, sunglasses, jewellery, and a very extravagent and much anticipated bag of cashew nuts - oh the horror! Adrian was also pickpocketed - but it could have been worse, they were kind enough to only take the cash and leave the credit cards. It's a bit icky to think that someone was in our carriage while we were sleeping, but thankfully the passports weren't in the bag and we also have our big bags as well. It did mean that the whole first morning of Zagreb was spent in the police station, where "of course!" they all spoke English (thank goodness), even though their bedside manner wasn't their strongest suit. All we need now is for the insurance to come through...(all together now): "Yeah right!"
If only that had been the end of our troubles... The French credit card stopped working the next day as well. After several hours on the phone we worked out that no, the numbers hadn't been written down and all the money stolen, there's just a 650 Euro limit that you can take out as a cash advance overseas...would have been nice to know earlier! (Adrian: they may have told me, French isn't my strongest suit). But a grand merci to the lovely lady at the Limoges Finance Centre who told us our money was safe - let's hope the NZ credit cards hold out through Italy before we can get back to France!
Our day pack was stolen while we were on the night train from Belgrade to Zagreb - complete with camera, back-up CD of pictures, Lonely Planet, mp3 player, books, sunglasses, jewellery, and a very extravagent and much anticipated bag of cashew nuts - oh the horror! Adrian was also pickpocketed - but it could have been worse, they were kind enough to only take the cash and leave the credit cards. It's a bit icky to think that someone was in our carriage while we were sleeping, but thankfully the passports weren't in the bag and we also have our big bags as well. It did mean that the whole first morning of Zagreb was spent in the police station, where "of course!" they all spoke English (thank goodness), even though their bedside manner wasn't their strongest suit. All we need now is for the insurance to come through...(all together now): "Yeah right!"
If only that had been the end of our troubles... The French credit card stopped working the next day as well. After several hours on the phone we worked out that no, the numbers hadn't been written down and all the money stolen, there's just a 650 Euro limit that you can take out as a cash advance overseas...would have been nice to know earlier! (Adrian: they may have told me, French isn't my strongest suit). But a grand merci to the lovely lady at the Limoges Finance Centre who told us our money was safe - let's hope the NZ credit cards hold out through Italy before we can get back to France!
Belgrade
Arriving early in the morning to Belgrade, we did the cheap backpacker thing and walked up to our hostel - we definitely did better on that front though compared to the American couple who arrived individually about an hour after us having had a huge fight about the directions! He won...
So, Belgrade. It was pretty hyped up in the Lonely Planet I have to say, the town of permanent partying and hedonism. We did go out one night along 'Silicon Valley', the strip of bars along from our hostel, but we must have just struck it on a low, or perhaps it was still recovering from EuroVision the night before (Amelia: I am actually gutted about missing that...honest).
We spent a fair bit of time searching for some new camping gear which helped orient us around the city - it may be relatively flat, but it sure ain't compact. The 38 degrees celsius temperature certainly didn't help things either (Amelia would be useless in a desert that's for sure).
We did see some cool things though; the Nicolas Tesla museum (the guy who discovered the AC current and made it de rigour for about 90% of today's machinery) was really interesting, as was the fortress on the hill overlooking the river. We did as Europeans do and promenaded up and down the pedestrian area eating icecream (eating as much as possible now before the horrors of the Euro kick in in Italy).
Hi to Chris and Opal from Canada who we met at the hostel, it was great to head out and chat to some other people (not that on our own we aren't fascinating conversationalists, but I've heard every single one of Adrian's stories six times now - at least).
Next stop: Zagreb, Croatia.
Bulgarski
Our travel into Bulgaria was a bit of a mish - 24 hours of bus travel to be precise! We got on a 12 hour bus from Goreme in Turkey, intending to spend a day in Istanbul before taking a night bus on up to Sofia. But, a bit of smooth talking from a travel agent saw us getting straight on the next bus to Sofia - with only about 15 minutes or so break in between buses...nice.
Border crossing (one more stamp!) and a change of bus later we made it to Sofia and one of the best hostels we've had so far - Rossi Rooms for anyone who's planning on visiting Sofia in the near future. It was a bit out of town in a completely authentic Communist era apartment block, complete with graffiti, overgrown gardens and smashed window panes. Inside was a different story - basically our own apartment, so we made some great vege filled meals (after Turkezy's ekmek (bread) and butter diet, it was needed!).
We were traveling with two of the crew from the Blue Cruise, Anika and Shelley, so we all went out to explore the town. Sofia is filled with fantastic sculptures, particularly the 'Golden Lady' that Adrian was very taken with... There were also some massive churches, rather ugly Communist architecture, and our first non Turkish kebabs (not too bad actually!).
Annika, Shelley and Amelia went for sushi in the basement of the National Library - I don't know what we were expecting, but it was probably the most expensive sushi I have ever eaten! Just craved some Asian food though so it was well worth it...
We also went to a couple of markets, one in the centre of town where we picked up some nicknacks and also the Women's Market, which was a ginormous food and stuff market near the river. It was basically a food tour, complete with free fried bread with sugar on top...mmm...
We were also fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on your point of view) to be there in May when all the schools break up. All the final year students get all dressed up, then drive around town in big groups of about half a dozen (minimum) cars all honking, with ribbons and tooting like their lives depend on it. They're all hanging out the windows of the cars drinking tequila or vodka and shouting their heads off - not exactly the same tradition as the school ball in NZ that's for sure!
Next stop: Belgrade, Serbia.
Border crossing (one more stamp!) and a change of bus later we made it to Sofia and one of the best hostels we've had so far - Rossi Rooms for anyone who's planning on visiting Sofia in the near future. It was a bit out of town in a completely authentic Communist era apartment block, complete with graffiti, overgrown gardens and smashed window panes. Inside was a different story - basically our own apartment, so we made some great vege filled meals (after Turkezy's ekmek (bread) and butter diet, it was needed!).
We were traveling with two of the crew from the Blue Cruise, Anika and Shelley, so we all went out to explore the town. Sofia is filled with fantastic sculptures, particularly the 'Golden Lady' that Adrian was very taken with... There were also some massive churches, rather ugly Communist architecture, and our first non Turkish kebabs (not too bad actually!).
Annika, Shelley and Amelia went for sushi in the basement of the National Library - I don't know what we were expecting, but it was probably the most expensive sushi I have ever eaten! Just craved some Asian food though so it was well worth it...
We also went to a couple of markets, one in the centre of town where we picked up some nicknacks and also the Women's Market, which was a ginormous food and stuff market near the river. It was basically a food tour, complete with free fried bread with sugar on top...mmm...
We were also fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on your point of view) to be there in May when all the schools break up. All the final year students get all dressed up, then drive around town in big groups of about half a dozen (minimum) cars all honking, with ribbons and tooting like their lives depend on it. They're all hanging out the windows of the cars drinking tequila or vodka and shouting their heads off - not exactly the same tradition as the school ball in NZ that's for sure!
Next stop: Belgrade, Serbia.
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