Thursday, July 28, 2011
Dubrovnik
One night, the family that owned the apartment wanted to thank us for staying a week and threw a bbq just for Mylene and I. It was at eight on the patio. There was so much food and beverages. For food, she made potatoes, salad, stuffed peppers, breads, and bbq meats. The meats were traditional sausages, hamburger, chicken, pork, and bacon (thick). For drinks they had homemade red wine which I must say was very good. They kept telling us to eat and eat and eat so for 2 hours I was stuffing my face and drinking all the wine. I rolled myself to bed I was so full. It was a wonderful evening and really interesting to learn about Croatian culture. Very nice people and a filling bbq.
The next few days we explored more beaches. Copa Cobana which is where the locals went. We bought hot pink blow up rafts and we floated around in the water all day (great investment). We went to our favorite beach where we went kayaking (although the waved were huge and no where to lie down without getting soaked). And on a rainy day we had, we hiked through Old City, getting lost, stumbling upon a bar in the cliff overlooking the ocean. That was great and funny to watch innocent tourists stand in the "Splash Zone" and get soaked by an on coming wave.
One night, Mylene and I went grocery shopping and we got seafood and pasta. Mylene is an amazing cook as you all know and she made cream based seafood pasta. It was absolutely delicious! It was a great evening just sitting on our patio, eating great homemade food and drinking red wine. We were totally relaxed and getting tan.
Sadly it was time to head back to Prague. How quickly a week can go by. Mylene left on Sunday and I left Monday from Split. It was nice to see Split for a day but nothing as special as Dubrovnik. Plus it was raining there all week so that would not have been so much fun.
I couldn't believe all the traveling I had done and that was my last hoorah before I moved back home. I had an amazing time from the cultures I experienced, to the people I had met, to the food I had eaten. I was truly blessed to have this opportunity and it will be something I will always have. It was a GREAT 3 week European vacation and now I'm packing up for my final stop...San Diego!
CROATIA!
Ever since I moved to Prague, everyone has told me, "OH, you HAVE to go to Croatia" so for my last week of traveling in Europe I chose, Dubrovnik, Croatia. And that's not all, my good friend Mylene would be joining me the whole week! We met in the airport and I was so excited to see her. I think I chatted her ear off because I've missed having company during my travels. We took the bus into town and found our apartment we rented. That was a brilliant idea and the apartment was very very nice. We had a full kitchen, great shower (it had music and shower heads all over with a waterfall top), and a tv! The family that owned the apartments were extremely nice. The parents could not speak English so the daughter who was roughly around my age sat down to show us Dubrovnik on a map. They were also so very kind to drive us to the grocery store.
On Monday, the sun was shinning and we both got our sunscreen and bug spray on. Mosquieto's dominate here and if you are not prepared, you will be eaten alive. I think I had a grand total of 20 bites during the trip. They loved Mylene's blood and she had plenty more! So we head to a beach by Old City. It was really hot laying on the beach so we cooled off in the water. The water was so clear and the water was warm where you can just sit and relax and cool off.
We got a beer at the beach and just began to unwind. After spending all day at the beach, we were starving. We walked around Old City to try and find a restaurant with good seafood. All the restaurants were the same price and had all the same menu. We finally gave up and chose a place where Mylene had grilled squid and I had fish fillet that was fried. Not bad.
The next day, I was VERY excited and planned, a half day kayak adventure. We woke up bright and early since it would take 45 minutes to walk to the location where the kayaks were. I was in charge of getting us there from the map they gave us. I somehow (surprise surprise) made a wrong turn and we were huffing and puffing up lots of hills really high up. It was taking an hour and we were dripping with sweat. Til finally we reached a dead end and luckily found a local who knew where we needed to go and told us to walk down the hill. WE MADE IT but we were already exhausted and it's only 9am before our real work out would begin.
The guide was a young Croatian boy who told us the other party canceled and it would only be Mylene and I! Wow a private tour :) We were given instructions of how to kayak and I was a little nervous. They were the closed kayaks and we each got our own. We were all set and I had my captain sailor hat on! He pushed us in the water and we began our journey. Since it was a bit rocky, we stayed by the city walls and kayaked to Old City. If you have ever kayaked, it is VERY tiring and a lot of work. My arms were killing me! We then headed to the island Lokrum. Not only were we tired, but swimming against the wind with water splashing in our faces. While kayaking, we saw that a man was capsized and our tour guide went to his rescue. What a hero. I kept asking, "Where is his tour guide and why did he desert him". I later found out that WAS the tour guide. He had a hole in his kayak and he didn't know about it and it filled with water so he couldn't flip it over. Our guide told us he is angry about people like that because apparently you do not need to be certified to be a guide!!!! That's crazy! Thank goodness we had a pro who was on the national kayak team and knew what he was doing.
We arrived at Lokrum and journeyed towards the rocky beach. They provided us with slippers so we protect our feet and don't slip and snorkels. We found a spot and went snorkeling. Sadly there were only sea urchins and small uncolorful fish. We had a great time though snorkeling.
We then headed back to the kayaks and were a bit weary of having to kayak all the way back as our arms were jello.
We had a sugary popsicle to give us some endurance and headed off. It was a straight shot and we had the wind helping us out. We made it back and had a wonderful time even though we were pooped.
We ate lunch on the beach and had a squid salad. I told you I felt like Shamu. We chilled on the beach all day and swam in the warm water with a view of Old City. Just beautiful as you can see in my videos and pictures.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Santorini
I arrived at the port and took a taxi to my hotel. It was highly recommended on tripadvisor and hostel world and I see why. The owners were so friendly and upgraded to me to a balcony view of the pool and full kitchen! I went grocery shopping to buy lunch and dinner goodies. I then sat and just enjoyed the pool and finished my book.
The next day I went to a beach the UK girls recommended to me (the ones I met at the bus stop in Mykonos). The beach was a black sand beach called Perissa. I took a bus down the windy streets and made it to Perissa. I bought a chair and umbrella and enjoyed the new scenery. I went in the water and it was warm around 70's. The bottom was hard slimmy rocks. I spent the whole day at the beach and that afternoon went back on the bus to my hotel. I ate a turkey sandwich and a greek beer. For dessert I had greek yogurt which is the best in the west.
The next day I went to another recommended spot that the Scottish people recommended, Oi which is pronounced E-ah. The bus ride was the scariest bus ride I have ever experienced. It was packed with people (usual Greek bus) and it was on a steep cliff speeding around the corners. There was a couple next to me and the girlfriend looked back at her boyfriend and said, "don't even say anything" but everyone was thinking it. We were very close to the edge and one wrong thing we were toast. We made it and stunning views and famous recognizable landmarks of Santorini. I decided to treat myself and have a view of the sea and cliffs and city. I ordered seafood spaghetti and a coke. I used to be creeped out if I saw octopus in anything or calamari but in Italy and Greece (and Croatia) it's in EVERYTHING. I at so much octopus and squid that I felt like Shamu.
I then toured around and watched the sunset in Santorini with a bunch of other tourists. Once again, everyone clapped when the sun went down. Took the bus back and had a great day in Oi.
I headed back to the port the next day and headed back to Mykonos for one more night as I flew from Mykonos to Milan and from Milan one night and next day to Dubrovnik, Croatia.
I really enjoyed Greece and like both Santorini and Mykonos. It was tough traveling alone to meet people because it's a big honeymoon destination. But I enjoy my own company and had a great time. Thank you Greece for the memories!
Mykonos, Greece
I flew out from Milan after a week in Italy. I will miss the truffle sauce and gelato but I was ready to trade that in for beach and fruity drinks. The flight took a few hours and the flight was neat as you flew over little islands with the bluest waters. As we started to descend to Mykonos, we experienced some intense turbulence. There was a point where people did a load scared groan when we dropped a bit. I even grasped the sides and just said, "Just let me get to Mykonos". We made it and when I walked out of the airport I was overwhelmed by the people asking you if you need a place to stay. I had to take a taxi to the center where my hotel was and waited forever with a crowd of people fighting to get a taxi. Luckily, I am a party of one and I shared (well later found out I didn't share at all) a cab with two other tourists. I found out later that taxi's in Greece combine people but charge the passengers the same amount and don't split it. So they can make DOUBLE of the same distance! sneaky.
I made it to my hotel where I was greeted by the nicest people. One was from Romania and she told me she loved Prague and went on a lot of family vacations there because at the time, that's the limit of how far you could travel when you lived in Romania. (That's another story).
I got a quick bite to eat nearby and had a greek salad. I might be the only one who thought this but the actual greek salad had no lettuce which I was used to. It was green bell peppers, tomatoes, red onions, and feta cheese. It was nice and light and I was ready to put on my bikini and find a nice beach. My hotel asked if I wanted to party party or have a calm relaxing beach. I said definitely calm. They said, "Oh the bus just left so it will be best to take a taxi to St. John's beach" So I ventured to the bus stop after many twists and turns, and tried to find a taxi. The one thing living in Europe has taught me was patience and to go with the flow. It was completely hectic and tourists everywhere. It was impossible to get a taxi as people would try to steal your cab and aggressive to get it. There were many buses coming and going and just chaotic. I asked the bus driver if this bus went to St. John's and he was like, " Yes, but 15 minutes". So I wait, buy a ticket, and 15 minutes later get on the bus that was labeled Paradise. In Greece, the bus drivers just want to get as many human bodies as possible on the bus and not at all care about people's safety. The bus was packed and the bus took off. It must be so stressful to be a bus driver in Mykonos because the streets are VERY narrow and steep. Also you have to deal with other cars and scooters. We finally made it to Paradise beach where I was ready to unwind in a quiet peaceful beach. To my surprise, when I got off the bus I heard club bumping music. Uh oh. I walked down the road that pointed beach and when I got to the beach it was a club on the beach. Great! It was like an Mtv spring break full of college kids. It would have been fun perhaps if I had my girlfriends with me, but since I was carrying my book and looking like a mom I just wanted to have some relaxing time. I saw a separate entrance on the left that was on the beach away from the club and had chairs and umbrellas. I sat and it was a nice beach and enjoyed the bumping house music.
That evening I went to town and saw a place where you can watch the sunset and have a cocktail. I found the BEST little spot to sit and have a cocktail right by the water. I had a blue hawaiian and watched the sunset. People applauded when the sun finally set. Besides the confusion of Paradise beach, it was a great day in Mykonos.
The next day, I went to the RIGHT beach and figured the bus system out to the T. I met a couple girls from the UK and they even said that I must be from around here since I know how the system works. I think from using public transportation for 1 year and in many different countries, you get the general gist of how it works and it's not as stressful as tourists make it to be. I got off at the right beach St. Johns and bought a chair and umbrella they have set up. Aw now that's what I'm talking about. Sunshine, crystal clear waters, and a beautiful beach. For lunch I had a fresh plate of hummus and pita bread with a coca cola light. In Europe they don't call it Diet Coke but Coca Cola Light. It was everything and more and I spent the whole day at the beach.
That evening I showered and went to Little Venice town to window shop. Then when sunset came back I sacrificed me dinner to go back to the cocktail bar and watch the sunset again. I this time sat upstairs with an amazing view of the water and the wind mills. I ordered a strawberry daiquiri but the bar tender said I should try something different like a peach, pineapple, or blackberry daiquiri. I'm easily persuaded and got the blackberry daiquiri. When it arrived (as you will see in the picture) it's covered in fruits. It was the best cocktail I have EVER had. I met a VERY nice couple from Scotland who were on vacation. One used to live in San Diego coaching football (soccer) for a year and lived in La Mesa. Talk about small world.
The next day, I had to pack up and head to Santorini by ferry. I was a bit nervous if I did this correctly as I bought the tickets online and only had a confirmation paper. I found the office and got my tickets for the ferry. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy. The ferry took 2 hours and I can't remember the last time I was on a boat. It was strange and I tried not to get sea sick by thinking it has the same bumps as a bus.
I made it to Santorini and my first impressions were "WOW look at the MASSIVE cliffs with houses lining down the sides. INSANE looking". Santorini, I have arrived.
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