Woohoo - Up to date!!! Today is the 21st and its a long one

Duncan's Tonsils :)


Sunday 17
Well I think that today I learnt that 1 day is not enough for to gain a taste for Vienna. It is a much bigger city than the other’s we have visited so far, and I think that that makes the ‘jewels’ harder to find. It is not that they are more spread out, but I think perhaps that there are a lot more of them and therefore it makes narrowing down what is important more difficult.

Also I found it strange that for such a big city, some might call it a European hub, it runs on Perth time. That’s right, all the shops closed at 6 on the Saturday night and some did not open on the Sunday at all!!!

We started at Stephensdom, or St Stephens cathedral. A big gothic structure in the very centre of town. It was surprisingly still open for tourists, I say surprisingly because it was Sunday morning and mass was in session. They just separated the riff raff from the church goers with zoo like bars, we didn’t stay long, I felt a little uncomfortable that we were intruding on somebodies quiet time.

From there we walked to Hofburg, no not a dodgy shrine to David Hasselhof, but the imperial palace of Vienna. Enormous, with plenty of nooks and crannies, we didn’t stop here for any of the museums or galleries, instead after a quick stroll through the museum quarter we took a tram out to a museum called Oberes Belvedere, a beautiful building with lovely lovely gardens – however like most of the other places in Vienna it was being renovated, so unfortunately you wont see much in our photos other than scaffolding. The museum/gallery was excellent and we left feeling very enlightened. Housing one of the biggest collections of Gustav Klimt (including Judith and The Kiss), it also had a large display of Egon Schiele’s work. [Don’t know who these people are, neither did we until a few days ago, apparently very famous impressionists :); Kilmts painting The Kiss is the most expensive to ever be bought/sold]

I think what we really liked about this gallery was the size. It only had 2 levels, and was completely doable in a couple of hours, so leaving it we actually felt cultured and that we had had the time to appreciate the works before us.

From there we headed to the City Cemetery, where we visited the tombs of Beethoven, Strauss, Brahms and Schubert. There was also a memorial here for Mozart although he was buried in another cemetery.

We headed back to the hostel with the idea of cooking dinner, only to find that the supermarkets were among those not open on Sundays. Luckily for Duncan’s tonsils we had bought two packets of soup yesterday so he was set. Sara and I ended up with Kebaps (the Wien spelling of Kebab :), our attempts at self sufficiency thus far laughable.

I did however learn for future reference (if anyone is thinking about going to Vienna) that you can get standing room at the Royal Opera House for two euro – brilliant!!! Have to do that next time1

Sara and I briefly considered going back out to see the city by lights, but our feet were soooooo sore, so we opted for a quiet one in instead.

Monday 18
We made an early start and after a really nice train ride arrived at our next destination: Salzburg!!!!!!

Yes I have been looking forward to this stop since planning the trip as it is home of the Sound of Music (and the same name tour). We have also been looking forward to this as it was the first destination we were going to be out of hostels and into tents…..

So with those two reasons stacked against us, true to Murphy’s law the weather forecast said that it was going to rain. And rain it did!!! It started pretty much the exact time we were stepping off the train, and I have not seen such torrential rain since leaving Australia. It was raining so much that the roof of the station couldn’t cope and the rain was coming through it!!

We quickly abandoned our camping idea…… well not abandoned, but modified. Instead of putting up our own tents we chose the tents that are permanent ones at the campsite, like little huts with a table and 4 stretcher beds. Not quite so cheap as our own tents but still a lot better than the local hostels.

The rain eased off for a couple of hours giving us enough time to go and get some stuff for dinner and breakfast and head into the old town for a brief orientation. The old town charming though it was, was in a little organised chaos with the world championship cycling on making our life a little difficult as roads were closed and buses not running.

That night we cooked a yummy dinner in the camps kitchen, the first time we had had that much vegetables for a while (most of the eastern European food seems to come as meat and potatoes or meat and dumplings or meat and sauerkraut). And the heavens opened again. This time they did not stop. Duncan can attest to this as the springs in his camp stretcher had sprung and he didn’t sleep very well. Sara and I on the other hand after enjoying some local vino over dinner slept very well.

Tuesday 19
It rained and rained and rained, the next morning while it was still raining I stuck my head out the tent door looking for Noah, when he and his ark were no where to be found, I half walked and half swam to the bathroom.

But we are hardcore, and rain was not going to keep us from our sight seeing. Armed with a newly purchased Salzburg card (34euros for three days covering all bus rides, and most entry fees) we headed into town determined to get our moneys worth.

We started with Mozart’s residence, very interesting, before jumping on a bus and heading for Brauhaus, a brewery for Steigl beer. It had an interesting little tour of how beer was made followed by a museum, 2 glasses of beer and a gi-normous pretzel!

We finished our beers (well actually I had one and Sara and Duncan finished my other one) and made a beeline for the river, there was a cruise up the river we were interested in taking. But we got there to discover what had been a light azure blue the afternoon before was now murky brown and about two meters deeper and a whole lot faster. This all added up to a sign on the ticket office saying they weren’t running due to the water levels.

With that mode of transport not an option we had to find another mode to Hellbrun Castle, which ended up being a far less interesting bus. Hellbrun was way cool though. Built as a summer palace by a Bishop with too much time and money on his hands it is home of a garden of “trick fountains”. Hidden around the garden as you walk though are a series of fountains which can be turned on to get you at any time.

The showcase was probably the dinner table. It was a big stone table that had a long recess in the middle through which a spring flowed. This was where the wine jugs were kept to stay cold. It was surrounded by 9 stone seats, 4 along each side and one at the head.

If during dinner the guests got a little rowdy, or perhaps just on a whim, the Arch Bishop would have a switch flipped and the a fountain would squirt out of each of the guests chairs into their….. whazooos :). You would think that the obvious reaction would be to leap out of the chairs, however there were two things against this. Firstly it was apparently an executionable offence to stand while the Bishop was sitting, and secondly if that was to slip your mind in the moment of…. coldness… there were more fountains spurting from behind you and arching over the table, so if you stood up you wouldn’t just have a wet whazooo.

Parts of the gardens (with no fountains) are available to the public for walking and cycling, and one such lady was riding her bike leisurely down the path with her beautiful retriever next to her. He looked like a young dog, and after contemplating the large fish in the lake decided it was a good idea to go for a swim. He just jumped in – ha ha ha ha!

Back in Salzburg that afternoon we took the cable railway up to the Fortress. Established in the 7 or 8th century it has been expanded over the years and is now an enormous conglomerate of museums, theatres, restaurants, churches and I believe private residences. Sitting right up on the top of the hill it is very imposing. The view from the top was eerie. The weather and low clouds made the city look like it had been the set for an Alfred Hitchcock movie not the Sound of Music. The museum was very well done.

We thought we would hit the pub across the road from the camp ground for dinner. However it did appear that the English Menu was different to the German one…. We thought that was a little bit dodgy so walked around the corner to an Italian place that could have also been a little dodgy (perhaps a front for La Cosa Nostra), but the food was good and the prices were the same whether you read the English or German menu.

We had decided to change tents last night, because there was so much water that it was coming up through the floor. The tent next door looked a lot drier so we crossed our fingers and went to bed.

Wednesday 20
Awaking to what seemed a very dreary day I was reluctant even refused at one point to get out of bed. This was the day that we were going to do the Sound of Music Tour, and it was going to rain on my parade, therefore I was going to stay in bed.

However it was a “yellow pants” day for Sara (she had been saving them for the occasion) and she assured me that only good things happen on Yellow Pants days. And she was right. There was no rain, in fact after our first stop (in the lakes district where some of the film was filmed) the sun came out and has been shining brightly ever since.

As I mentioned we started in the lakes district where the opening shots were filmed as well as some from Do-Re-Mi, from there we went to a small village nearby where the church that was used in the wedding scene was, and also the trees still remain that the children were climbing. From there to the gazebo which was so popular (we weren’t allowed to run around it though) the house and lake that were used as the back of the house were the last stop (we drove by the house that was used for the front). Sound of music aside it was a beautiful drive, and well worth it, and for those fans it was interesting we learned the differences between the real live story and the Broadway story, and other trivial facts like the movie not being shown in Germany until 2000!!! A-mazing!!

The sun continued to shine as we made it on our river cruise, we enjoyed it I think because we were so happy that the sun was out. The little fella infront of us not too happy though. A little spaniel I think who was clearly not a water faring dog!! From the moment the boat started and took off he wanted off!! And when it started going fast and doing fancy turning things, he was not happy. I have never seen such a small dog tow an adult so quickly, when we docked he was getting off that boat!

We continued the relaxing theme of the day with a visit to the Augustiner Brewery, a local beer brewed and sold in a monastery. As far as beers go it was OK but I think Sara and Dunc enjoyed it. It had a very pleasant beer garden, and was clearly a favourite amongst the locals.
The brewery was (as monasteries always are) up on a hill, and we walked around the face of the hill past the modern art museum and down to the Nonnberg Abbey. Almost as old as the town itself, this was the place Maria was a novice, and where the scenes from the movie were filmed.

Finally we hit the Mirabella gardens, immaculately kept they also played a large part in the movie. But even if you are not a fan just fabulous. It is amazing what you can do when there are not water restrictions.

And speaking of water….. the tap water from the Austrian Alps, mmmm so delicious and cold

It was with tired feet, sun in our eyes and the sound of music in our heads that we went to bed tonight.

Thursday 21
Since the sun had officially returned we wanted to fit in one bit more of sight seeing. That was a trip up Untersberg Mountain (sp?). To get there you could walk, but that is just silliness, it would take hours and we were on a tight schedule. So we took the cable car, much more civilised, enjoyed the fabulous views (although a little hazy) had a coffee and some strudel and headed back down.

After satisfying my desire for tacky sound of music souvenirs we got a train to Munchen (Munich).

We now have the tents set up, Sara and I have had a nice shower and washed and dried our hair (her drier may not work any more as while drying my hair she sucked some of it into the back of it…. ooopsy). I have my thermals on, and am going to bed.

Luke and Belinda should be here tonight, and we are going to experience Oktoberfest in true German style tomorrow

Til then

Today is 16 September

Tuesday 12th

Well i have given a little bit of story about our day in Prague, but I had forgotten to mention the dinner . We went to a witches lair for dinner and had some traditional Czech food goulash and dumplings mmmhmm. I was in the process of rearranging my dumplings in preparation for comsumption when i thought that i noticed something with legs under one of my dumplings. I had to do a double take!!! Sure enough there was a spider in my goulash and dumplings!!! After a small squeal I realised that it was actually plastic.... hee hee. Hilarious:)

Wednesday 13

We took a train out of Prague today to visit a small chapel in a nearby town of Kutna Hora. Famous in its day for the silver that was mined here, it was a very sought after place to be buried. However after a couple of plagues and natural disasters the graveyard became very large. As the town started to reclaim the land, the bodies were dug up, the bones sterilised and white washed and used to decorate the inside of the church. Sounds morbid, but actually a very peaceful place :)

(oops i forgot to rotate this picture it is on it side. It is a chandelier made out of bones)

That afternoon we checked out the grounds of the Prague Palace, and the Cathedral within its walls. All very beautiful of course, and lovely views over Prague from the hill.

That evening we decided to get some culture. We headed to the National Museum where in the grand hall we pulled up a seat on the staircase and listened to a 7 piece sting ensemble play a little bit of Mozart, a little bit of Bach and then Vivaldi's four seasons. I really liked it, I think Duncan and Sarah were happy to tick the culture box on their list of things to do/see :)

A bit of shenannigans followed the concert as we tried to find the bus station to book our onward tickets. It wasn't quite where the map said it should be, we got there eventually but that did mean we were forced to have the dreaded "M" burger for dinner :(

Thursday 14

Ahhh the peaceful, timeless, jewel that is Cesky Krumlov. Nestled about a 4 hour bus ride from Prague it is a beautiful medieval town, almost completely surrounded by Vlatva river. We arrived at our very quaint little Hostel (Merlin) ideally located on the banks of the river. Dropped our bags and strolled around the town, before hiring a raft and spending a (insert adjective here :) - we couldn't agree on one) hour paddling, drifting, oversteering our way around the town. As i said it was almost a complete circle at the town's old salt mill you had to carry the raft about 30 meters and drop it in on the other side again. It did have several little "breakwaters??" in the river which created little white water chutes for us to go down. Fun!!

In the evening we met up with one of Sara's old school friends and some of the people she had met travelling and went to a really dark Czech restaurant with great food - plenty of meat - and heaps of atmosphere.

Friday 15

Another day in paradise. We hired bikes in the morning and cycled up (and i mean up) to a nearby garden complex with a revolving amphitheatre. We took a picnic and enjoyed the serenity. We had intended to take the bikes for around 4 hours and explore the surrounding country side, but after one huge hill and two hours on very very very hard seats, we took our sore bottoms home with our tails between our legs to later discover that even a day later we would be sore.

That afternoon i went and had some 'alone time' just me a horse and a hill. Well truth be told there was a guide as well but it just doesn't sound quite so romantic. I have discovered that even after nearly a year I still love it, enjoy it and miss it.

The others entertained themselves sightseeing, reading and losing wallets................................

........in fairness the wallet was stolen, but we did leave the door to the room in the hostel unlocked, but Dunc was still on the verandah in the hostel! Oh well stupid us we were lucky it was just one wallet as it there was plenty else in there that could have gone, and after the scare in Croatia we had taken all the cards bar one (and the drivers licences) out. So at least we only had to call one bank to block one card. The cheeky buggers had already tried to make 6 transactions but didn't get the pin right - ha ha!! Later we realised that they also stole the big straw hat that i had bought in Croatia.

The most annoying thing about the whole situation was that the bus tickets to Vienna were in the wallet. However the girls at the tourist information centre were really nice and reprinted them for us. This aside Cesky Krumlov was an absolute "little beauty" (tribute to Steve I) and I would recommend it to anyone.

Saturday 16
Well after a very comfortable bus ride we arrive in Vienna early afternoon. Poor Duncy poos not very well, drinking to much Czech beer if you ask me, and judging by the size of his tonsils i'd say nice little dose of tonsilitis.

I tucked him into bed at the hostel. As the hostel had a kitchen Sara and I thought we would go shopping to save some pennys..... it turned into a bit of a shambles - ha ha. So we are walking through the shop and buy some water, apple juice, a pre-made ready to cook lasagne, garlic bread, bread for breakfast, and soup. Turns out

• the water was sparkling (yes all 6 bottles)
• the apple juice was sparkling (what the....)
• there is no oven in the kitchen for the lasagne and garlic bread
• there is no toaster in the kitchem

So it turns out the only thing that was right was the soup! Before we tried to negotiate dinner we went for a stroll around Vienna. Way less touristy than others we have been too, it is very ornate and cultured. And it rained!!! Although I guess after 15 days with no rain we can't complain too much.

We did our best to salvage dinner, and did pretty well actually. And Dunc even said that the soup I made was decent... so now i can add another "dish" to my repertoire.

As I sit and type this it is now the night of the 16th of we are in the lounge at the hostel listening to some of the guests jam on some guitars and piano...... people arround us are sketching and we are feeling very inadequate.

Should go and rescue our laundary and put duncan back to bed :) Now am up to date except with the photos. Sorry that the croatia stuff is up out of order, but at least it is up.

Croatia diary (1st-8th Sept)

Fri 1^st

Well after a rough start to the week with food poisoning from Aachen in Germany, we had finally got the room packed up, our bags packed and a mini cab out to Luton Airport. After spending 10 minutes queuing in the wrong line we, changed and spent another 30 minutes waiting in that one. Bags checked we were officially on our way.

The flight was uneventful; we flew Wizz air, which was in a very pretty pink and purple plane , once we stepped onto the tarmac in Split our first impression was one of warmth. It seemed that the last week or so in London the days were becoming much shorter, colder and threatening rain, appearing that summer was officially over. So to get off the plane in sunshine and 26 degrees with nothing but blue sky….. wonderful.

There was a shuttle bus from the airport into the main bus terminal, and from there we lugged our bags following the slightly confusing directions to our very tiny but comfortable hostel. Once checked in we walked down to the market square and back to the marina. We both bought hats and beach towels.

Split is lovely and relaxed, where nobody seems to be in a hurry to do anything or go anywhere. We explored the beautiful Diocletian palace, a remnant of the Roman history in Croatia, which has now been gracefully incorporated into their town, as houses hotels, restaurants, shops, galleries. The church within the palace was quite small but still impressive. It seemed raw and crude compared to some others that we had been to. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take photos in there so you will have to come and visit yourself.

In the hostel we met an American who was also about to tour the Islands. He was doing it a little differently thought. While we were going to be sitting relaxing on a boat, he and his group will be swimming from island to island. Craziness!! He was an interesting man and in the afternoon showed us an area behind the palace full of narrow intersecting cobbled streets, which would be wonderful to get lost in, as there was so much to see within them.

We sat on the lawn on the promenade watching the boats come in and out, as it got later we headed to a small little restaurant which had been recommended to the Crazy American, as a lovely inexpensive but local place to eat. Buffet Fife – wasn’t a buffet as we know it – but the food was excellent.

By the time we finished dinner dusk was falling over split. The horizon was a gentle shade of pink and a half moon was out. Truly spectacular. The city took on a whole new feel in the evening time. The palace and many of the buildings were illuminated, and many of the small shops stayed open. While sitting in the main square of the palace a lady soprano began singing opera, and later as we walked toward the back of the palace within its walls, a group of female acapella singers entertained us, they were standing in almost a turret or gate house within the actual wall. The acoustics were very good.

We spent quite a bit of time playing with Duncan’s camera and the night setting, before heading back to the hostel.

Saturday 2^nd

When we surfaced we packed our bags and leaving them at the hostel walked down to the marina to see if we could find our ship. We found this little vendor that sold really long ham and cheese and salad rolls for about a pound, we thought to ourselves that this would be a good thing for breakfast, probably a bit much for 1 person, so we would split it.

We found the Viktorija, went and got our bags and trundled back. Our room was number 10 which was ready early. We were glad to meet several other young couples relieving our fear that we would be the youngest on the trip.

Our room is (as said in the brochure) very small. It consists of two bunk beds, and a small toilet with a hand held nozzle. It wasn’t until later that we discovered that there was only one temperature of water that came out of that nozzle and it was not warm. We unpacked our bags a little so that they would fit under the bunk. I wanted to grab some snorkels before we went so we jumped off the boat and headed back into Split.

Shortly before 1 we boarded again, and went upstairs where we introduced ourselves to the rest of the passengers. We are quite a mixed bunch from Australia, New Zealand, America, England and Scotland, and of quite mixed age groups, from university students to grandparents.

Sometime after 1pm we set off, the weather was beautiful blue skies not a cloud to be seen, and I was well prepared with my sea sickness bands on!!! The dinner bell rang and we went into the dining room for dinner.

I am not sure what I expected for lunch but I don’t think I expected to be provided with a three course meal. Soup then meat and vegetables (cooked Croatian style of course) followed by fruit.

Later that afternoon we anchored in a small bay and went for a swim off the boat. The boys set the bar high early by jumping off the top of the boat into the sea. I thought that I would work up to that a little more slowly. The water was surprisingly cold. For some reason I expected it to be a lot more tropical and warm. It quite literally took my breath away.

Our first port of call was Hvar. The city of Hvar on the island of Hvar (pronounced Havar). A group of us (Christy, Todd, Adam, Lindsay, Duncan and myself) walked up through some back streets and found ourselves inadvertently heading up to an old fort. Unfortunately when we got there it was closed for a wedding but the views were amazing down over the town and the walk up past all the market gardens, vineyards and olive trees.

The Lonely Planet recommended a small restaurant right on the Marina called the Bounty. It didn’t disappoint. We had a lovely meal and Kristy and I shared some beautiful local wine as recommended by the waiter. I had some home made sausages – a couple from beef a couple from pork and a couple from lamb. Of course we topped dinner off with some ice cream as a night cap.

The cards came out at night and a good UNO time was had by all.

Sunday 3^rd

We left Hvar early in the morning, the sound of the engines starting was our alarm clock. However it is amazing how quickly you become used to the rumbling hum and fall straight back to sleep again. As was to become routine we stumbled out for breakfast between 8-9am.

The boat dropped anchor around 11 for a swim. With the memory of the freezing cold water all to fresh in my mind, I decided that I would sit this one out.

Our afternoon destination was Mljet, a very small island with a small channel that creates and inland saltwater lake. We arrived there around lunch time and after lunch on the boat set out to explore. The recommended destination was a small island in the middle of the large lake. On this island is a once abandoned monastery, which is now being restored. A small motor boat ferries tourists out to the island, which you can walk around in about 15 minutes. Yes it is even smaller than Rottnest!

While waiting for this little boat, we decided to go for a little swim off the jetty. The group of us stripped down to our bathers and left our bags while we went for the swim. The water was a little warmer, I guess it wasn’t as open and susceptible to the tidal variations and as it is also a little more shallow. There was a “love tunnel” which really wasn’t a tunnel and had nothing to do with love, but a narrow channel between two sections of the lake where the current zipped you down.

The monastery was very small and very pretty, its isolation was quite obvious in it’s architecture and design. Around the island there were additional various shrines that had been built. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures inside the church.

We found a lovely bar on the water front afterwards for ‘refreshments’ but alas when it came to pay the bill Duncan and I realised that we didn’t have a wallet. Arrrrrgggghhhhh!!! My wallet was in the cabin on the boat, but had not money in it. All over our Croatian currency was kept in Dunc’s wallet. Needless to say we were at panic stations. We almost ran the 15 minute walk back to the small ferry to the monastery. Early on in retrieval operation I said to Duncan, “you go ahead” my short legs and sore foot were just slowing us down. So while he powered on I stopped all the tourists that were walking back in the other direction asking them whether they had seen a wallet or heard of anyone that had found one. Telling them all that we were on the Viktorija if they found it.

We were very lucky!!!!! Cutting a long story short the angry little captain of the ferry had it. There was no Croatian currency left in it (we had lost about 60 pounds) but whoever had helped themselves had not bothered to look in the zip section so we still had all our euros, and all of the credit cards and bank cards – pheweeee!!!!

We celebrated that night. Duncan and I celebrated finding our wallet, and Ann and Jeff (Kiwis) celebrated their 40^th wedding anniversary. The restaurant was on the marina the food and company was excellent.

Monday 4th

After our routine breakfast, and morning swim we sailed into Dubrovnik as we were finishing our lunch. The marina that we anchored in was about a 10 minute bus ride from the old town. The old town of course was where we wanted to spend the majority of our time, so as soon as a bus with room on it came by we crammed on and headed off.

The bus terminal was right outside the walls of Dubrovnik. As I stepped off the bus I was so distracted by the sights of the old town that I completely missed Duncan falling out of the bus and onto his bottom. (hee hee). No serious injuries were sustained, his big toe came off the worse for it.

Dubrovnik is beautiful. Stepping through the walls is a little like stepping back in time. The buildings and streets are all made from Dalmacia stone, which is a lovely creamy white colour, and was also used to make the White House is the US. The streets maintain their medieval charm while the buildings are now filled with modern shops, hotels, bars and restaurants.

We spent the first couple of hours exploring the streets, seeing some art galleries and museums, churches and monasteries. Once the weather cooled down a little bit, we went up to the top of the wall and walked around the city. I had an audio guide, which when it worked educated me about the history of Dubrovnik. In its long life it has suffered various regimes and battles, the most recently when it was under attack between 1992 – 1995 for no other reason than its historical and sentimental value.

It was and is a beautiful and fascinating. Dubrovnik like every other place in Europe has lots of churches but I have been surprised fining them very understated in comparison to other countries and cities.

After drinks with Christy Todd, Adam and Lindsay, Kristy and Todd went back to the boat to get changed, whilst Adam and Lindsay and us found a nice cheap little restaurant in a little side alley for dinner. Dessert as has become tradition was ice cream.

The cities are particularly charming after dusk, the smooth light coloured stone seems to glow in the street lights.

Tuesday 5th

I have never been on a holiday before when I have had to choose how I a was going to spend my time doing nothing. This sailing was very relaxing and I have learnt that you can have a good holiday without seeing every one of the attractions on offer.

So most mornings after breakfast and before swimming, or after swimming and before lunch I was left to choose out of the following; I could take up my relaxing on the top deck, the middle deck, the lower deck or the front of the boat depending on the location of the sun and wind. And while there I could sleep, read, sunbake (which I didn’t do much of at all), do crossroads, do sudoku, listen to music, or talk to the others. Decisions, decisions!

Of course after lunch though we were generally in port somewhere which left some sight seeing and exploring today. Today was no different and our port was Korcula on the island of Korcula.

Our itinerary had been a little changed to what was originally advertised. And it was for this reason. Celebrated in Korcula on this day once a year is the Marco Polo festival. Now I can’t for the life of me remember what ‘nationality’ Marco Polo was now but he held of the Venetians for quite a while, while being greatly outnumbered by a number of big ships and galleys. Once captured he was held in prison in Venice for many years.

So on this day many of the cruise/sailing ships around including ours, participate in a mock battle in the same bay.

With local actors, they reinacted the battle using smoke bombs and canons to simulate battle, and we sailed out into the harbour armed with water bombs and pistols, which despite much urging from the crew we didn’t really get close enough to any of the other ships to throw. Nevertheless it was quite a moment standing on the top deck with sailing in the bay with all the other ships. On the overlooking cliff face, they had some very powerful speakers which were playing music out over the water.

Needless to say our warfare took up much of our afternoon. We did have some exploring opportunities. We found a small store selling local wine, out of vats. We sampled some of the local wine and as it was at a very reasonable priced we decided that we would buy some. It came in recycled plastic bottles :) Fantastic!!

After a picnic on the boat comprised of some local stuff from the supermarket and our local wine, we headed down to the festival party, where dancing and free wine was to be had by all. The dancing was entertaining with a fairly good mix of English and Croat music. Although I have to say that although I like the song “I Will Survive” I think that they had possibly the longest version ever made. It went on and on….. and that is just not cool.

It was a great night although, the wine did smell a little like meat juice… therefore we abandoned that idea.

Wednesday 6th

We spent Wednesday afternoon and night in a town on the mainland called Makarska. Written up in the guide book as a place not enjoyed by everyone it sounded very resorty, and I got the impression that in the high season it is packed with tourists enjoying their holidays. The guide book was right in a sense apart from the beach, and a plethora of restaurants and bars, there was not a lot more on offer here. However as we were out of the high season, it was a lot more laid back and pleasant.

While others headed around to the beach to go swimming Dunc and I took a wander through the back streets it was siesta time so not a lot was open but we found some ice cream :)

We headed down to the beach and watched the sunset, then got some take away pizza to eat on the back of the boat. While down at the beach the boys spotted some bars which had very cheap beer, and decided that this was an opportunity that had to be made the most of. So after dinner we all headed back there. I didn’t stay long because I had a cold – which I always get when I let myself get really dehydrated – you would think that I would learn.

Thursday 8th

We arrived at the island of Brac quite early this morning and were able to spend quite a bit of time here. Anchored just off the coast at a place called Bol we had the opportunity to swim at a quite unique place. Apparently it is one of the only places in the world where the beach runs perpendicular to the coast. Sticking out like a bit of a tongue into the water the tip of the beach curves a different way depending on the ocean’s current.

Unfortunately this where the digital camera broke, so we don’t have any pictures. But hopefully we will be able to grab copies off some of the other people.

Don’t be concerned though folks we are currently rectifying the situation so that your pictures will not be far away.

The beach at Bol was like all the other beaches a pebble beach however they were nice smooth Dalmacia pebbles, and they were small so quite comfortable, not like the big ones at the south coast of UK.

That afternoon we sailed to Omis on the mainland. Apparently a hub for water sports and outdoor activities, as we sailed in we were greeted with Para sailers and jet skis, well not personally greeted, but you get the idea. We enthusiastically celebrated the opportunity to get out and get sweaty by playing cards on the boat :). A riveting and large game of cheat had captured everybody’s attention.

Omis really has no historical or architectural drawcards that we could find, and in the absence of night time sports and recreation we found a pizzeria in a back street for dinner. Afterwards we wandered the markets sampling some of the local produce including a pear liqueuer Rajaki (sp??) we decided that we quite like it and split a bottle with Adam and Lindsay for our night cap.

One night cap and a game of Uno later, we retired on our second last night on the boat.

Friday 8th

Seasickness bands discarded on day 2 or 3, the smooth seas have been wonderful. We couldn’t have asked for better weather the deep blue sea mirrored by the cloudless sky. Only in the last couple of days has it been slightly marred by a haze accompanying an increase in temperature and drop in wind.

Duncan and I had a sleep in this morning. Many of the others had decided to go rafting on the Cetina river in Omis. However as it was quite expensive, and we still have a fair bit of travelling to go we thought we would save our pennies. That plus they are quite tame rapids, and being the thrill seekers we are won’t settle for anything less than a grade 4 :).

We took a stroll in the town in the morning before the others returned. After lunch I was very lucky as my husband had not forgotten my birthday and had organised a birthday cake for me on board. I know it was a day early but it was nice to celebrate it with all our new friends. That evening once back in Split we all went out for drinks at the Luxor hotel in the Palace then dinner, then down to another bar.

It was such a nice evening. Although there was one strange bit. On our way to this bar after dinner we stumbled across some Aussie blokes who were stopping a young girl from jumping off a bridge onto the train tracks. They had contacted the police and while we walked by the police arrived so hopefully all is ok now......

Tuesday 12

Well as i mentioned in my last post we travelled from Croatia (Split) to Krakow (Poland) on Saturday. This journey was supposed to consist of a 4 hour bus ride (which ended up being 6 hours) and straight to the airport to catch the plane which ended up being delayed by an hour. We did however arrive in the beautiful city of Krakow.

Sara joined us the day later. After walking herself in circles around the train station, she ended up taking a cab which i think cost her a whopping 80p and took her about 500m from where she got in...... oh so close.

Duncan and I had been for a walk earlier in the morning and were very suprised at the amount of daschunds around. They were everywhere. We started playing "spot the dog" but it was just too easy. We later discovered a parade of (as a nearby Canadian called it) Weiner Dogs. Some were all dressed up in costumes, wedding dresses, baby clothes while others paraded in mother natures glory. When I later asked our guide about this he simply shrugged and said "we love our daschunds"

So after a somewhat delayed start we joined a walking tour of the city to get a feel for the uniqueness of krakows architecture and some of the bloody stories and legends behind the town. It was very interesting. The weather was fabulous too.

Also during our stay in Krakow we sampled some Georgian food (yummy).

The next day - and possibly the highlight for us all was our tour out to Auswich and Birkenau. On the way home we tried to describe it in words....... nothing captures it perfectly but some of the adjectives were: shocking, inspiring, humbling, educational, sombre, sickening, morbidly fascinating. It was the site of the biggest extermination of Jews in the war. The efficiency of the operation was terrifying but we felt it was a very necessary experience. As one of the inscriptions implied, if we don't educate ourselves we will be unable to stop history from repeating itself.

After an exhausting day at the concentration camps we took an overnight sleeper train to prague. It was a restless sleep interupted by an occasionally bumpy ride and screeching brake, but also by passport control knocking on the door in the middle of the night. We got into Prague at about 7 dropped our bags at the hostel and spent the morning exploring.

It is very busy, I would hate to think how busy it gets in the high season. But it is very beautiful. We walked many streets appreciating the architecture, art and monuments, including a monument against Communism, marking the spots where two students burned themselves alive in 1969 in protest of Soviet invasion. We also visited a museum of torture implements. I tell you what..... this trip has certainly been an eye opening experience so far!!!

Well there is a queue for the computer (still haven't found wireless!!) so i must go.

Stay tuned

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Yesterday I celebrated my birthday in 3 countries :)

Croatia, Bosnia (we drove through it on the way from Split to Dubrovnik), and Poland.

Krakow is beautiful, we did a walking tour today.

Still trying to find an internet cafe where we can transfer the diary that i have written on the lap top to upload to the interent. So far having a bit of difficulty.

Will be in touch.

Happy Birthday to me Happy birthday to me!!!

Just stepped off the boat in Croatia - had a fabulous week sailing, full details to follow shortly.

Now waiting for the bus to Dubrovnik and then our flight to Krakow

We are safe and well, and will be in touch soon

G&D :)