Jen & Col’s Guide to having a good time in Korcula Step 1: Get up when you are to sweaty to sleep any longer Step 2: Put on swimming costumes and sun block Step 3: Hire sun lounger and move it into a shady spot on the Crazy Golf course Step 4: Swim in beautiful clear blue waters of the Adriatic Step 5: Lounge on sun lounger Step 6: Repeat steps 5 and 6 until lunch-time Step 7: Eat hot dog with ketchup and mustard, drink half litre of beer Step 8: Repeat steps 5 and 6 until 6pm Step 9: Return to tent, shower and dress for “town” Step 10: Walk / take taxi boat (£1) to Korcula Step 11: Eat in restaurant located along the walls of the old town overlooking the sea, drink ... read more

Weeks 3 & 4: Dubrovnik - the mothership has landed! On Saturday , 14th June we finally left the “comfort” of the Tamara and headed south to Dubrovnik. I was especially excited as my mum had arrived the evening before and had texted to say how beautiful it was. To get to Dubrovnik we took a 5 and a half hour bus ride along the Croatian coast, passing more of the stunning scenery we have come to expect from Croatia (it really is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been) and eventually arriving at the bus station in Dubrovnik at about 4.30pm. We had rung the owner of the apartments where we were all staying and he brought mum with him to collect us - it was so good to see her (and ... read more

It has been ace being in a country that is participating in Euro 2008, the whole of Croatia has gone football mad! The only way I can describe it is like being in Ireland during Italia ’90 (the first year that Ireland made it to the World Cup Finals). Every man, woman and child permanently sports the red and white checks of the Croatian strip, the kids walk around blowing whistles and waving flags (just like me, Caz, Luke and Sean did in the summer of 1990, standing on the Killala road waving an Ireland flag, getting beeps of support from passing cars and chatting to truckers) and gangs of teenagers roam the streets singing this years Croatian football song, which is surprisingly catchy. One of the best things about Croatia during 2008 are the ads, ... read more

Well, I had said that I wanted to sail on my birthday this year and it’s true, you should be careful what you wish for! We had only spent 1 full day on the boat and had stayed in on the Sunday night, because we couldn’t face blowing up the dinghy and rowing to shore so I should have awoken refreshed and revitalised. Not so, I dragged myself out of bed at 7am following my second terrible nights sleep and Col and I prepared the boat down below (which basically means getting breakfast ready) before getting ourselves sorted for the day... sailing gloves... check, cap...check, factor 50 suncream... check and all this despite the fact it wasn’t even sunny. We set off at 8.30am and ended up sitting in drizzle with no wind for about 4 ... read more

On our third day in Croatia we decided to try Antonio’s in Kastel Stari for dinner and I ordered the Vegetarian Pizza, more out of curiosity than anything else as in the description it said “Tomatoes, Cheese, Vegetables, Olives”. Little did I realise that I would be presented with the best Veggie Pizza in the world... ever! The vegetables? Peas, Carrots and Potatoes! It was like an Irish Stew pizza! I can only imagine the panic in the kitchen when my order came through... “Vegetables? All we’ve got are mushrooms, onions and peppers (these were the veggies on Col’s Meaty pizza), look in the pantry - there must be some tinned veg back there... here we go, we’ve got potatoes, peas and carrots, they’re all vegetables, they’ll be fine!” And if I’m honest, they were more ... read more