Italy

Well the trip turned out to be a lot like a episode of the amazing race, the amount of transportation we took, some of the wee disasters we encountered and the amount of things we saw etc. Ken reckons I could package up what I'd organised and sell it (I had a clear file of all the booking details, maps, accommodation info etc!)

To start from the start we arrived in Pisa and stored our bags at Pisa Train Station to go and take the standard tourists photo’s at the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Ken and I - Leaning Tower of Pisa

Within the hour we were back on a train heading to Cinque Terre. We were met at the train station in Riomaggiore by the owner of the apartment we were staying in, she got us in her car (one of the few allowed in the town) and drove us to the apartment which was amazing, the view from the balcony was stunning!

The next day we trained to Montarosso to start the Cinque Terre walk, a 5 hour walk between the 5 villages, it was stunning. Very steep for the first two walks, lots of stairs but so worth it! The towns and the scenery along this coast is amazing though, so beautiful, by far the most beautiful I have seen while I have been away.

Cinque Terre coastline as we approached the first village

Me approaching one of the villages

The village we stayed in: Riomaggiore

The next day we went to Pisa airport to pick up the rental car We then drove to Florence. We wandered into Florence and had a look around. Florence was actually really cool, I knew very little about the city before we went in terms of what it looked like etc and I was pleasantly surprised by it, it’s a really pretty place and easy to get around on foot. Though by this stage I was referring to Italy as the stairway to heaven as there are shitloads of stairs EVERYWHERE.

Me in Florence in front of one of the oldest bridges in the world and it is filled with shops and has been since it was constructed.

The next morning we woke in a panic as we realised we were using Ken’s phone for the time and he hadn’t changed it forward an hour so we were running late, so we raced out of the camp and off into the Chianti region to meet up with our bike tour.

We toured a castle that makes its own olive oil and wine, did some tasting and then set off on our bikes, we stopped for lunch at a trattoria and then biked some more.

Tuscan Countryside on our bike tour

Then it was off to San Gimignano, in the Tuscan countryside, where we were to set up our wee tent and stay two nights. We were camping here and in Rome and we then pulled out the airbed to realise the plugs for the airbed were kept in the pocket of our old tent which Bryce (our flat mate) had left at a festival a few weeks before! Tensions were high and my positivity towards camping was MINIMAL to say the least. Luckily Ken got cracking with his McIvor skills and fashioned us so wood plugs from some twigs with his pocket knife which worked perfectly.

Next day was off to the Tuscan village Volterra and looked around there, found a spot to survey the Tuscan countryside (beautiful) and read our books and then set off back to San Gimignano to have a look around in the daylight. We had the some of the world champion gelato makers gelato.

Ken harvesting some grapes

Ken sampling the gelato - yum!

Ken and I under the Tuscan Sun

Our camping spot in Tuscany

The next day it was off to Rome via some Tuscan villages.

Our first day in Rome we were up bright and early to start our Vatican City tour at 9.30. The Vatican was amazing and remains as Ken’s favourite activity that we did, though Cinque Terre was his favourite place. The tour was 3 hours long and neither of us were bored once, it was truly something amazing. St Peter’s is by far the most impressive church I have ever seen!

The afternoon was killed finding lunch and making our way to the Spanish Steps where we sat for an hour and people watched, we then took at free tour which included the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon and Piazza Novana (which we’d found earlier that day), the tour was good but at this stage Rome had not impressed me that much. 13.5 hours after leaving the campsite we returned.

Ken and I covered up in the Vatican City

Ken - St Peters

Ken and I - Trevi Fountain

Ken and I - Pantheon

The next day we set off for the Colosseum, we did a self tour through there, I wasn’t that impressed by it, most of what I learnt came out of the lonely planet, but I think I was getting a bit touristed out – looking at things and taking photos! We wandered along the Roman Forum and then had the best pizza and lunch of the trip at a recommendation from the Lonely Planet, we then went and hung out in the Piazza Novona, had a gelato and ran into a friend of Ken’s before heading to the Traverste region which was amazing, what I had imagined Rome would be like, we had our best value and best food that night at another recommendation from the Lonely Planet so Rome definitely redeemed itself in the end.

Ken - Colosseum

Caught - very much over being a tourist

The next day we drove to the Amalfi Coast and stayed in Sorrento, I didn't really like it there, it was prettiest from the water which we saw when we took a ferry ride along the coast. We visited Positano and I really liked it there but Sorrento was too over run with tourists for my likely, everywhere you turned there was a shop selling touristy plastic junk. It was also slightly tainted with the mishap with the car - ask Ken for the full details but lets just say when Ken went to get the car to so we could go to the airport to fly home, it wasn't there...

Out for dinner in Sorrento - the food in Italy was AMAZING

Me - Positano

Italy is now definitely my favourite place I have visited so far, it’s beautiful. I think the Amalfi Coast has been ruined by tourists and I hope that doesn’t happen to the Cinque Terre as it is so amazing. Tuscany is like every picture you have ever seen. Rome grew on me. I loved that you could drink from the fountains and never had to buy water. Hopefully we will get to see more of the country soon

Sail Croatia

We had an early start with the taxi arriving at our flat at 3.30am for the hour drive South to London Gatwick Airport, when we finally arrived in Split at 1pm (London time) (don't let anyone tell you travelling in Europe is a quick process) it was super hot. But we found the boat 'Penelopa' and after getting some essentials (blow up swimming devices) we set off for Makarska.

Makarska

Penelopa docked in Makarska

The first night the boys tried to have a big night, but tiredness eventually got them, it has been such a long day. We did however get to check out the bar in a cave along the coast line.

The next day we found out we had been one of the lucky boats (we were steel hulled as opposed to wood like majority of the boats) that had managed to make it to our first stop, while we had blue skies it was very windy. We set off from Makarska for Bol. It was so windy that we couldn't put the deck chairs out on deck and swimming did not seem appealing at all.

We arrived in Bol and discovered we were the only boat to make it, the midnight curfew went out the window that night as there was no other boats there to enforce it and the karaoke on the boat carried on into the wee hours of the morning.

The next day we stayed in Bol for most of the morning before setting off again with the promise that the dreaded wind would drop off.

Me along the water front in Bol

The wind did as promised and we were all able to sunbathe on deck again.

We had a slight change of plans and instead of heading to an outer island we were now going to Hvar, the party island. We arrived around 4 and looked around the island and grabbed something to eat and then party we did!

Ken and I in Hvar on the way up to the fortress

Lol and Nay enjoying a few drinks on board the Penelopa

Lol and I out in Hvar

The next day after our big night enjoying the Hvar nightlife we were roused by 'Big Daddy', the owner of the boat at 11am to tell us we had arrived at the Blue Caves. We were put onto smaller boats and taken around the point and through a hole in the rock to the blue cave, which were quite impressive and feeling a bit seedy I must admit it was nice to have the breeze on my face, though I was desperate to get into the water. The days in Croatia were very hot.

Ken in the blue caves

After lunch on the boat we were taking to a swimming spot (thank goodness) which was amazing and definitely cured the hangover. Nuts, Nay and Ken were brave and climbed to the top of the caves we were swimming at and jumped off (the water was extremely deep), while the rest of our boat watched on.

Ken jumping off the cave

We then went onto the outer most island Vis, which was my favourite. Ken and I spent hours wandering the streets of Vis (which was only opened to tourists in 1989)

Ken in Vis

Wandering the streets of Vis

The next day it was back on board and setting off early heading towards the island of Korcula, the longest leg of our trip, though of course there was time to stop for a swim

Me swimming off the boat

That night we had the Captain's dinner at a recommended place in Korcula and it was really good seafood and it was then followed by a toga party, which, although reluctantly, Ken and Nay did get involved in.

The following day it was onto Mjet, the national park. We spent most the of the day in Mjet, arriving mid morning.

An afternoon swim off the rocks in Mjet

The following day it was then onto Dubrovnik, the wind started to pick up again but we were all able to still enjoy some last sunbathing efforts before heading into Dubrovnik city.

Me in the Old Town

Ken and I on the city walls

Dubrovnik was one of the coolest city's I have visited, with so much history, both ancient and recent. We spent the afternoon exploring before having our final night out with the people from our boat. We had met some really great people (mostly Aussies) and while Lol and I called it a night at 3am, the boys carried on until 7am. So with very little sleep we checked out of the boat (in pouring rain) stored our bags and found somewhere to have breakfast and watch the All Blacks play. By the time we emerged the sun was back and we were able to find a park for the boys to lay their weary and hungover heads for a while before heading to the airport.

Our plane was delayed so we didn't fly out until 10pm, meaning it was 1am by the time we got back to the flat, luckily we had Sunday to recover before heading back to work on Monday...well everyone except Lol!